4. Dead To The World - Morto per il mondo

I know cold showers are more traditional, but I was enjoying the warmth and relaxation the heat
brought. I got my hair wet and groped for the soap.
"I'll do that for you," Eric said, pulling back the curtain to step into the shower with me.
I gasped, just short of a shriek. He had discarded the jeans. He was also in the mood, the same mood I
was in. You could really tell, with Eric. His fangs were out some, too. I was embarrassed, horrified, and
absolutely ready to jump him. While I stood stock-still, paralyzed by conflicting waves of emotion, Eric
took the soap out of my hands and lathered up his own, set the soap back in its little niche, and began to
wash my arms, raising each in turn to stroke my armpit, down my side, never touching my breasts, which
were practically quivering like puppies who wanted to be petted.
"Have we ever made love?" he asked.
I shook my head, still unable to speak.
"Then I was a fool," he said, moving one hand in a circular motion over my stomach. "Turn around,
lover."
I turned my back to him, and he began to work on that. His fingers were very strong and very clever,
and I had the most relaxed and cleanest set of shoulder blades inLouisianaby the time Eric got through.
My shoulder blades were the only thing at ease. My libido was hopping up and down. Was I really
going to do this? It seemed more and more likely that I was,I thought nervously. If the man in my shower
had been the real Eric, I would have had the strength to back off. I would have ordered him out the
minute he stepped in. The real Eric came with a whole package of power and politics, something of
which I had limited understanding and interest. This was a different Eric—without the personality that I'd
grown fond of, in a perverse way—but it was beautiful Eric, who desired me, who was hungry for me, in
a world that often let me know it could do very well without me. My mind was about to switch off and
my body was about to take over. I could feel part of Eric pressed against my back, and he wasn't
standing that close. Yikes.Yahoo.Yum.
He shampooed my hair next.
"Are you trembling because you are frightened of me?" he asked.
I considered that.Yes, and no. But I wasn't about to have a long discussion over the pros and cons. The
inner debate had been tough enough. Oh, yeah, I know, there wouldn't be a better time to have a long
yada-yada with Eric about the moral aspects of mating with someone you didn't love. And maybe there
would never be another time to lay ground rules about being careful to be gentle with me physically. Not
that I thought Eric would beat me up, but his manhood (as my romance novels called it—in this case the
popular adjectives "burgeoning" or "throbbing" might also be applied) was a daunting prospect to a
relatively inexperienced woman like me. I felt like a car that had only been operated by one driver . . . a
car its new prospective buyer was determined to take to the Daytona 500.
Oh, to hell with thinking.
I took the soap from the niche and lathered up my fingers. As I stepped very close to him, I kind of
folded Mr. Happy up against Eric's stomach, so I could reach around him and get my fingers on that
absolutely gorgeous butt. I couldn't look him in the face, but he let me know he was delighted that I was
responding. He spread his legs obligingly and I washed him very thoroughly, very meticulously. He began
to make little noises, to rock forward. I began to work on his chest. I closed my lips around his right
nipple and sucked. He liked that a lot. His hands pressed against the back of my head. "Bite, a little," he
whispered, and I used my teeth. His hands began to move restlessly over whatever bit of my skin they
could find, stroking and teasing. When he pulled away, he had decided to reciprocate, and he bent
down. While his mouth closed over my breast, his hand glided between my legs. I gave a deep sigh, and
did a little moving of my own. He had long fingers.
The next thing I knew, the water was off and he was drying me with a fluffy white towel, and I was
rubbing him with another one. Then we just kissed for while, over and over.
"The bed," he said, a little raggedly, and I nodded......