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My fingers slipped, finding no purchase on the sides of the tub. Poppy cupped my balls, massaging and squeezing. With her other hand, she pumped the base of my shaft.

I was going to come. My seed was going to be inside her. Fuck. That thought was all it took.

Shoving my fist into my mouth to stifle the roar, I exploded down her throat.

“You’d better swallow—” I gasped. “Every last—”Breathe.“Drop!”

Poppy did. Her throat worked, taking everything I gave.

With a twitch, I finished.

The beautiful sinner sucked one last time, draining the very last of me. I hissed and felt her smile around my length. She released me, bending to lick from root to tip.

The sensation was pure torture.

I grabbed her around the back of the head, brought her up, and crushed my mouth against hers. There wasn’t time to think that the slight tang of salt was me. I just needed her lips on mine more than I needed to breathe.

We kissed in a desperate tangle of arms and legs, climbing on top of one another and fighting a war over the last of the oxygen. This woman, this shy, adorable little thing, was the very devil in disguise.

How was I so lucky to find her?

I wasn’t thanking the heavens, even though I’d been taught to as a boy to do that when the smallest of blessings came our way. I also wasn’t letting fate change its fucking mind.

Poppy belonged to me. Part of me was inside her, for heaven’s sake. I counted the days until I slid myself between her legs and left a more permanent mark.

“Stop, I’ll faint!” Poppy broke away, breathing hard.

I cupped the side of her face. “I’ll catch you. I swear it.”

She studied me. It was a test. I let down my guard, bearing my soul and hoping she believed it was true.

“Okay,” she finally whispered.

I pushed her gently onto her bottom. Reaching up behind us, I grabbed the detached shower head from where it swung. I also adjusted the stream to a more gentle cadence. While the overhead flow became rain, I scooted behind Poppy, wrapping my thighs along hers.

The shampoo bottle popped after I flicked the top.

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“Hush,” I rumbled. “I want to.”

Poppy fidgeted.

I looked between her long hair, hanging in tendrils between her shoulder blades. I used a coin size for mine, but for this? I shrugged and filled my cupped hand. Careful not to drop the sweet berry scent, I massaged it into her temples. Sudds formed, bubbling and escaping down her body.

Poppy hid a soft laugh behind her hand. “I didn’t need that much.”

I frowned. “Well, now I know for next time.”

Poppy’s shoulders snapped tight.

Fuuuck, I shouted in my mind.

Here we were. Right back to the same place, the one where she said no.

There would be a next time. Hell, if I had it my way, this woman would never shower alone again.

“Tell me about your life,” I said to divert whatever bullet train was zig-zagging through her mind. “I know you’re Penelope’s cousin, but I don’t know who you are.”