Page 57 of Stealing Mercury
“First,” he said. “We need to get the mud from your clothes.” He led her toward the closest section of the waterfall. Positioned to the side of the main channel, the water trickled over in what compared to a steady rain. He urged her onto the rocks that dotted the area in front of the fall and kept her moving to the far side—closest to the center channel. “Here, the water flowing over does not feed the bathing pool.” He pointed at the seemingly random pattern of gullies and she realized he was right.
It was a beautiful sight, but she quickly forgot the charm of it when Mercury pulled them both directly under the falling water.
Even as the water chilled her, Mercury’s grin warmed her inside. It was the wide, carefree grin of a man with nothing but play on his mind. It exaggerated the lines at the corner of his eyes and called attention to his generous, sensual lips. “You’re insane!” Her teeth chattered with the words.
His grin only widened. “Hurry,courra.”
She had no argument with that idea and she quickly pulled her shirt off over her head. The mud caked into the material had dried, making it stiff and awkward. He tugged down her trousers. She kicked them off and started scrubbing herself down with the cleanser. The dirt and mud slid off and washed away with the water. Mercury helped her briskly brush down her arms and legs, then he was tugging at her tunic and briefs. She struggled playfully at first, but then gave in because she understood he’d let her go back to the warm pool once she was free of the muddy garments.
The moment she kicked free of her briefs, she scrambled away. She made a dash for the warm pool, splashing in, then wading to the far side where she could watch Mercury standing under the waterfall... unabashedly nude.
Stars, he was beyond words. Powerful muscles, sleek lines.
He soaped his inky black hair and turned his back to the spray. Samantha followed the suds with fascination as they trailed across his shoulders and down his ribs to follow that masculine vee that led down from his hipbones.
When he finished washing, he carried their things back to the pool where she waited, near the point of drooling over him. He tossed in the cleanser and strode into the mist topped water like a mythical god.
As he crossed the pool, he scooped up handfuls of water to pour over his body. It kissed his skin like a misty lover. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the sight. She followed the water down the planes of his pectorals and down his flat belly to pool in the small dip of his navel. The mist swirled around his muscled thighs, leaving only one place for her gaze to rest. Despite the chill of the waterfall he’d made a speedy recovery. He was aroused—the thick column of his cock stood straight and tall, the plum tip stretching toward his navel—but the grin on his face was still playful and light.
He lowered the appealing planes and hollows of muscle and bone into the water with a masculine sensuality that fogged her already muddled brain.
“I’m glad to see your color again,courra.” His low chuckle broke the spell, and she splashed water in his face for laughing at her.
“Hey!” She tried to fend off his hands when he made a grab for her, but she ended up pulled against him—her back to his chest, his legs cradling her, his arms wrapped around her and both of them laughing. When the moment settled into ease, she sighed in pleasure and wrapped her arms over his. The tips of her fingers brushed across the scar tissue that ringed his wrists. He’d survived such horror and become so strong. With the memory of his laughter fresh in her mind, she laced her fingers with his. “This feels nice.”
“Mmm.” He pressed his lips to her neck, laving a path downward with sucking kisses and quick nips that accelerated her heart rate.
She tilted her head to give him complete access. Her blood rushed frantically through her body as if every cell raced for a chance to pass through the artery beneath the damp stroke of his tongue. “That’s almost too good. Maybe we should finish washing before we forget why we came here.”
“My memory is excellent,” he boasted, but he eased back and pushed his hand through the water around them until he found the cleanser. “Ah, here it is.”
The top snapped open and he worked the cool gel through her hair, strong fingers messaging her scalp, stroking down her neck.
She lifted her hand to make a cup. “Let me help.” He poured cleanser into her hands. She used it to clean first her own legs then his as she leaned forward, giving him access to her back. He worked more cleanser around to her belly as she pulled his foot into her lap and rubbed her thumbs into the arch of his foot. He made a soft rumbling sound and rested his chin on her shoulder as she repeated the process with his other foot. The powerful intimacy of washing together, stroking soap-slicked skin, wrapped in the warmth of the water and each other, seemed at once natural and impossible to comprehend.
Samantha leaned back against him and relaxed into his embrace. “Never in my wildest imagination could I have ever dreamed I’d be here today on an uninhabited planet, bathing in a natural pool under a waterfall with flowers everywhere and I’d be doing all this with the sexiest man alive.”
Mercury chuckled. “I’m glad you find me sexy,courra. I also find you sexy.”
The wordsexysounded odd in a mouth made for rumbles and growls instead of sultriness. Her cheeks caught fire, but she was too relaxed to respond to his teasing.
He filled his hands with her breasts like a blind man relying only on touch to learn her. When her breasts ached and her nipples were tight nubbins under his fingers, he slid his hands down her belly and to the feminine folds between her legs.
“I didn’t dream of this either,” he said. His fingers stroked along her sensitive folds. “But after this, I think my ability to dream might be much improved.”
He slipped one finger inside her and she sucked in a breath, arching her back like a contented cat. No. She wasn’t contented yet, but she trusted Mercury would see to that eventually. There was no rush.
He stroked her lazily, playing in her folds and dipping a finger inside her then pulling it out again, with no discernible pattern. The result was blissful and frustrating and made her body shake with anticipation. She pushed back against him and the growing erection that promised so much. Beyond ready when he added another finger to his game, she couldn’t stop herself from clenching down on those filling fingers.
“Relax,courra. I won’t hurt you.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure,” she breathed. “Frustration can be its own kind of hurting.”
“Then I’ll have to give you what you’re wanting,” he whispered. His hands slipped around to grasp her hips. He lifted her and positioned her at the edge of the pool.
She was ready and he slipped inside her easily from behind, filling her with hot, hard cock. She braced one arm against the icy stone edge and reached back to pull him closer with the other. The curved slope of the bottom of the pool put him at the perfect height to fuck her in a sensual in and out slide that had her whole body tight and burning with pleasure.
Her fingers clutched against the slick skin across his ribs, coming up empty, but the rest of her was full of him. Full of that heat and hardness.
