She pressed her pelvis against his stroking hand and let out a guttural sound.
Dash lowered his head and murmured low and slow in her ear, "I'll destroy that lady boner alright,"
She arched her back, reaching her arms backward, and circled her hands around Dash's neck. The posture lifted her breasts entirely out of the water, her head resting against his chest. Soapy pink bubbles traveled lazily across her glistening skin.
"Dash."
"What is it, Firecracker?"
"I can't believe I'm about to come again," she whispered.
He let go of her pussy and cupped both of her breasts. She whimpered and moaned. "I was so close. I'm…I…"
"Fuck, I love bringing you so close you're at a loss for words. That's my superpower."
His hands worked over her breasts while the entire scene from his perspective burned itself into his memory. Red curls of hair plastered against his chest, tight, soft, red curls teasing his calloused fingers where he stroked her.
Her voice trembled. "How dare you bring up superheroes, then turn right around and edge me?"
"I guess the Destroyer will have to punish me. Squeeze my windpipe."
"Dash."
"Sweetheart, your hands are already there. It's just a matter of—"
"I don't know how to do it without hurting you," she said.
Dash then realized he was behaving like a dick.
When he stilled his hands on her breasts, he hadn't meant it as a power play. He was gathering his thoughts.
"I got carried away; I'm so sorry."
His hands started to travel back down to her core to finish her off. God, he was such an asshole.
But Harper caught his hands in hers and said. "Hold on."
Pushing his hands away, Dash had a feeling for a brief second that he had fucked up so badly he'd lost her. That he'd offended her. He gripped the sides of the tub and waited for the ax to drop.
But it never did.
She didn't run away. Instead, she sat up and turned around, splashing yet more water over the side of the tub.
"OK. We need to talk," she said.
He gave her a slight nod, and she continued.
"It's like this," she said, running her hands up his arms and resting them on his shoulders. He wished if she were going to end this—whatever this was—that she would do it without a lecture. But around Harper, one was never far from a lecture.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do, but I need some kind of heads up. You know, I've never done breath play before, and that's a huge learning curve for me. I'll do it, but it will take some time to get used to, and I'll need to do some research to make sure I do it right."
"I hear you. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
She stroked his hair and smoothed the back of her hand over his cheek. "Not uncomfortable, just surprised."
"I should have thought before I said that."
She nodded. "Yeah, but we all say things and get carried away."
"We'll save that stuff for another time then. Now that I killed your lady boner real good."
She smiled at him and gave a soft laugh. "You didn't."
"I didn't, huh?"
She shook her head.
"Show me."
Dash had never paused in the middle of sex to discuss research, mechanics, and all of that stuff. He would have thought it would kill the mood quicker than one of Holden's cats throwing up a hairball in the middle of the night. But that was not the case at the moment.
"Now?"
She nodded. "For one thing, we're face to face, so…that's a start."
Dash walked her through the proper procedure, where to put her hands and where to squeeze. He gestured along the length of his throat. "Technically, you're only supposed to squeeze here, and not here, to ensure that I can still breathe. But I'm cool with a little bit extra risk."
Harper reared back. "Well, I'm not."
"Oh. Okay. I mean, if you're not into it, you're not into it."
"Look me in the eyes, Dash."
He'd been staring at the tiny drips from her hair landing into the water. "Yeah?"
"As much as I would love to strangle you some days, I don't want to do anything to put you in danger, and anyone who does is an asshole."
Dash blurted out a laugh. "All these years, I thought you were dying to squeeze my windpipe."
"I kinda was," she laughed. "Well, no. That's not true. I don't hate anyone. I just find you supremely aggravating. So much so that it's…maybe a little bit unhealthy."
Dash had never considered that Harper might have been thinking about him as much as he thought about her.
Hey, dummy, you'd better say it back.
"The same for me," he started awkwardly. "I…think about you all the time. I thought it was because we're supposed to be enemies."
"Well, let's see here, big guy. We're both naked in the tub together; we sure aren't exactly the sworn enemies we thought we were."
Dash laughed again. "How about nemeses? That word has a much sexier ring to it."
Harper answered by pressing a kiss to his mouth, sucking in his bottom lip, and nibbling it with her teeth. He closed his eyes and groaned. "I thought you didn't want to hurt me."
"I said I didn't want to put your life at risk. I still want to throttle you senseless."
"Why does that still sound like a sex move?"
"With us, it probably is."
The two of them laughed together. The ice between them had not simply melted; it had shattered with violent force.
Earlier that night, when Dash had come to her window, he had only been focused on one thing. He had needed to fuck her. He needed to clear his head of all thoughts about her. Several orgasms later, they'd accomplished that together.
He knew he would enjoy her; he didn't think it would be like that. He didn't think he would develop real feelings for her.
He'd never felt more clear about anything or anyone.
"And now I need to talk to you."
She nodded and stared back at him with her wide eyes. "Would
