"Not only flowers," he said, and produced a small tube from behind his back. "But massage oil. I figure all those bruises meant a hard day at the office."

"And here I was thinking no one noticed."

"It took me a while." He placed the roses and the oil on the sink, then took off his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves before sitting on the edge of the bath. "I was too busy protecting my territory to even notice said territory was in pretty bad condition."

"I'm nobody's territory."

He smiled and dipped a hand in the water, touching my leg and gently running a finger up and down my thigh. Heat ignited low down, and trembled through the rest of me as furiously as a firestorm. My body might be battered and bruised, but everything else was in full working order.

"When you are with me, you're mine," he refuted softly. "And I'll fight all comers to reserve that right."

I raised an eyebrow. "Even vampires with a fierce right hook?"

"Even vampires. Though I cannot believe you're still with that particular vampire."

"I like him."

"Then I must accept him as competition. But don't expect me to be happy about it."

I smiled. "Asking that wouldn't be fair."

"No." His gaze rose to mine. The desire so evident in those mint green depths scorched deep. "I want you, Riley."

My name rolled off his tongue as sweetly as a lover's kiss, and my whole body seemed to hum in answer.

"I guess if you're gentle, we might be able to manage a kiss or two."

He reached between my feet and pulled out the bath plug, then turned on the hot water. "And a caress or two?"

I pursed my lips, as if considering a question there could only ever be one answer to. We both knew it. The smell of my arousal was as thick as his. "I suppose there's a few unbruised places to find."

His gaze drifted clown, a slow perusal that was all-consuming. Heat prickled across my skin, and my nipples hardened, as if reaching for his caress. Bone-tired and body weary I might be, but I was also a wolf who hadn't had any sex for almost a week. And that ache took priority over all others.

"I can see one or two interesting possibilities," he murmured, leaning forward to replace the plug then turn off the tap. "Seeing it's such a big bath, do you mind if I join you?"

"Please do." It came out husky, thick with desire.

He smiled and rose, then unhurriedly began taking off his clothes. I enjoyed the show, the gentle reveal of skin and muscle. The candle's dancing light lent a rich warmth to his chocolate colored flesh, highlighting some areas of perfection while leaving others to shadow and imagination.

When he was fully naked, he stepped into the bath, but rather than lying beside me, as I'd expected, he lowered himself over me, using his elbows to keep his weight off me even though his body covered mine as completely as a blanket.

"Nice," he murmured, his breath whispering across my lips.

"Very." The heat of him washed over me, and the wet, raw scent of masculinity and desire had my heart racing so hard I swear it was going to tear out of my chest. I ran a hand down his muscular back, letting it rest on his rump and pushing him down lightly. The thick heat of him pressed in all the right places, and I sighed. "Very nice indeed."

The words had barely left my lips when his mouth claimed mine. He was a man who knew exactly what he wanted, exactly what I wanted, and his kiss reflected that. It was urgent, hungry, his mouth plundering as our tongues tangled, tasted, teased.

God, the man could kiss.

After what could have been hours, he groaned, an almost demanding sound that vibrated through my mouth. A sound I understood completely. Because, just like him, I wanted more than just his lips. I wanted him inside, deep inside, thrusting long and hard.

I moved my legs to give him greater access, then raised my eyes to his. "If you want me so badly, why don't you take me?"

"Because I'm trying to be considerate of all those bruises." He pressed himself between my legs, sliding his cock back and forth, teasing, but not entering.

"I don't want consideration." But it came out a strangled sound as the heated tip of him began to slide inside.

"Then what do you want?" he murmured, withdrawing briefly. "This?" he added, sliding back inside again, harder and deeper this time.

Pleasure rippled through me, and I groaned. Heard his answering chuckle.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Do," I gasped, and almost came as he rammed himself deep.

Then he began to move, to thrust, and I closed my eyes, savoring and enjoying the sensations flowing through me as the heat of him filled me and the cooling water lapped with ever more force across our skin.

He took his time, stroking slow but deep as he licked and nipped and kissed. Eventually the pressure began to build low in my stomach and fan through the rest of me, first in languorous waves, then quicker, faster, until it became a molten force that made me tremble, twitch, and groan. Had me wanting more, and yet not wanting it all to end so soon.

His breathing became as harsh as mine, his tempo more urgent. Water rocked over the bath's edge, splashing across the tiles, but right then, the only tide that mattered was the one of pleasure rising between us, and boy, was it rising. I shuddered, writhed, until my moans filled the night and it felt as if I was going to tear apart from the sheer force of enjoyment.

"Let go," he whispered, pressing butterfly kisses against my nose, my cheek, my lips as he thrust deep and hard inside me. "I want to hear it. Feel it."

As if his words were a trigger, my orgasm hit, and suddenly I was shuddering, squirming, my moans so loud they'd surely have to hear them in the apartment next door.

Then he was coming with me, his lips capturing mine as my body clenched around him, his kiss urgent as his body thrust and thrust, until there was nothing left but exhausted, joyous satisfaction.

For several minutes afterward we didn't move, just allowed the cooling water to wash the heat from our skin and our breathing to return to normal. Then he stirred and gave me a sweet, gentle kiss.

"Far better than attending a premier," he murmured. "Though I have to admit, I was intending to take you during the show."

I grinned. "Imagine the headlines that would have created, 'Son of billionaire thrown out of premier for indiscriminate sex'."

"Oh, there wasn't going to be anything indiscriminate about it—and we had a private box."

"I do like a man who thinks ahead."

"Rather than a man who thinks with his head?"

The cheeky twinkle in his eyes made me chuckle. I raised my hips and rubbed myself up and down his penis. He may have just reached the heights, but he was half ready to go again.

There were definite advantages to being a werewolf, and a revved up sex drive was certainly one of them.

"Thinking with the lower head can sometimes have its advantages."

"Hmmm," he murmured, brushing my lips with another kiss. "Shall we retreat to your bed and discuss just what those advantages might be?"

"Most definitely."

So we did. And much enjoyable "discussion" was had.

It was only later, when I was lying warm and replete in the circle of his arms, that he asked the question I'd been waiting for all night.

"So, how did you get all the bruises?"

"Training." I yawned, fighting tiredness and the need to sleep, simply because the subject of my bruises would lead pretty neatly into the fact that I'd be disappearing for a while.

"Given the intensity of the bruising, I'd have to say it was more a beating."

"I'm a liaison. Given we have to work with guardians, we've got to know how to defend ourselves. As you can see, it gets pretty full-on."

His fingers were caressing my arm, not in a sexual way, but a caring, protective way. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside—which wasn't something I'd really experienced before and I wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't love—I'd been there before, knew what it felt like, and this wasn't that. It was oddly different—safer, nicer.