As a child, he must have tried to assume the role of man of the house. What a big burden that must have been for such a little boy.

It wasn't unusual for pro athletes to have a chip on their shoulders. So many of them had overcome bad childhoods, rough neighborhoods, little money. But Dominic had never once tried to use his upbringing as an excuse for bad behavior. He was a better man than that. It was one more reason to love him— one more reason she didn't need.

Dominic looked like a wild gypsy with his dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. She wanted desperately to be the mate he would sacrifice everything for. But the truth was that there would come a day when she would see another woman giving him a celebration kiss after a game; maybe even pregnant with his child.

Suddenly, Melissa hated that woman with a passion.

She gulped her wine, wishing they could stop talking and get back to bed, where things were simpler. When they were making love she could concentrate on her body and temporarily forget about her heart.

Dominic never shared family stories with anyone. Not his teammates, none of his coaches, and certainly none of the women he'd dated. Even his brother and sister avoided rehashing their childhoods when they got together, stepping around the fact that their widowed mother had brought home a new guy every month, and that each guy had been more horrible than the last, until she married the biggest ass**le of them all.

His siblings had never thanked him for protecting them from these men; they didn't need to. Someone had had to start making good decisions in their house, because his mother hadn't been able to manage it. So, Dominic had stepped in.

Then, when he was a senior in high school, his mother chose her dick-wad husband over her kids, and Dominic had thought, Fuck it. He drank and he f**ked and he stole cars. He was a hot-shot football player, the big man on campus with a fancy football scholarship to the University of Miami. He was the master of the drunk joyride with a pantyless girl sitting next to him, writhing beneath his fingers on her clit.

But his lucky breaks had ended late one night just before graduation. Joe had stolen the car, but Dominic was driving. Going a hundred miles an hour made the uncapped bottle of Jim Beam splash onto the leather seats. It was raining and dark, and Dominic had thought he was unstoppable.

The tree knew better. The tree was stronger than both of them, crushing Joe's legs.

Though Dominic walked away from the crash physically unscathed, he was emotionally destroyed. Joe lost his scholarship and never played football again. Dominic should have been prosecuted, should have been made to pay for what he'd done. But Joe's family was big in politics in Washington State, and they had insisted on keeping the incident completely under wraps.

Which was where the official story began. Dominic went to college, went pro, made millions. But every day, he paid for that lack of control twenty years ago. Being with Melissa was the closest he'd come to losing his grip in all that time.

Plating their pasta in silence, he carried their dishes into the dining room.

Melissa took one bite and her eyes grew big. "Dominic! This is amazing. You could give your friend Jason a run for his money."

"I'll pay you to say that next time you see him."

She glanced at him in surprise.

Shit. He needed to watch himself around her. He didn't make women promises, and doing so now was out of the question.

Time to change the subject to something that involved less talking and more f**king.

He pushed his plate away. "I've been thinking."

She put her fork down. "About what?"

"All the jets."

She looked confused. "Jets?"

He nodded. "In my bathtub."

Melissa took a deep breath, and he enjoyed watching her br**sts rise. "And?"

"I want to see them in action." He stood up and held out his hand. "With you in the tub."

She took his hand. "And you?" "And me."

He kissed her softly, and they headed for the bathroom, where he turned the faucets on.

"I've never undressed you," he noted quietly.

She smiled. "There usually isn't time."

He laughed. Sex and laughter had never gone together before, only with Melissa. "That's because I'm a greedy bastard," he said as he reached for the hem of her very sexy silk top.

"No complaints here," she murmured as she lifted her arms over her head.

He admired her nearly sheer lace bra with barely contained lust. He wanted to press her against the tiled wall and do a repeat of their first time together.

"You're too good for me," he said as he put his hand on her back and arched her br**sts into his waiting mouth.

Her soft moan drove him crazy, as did the tender way she caressed his back with her hands. Instead of yanking up her skirt again, he reached for the zipper. The skirt fell to the floor and he rubbed his hands over her bare ass, all the while sucking her br**sts.

He lifted her in his arms, and a moment later they were in the tub, her back to his front.

"I'm still wearing clothes," she said, lifting one garter-clad leg out of the water. Her lace-covered ni**les floated into his palms.

"I did my best," he said, running kisses down her neck.

"There's always next time," she said.

"And the time after that," he agreed, unable to go one more second without touching her pu**y. He slid his hands between her legs and she bucked into his hand as he delved into her.

"I can't get enough of you," he said, plunging two fingers in deep. His elbow hit the button that controlled the jets, and they were enveloped by tiny bubbles shooting at them from all directions.

"Open your legs, sweetheart." He rubbed his thumb in slow circles over her clit.

Her thighs moved apart and he urged, "Wider." Putting his hands on her hips, he positioned her in front of a jet. "Tell me when it feels good."

She gasped. "It feels good now. Oh, God!" she said. "So good."

"Come for me."

He undid the clasp of her bra and cupped her wet br**sts. She moaned with pleasure as he toyed with her ni**les and he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his erection into her soft, round ass. His c**k was rock-hard and ready to explode as he kissed her neck.

She was breathing heavier, faster, and then suddenly her cries of pleasure were echoing off the walls. Dominic made sure to keep her clit directly over the jet, but as soon as her climax subsided he rammed his c**k into her to the hilt. She floated above him in the water as he rocked her up and down on his shaft. He hadn't thought to bring in a condom, and it was going to kill him to pull out.