“Shut your eyes,” he demanded, voice thick.

“Why?” She reached her hand back and her fingertips connected with the side of his face, working down his jaw. He barely withheld a hiss as jolts of pleasure skittered down his spine.

His thoughts frayed.

“Close them.” He was strung so tight. If she refused him now, he would be shattered. Worse than he’d ever been.

She hummed. The unhappy sound tore at him, but the sight of her eyes fluttering closed gave him courage.

He grazed his hands down her shoulders, focusing on his need to be gentle, soothing his desire to take command, locking away his instincts.

Calm, he demanded of himself. The insistence was so difficult it made his muscles ache.

Miranda let out a little gasp as his fingers grazed over her collarbone and down to the swell of her pink-tipped breasts. They were perfect. Soft and lush. Dappled with beads of water. His hands were shaking as he paused, giving her a moment to deny him before he went lower.

Instead, she thrust her chest up, beckoning him. And when he stroked his fingers over the firm tips of her nipples, she expelled a gusty moan and relaxed against his shoulder.

The scent of her arousal burst in his nose, sweet and thick. Fuck, did the heights of her lust have an end?

Govek bit his tongue to keep from growling in pleasure.

Thrumming her nipples, he sent her body into rippling shivers, shuddering against his cock. The pleasure in him mounted, danced over his skin, and clenched hard in his gut.

Fuck, she was so responsive.

A louder groan fell from her lips and she reached up to grab one of his hands. For an abysmal moment, he was certain she would push him away.

Instead, she forced it lower, pushing it down toward her core.

“What are you doing?” His breath hitched, hardly believing she was already letting him touch her here, even as she spread her legs to make room for his hand.

“You don’t want to?” she asked, though she didn’t stop moving his fingers.

“I want to.”

“Good.” She pushed his fingers over the flat of her stomach and passed her belly button. Down between her folds.

“Oh!” She let out a strangled sound as he grazed gently over her most sensitive place. He couldn’t feel much through the gloves, but he was experienced enough with this act to know where to touch and what reactions to watch for.

She opened her eyes.

He gritted his teeth, tension dimming his own arousal even as hers bloomed sweet in his nose, coated his throat. “Close them.”

Fuck, he’d said it too harshly.

But instead of tensing and pushing away, Miranda’s body relaxed, and her eyes went to half-mast. A groan left her lips. His fingers slicked, gliding more easily, telling him she must have grown wetter. Her nipple beaded under his thumb.

He gritted his teeth. He’d imagined that, right? It almost seemed as if she’d grown aroused from his growling.

Govek had no time to dwell on this knowledge, as Miranda’s exquisite responses to his spearing fingers made his heart seize. She pushed against the back of his hand in a steady rhythm. Bucking and whimpering. Moving him how she wanted, using him.

Being used so selfishly had never felt so good. He twitched helplessly between her folds and it made her gasp. He swirled his fingers over her breast, and she dug her heals into the sand, kicking it up under the water.

Everything seemed to please her. Every touch heightened her. His head swam with it. Drunk on her pleasure, dizzy from disbelief.

Her grip eased, and she allowed him to explore freely. He slicked his finger high to circle around the top of her folds, where he knew she would be the most sensitive, and was rewarded with her thighs quivering.

“Oh, Govek that’s . . . it’s so different.”