TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

with triggers and panic. Watching Carm going through her own flashback had flipped another switch in his head. He needed to admit to her that he sometimes got scared too. It wasn’t a sign of weakness if he was taking action to deal with it. He also needed to stop distancing himself from her at night. If she witnessed him having a panic attack, flashback, or trigger, no doubt she’d be able to handle it and not judge him. Carmella understood what it was like.

All week, he’d chosen not to sleep beside her until morning in case he had a nightmare. But by holding back that level of intimacy, he’d wasted the opportunity to get closer to her. For most of his adult life, he’d been the type of guy who had sex with a woman then left her alone the rest of the night.

But Carm deserved more than that.

And he wasn’t ready to call it quits with Carmella once they returned to Colorado. Yeah, he wanted to continue dating her even after they left paradise. The thought surprised him a little, but then he realized that would mean becoming vulnerable to a woman. Was he ready for whatever might happen tonight?

Who knows?

Back at the villa, Tony was lost in thought about how to approach the subject.

“How about a Painkiller now that we don’t have to worry about mixing alcohol with diving?” Carm asked.

“Sounds perfect.” Only Tony didn’t plan to seek courage in a bottle—or a pitcher, in this case. He intended to tell her about his misuse of alcohol in the past few months as well.

“Let me shower and change first,” she said.

This might be the perfect time to open up to her. “Let me know if you need someone to wash your back.”

She turned toward him, a distinctive gleam in her eyes as a smile lit up her face. “You know, there are a few spots I could use some help with.” Carmella winked.

Tony extended his hand toward her, and she took it before they headed up the staircase. On the way to the landing, he pictured her naked under the shower head, water sluicing from her hair to her breasts and over her beautiful body. Tony’s cock grew hard at the image. This would be the perfect tension breaker.

“Start the water, dolcezza. I’ll join you in a few.”

Carmella couldn’t help but feel the two of them had crossed a new threshold tonight, although she wasn’t sure yet what it might mean for their future. After quickly removing her clothing and checking to make sure she had a stack of towels at the ready for them, she turned on the shower and adjusted the multiple jets on the walls to make sure they would hit them both in all the right places. She hoped the washing he’d promised would include a neck and shoulder rub, because tension lingered there from tonight’s moments of terror.

At a soft tapping on the door, she turned around to see Tony standing magnificently naked and hard in front of her. Smiling at her before giving her equally naked body an appreciative once-over, Tony closed the gap between them and pulled her into the shelter of his arms.

“You’re gorgeous any time, Carm, but especially so tonight.”

She lowered her hands to his butt and gave him a squeeze on both of his buns of steel while pressing his erection against her. “I will never get tired of seeing you like this, either.” That might sound like she intended for them to continue dating, but the future wasn’t guaranteed.

Carpe diem!

Releasing him, she led him into the open shower then turned to face him again. Tony leaned in to kiss her as water sluiced over their bodies. He pressed her against the shower wall. “I can’t wait to bury myself inside you, but first I want a taste.” Tony grabbed her head with both hands and kissed her, deepening his possession when she opened her mouth wider for him.

When he pulled away, she let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. “I promised to wash your back. Turn around.” Carmella did as he commanded and moaned as he placed nibbles on the skin of her neck and shoulders. While not the scrubbing she’d expected, she enjoyed this much more, letting her head loll to the opposite side of whichever shoulder he attended to at the moment.

When his hands replaced his lips, he kneaded her stiff muscles. “You’re in knots.”

“Stressful night—well, part of it was anyway.” The evening had been nothing but divine once her panic had been brought under control. Carm moaned as he applied more pressure to the nape of her neck. “That feels so good.”

After a few minutes, Tony picked up the shower gel and a washcloth; the scent of jasmine soon filled the shower. He washed her back methodically, sensuously until he reached the curve of her ass. “Spread your legs for me, dolcezza.”

A frisson of excitement raced to her sex in anticipation of his touching her more intimately. Without hesitation, she did as he’d instructed. Tony washed her thoroughly, although he avoided her clit. Even so, the motion of his hand made her grind herself against the washcloth.

“Don’t move.”

Her response to the forceful way he took charge surprised her. She became wet and ready for him in an instant. She wanted him to turn around and press her against the shower wall and enter her swiftly and surely, but he didn’t do that. With infuriating slowness, his ministrations continued down her inner thighs and legs. “Lift your right foot.” Kneeling beside her, water washing over his face to the point she didn’t know how he could see, he carefully washed each foot in turn, even between the toes in case any sand or salt had been missed.

He took her by the ankle and lifted her leg toward him until his tongue traced a trail over the sole of her foot.

Don’t giggle, Carm. Don’t giggle.

He knew from their poker game that she was