Garrick made one final inspection outside the building after restarting the generator and getting the hot water running. It set up a comforting hum that reverberated through the lower floors of the building as it warmed, the heating activated along with the hot water.

He jammed the broken double-doors back in place. Enough to stop anyone or anything from getting in without making a hell of a noise. Outside the street was still and quiet. There was no evidence of any Chittrix activity.

Dusk left a watery pattern of light on the corridor floors as he jogged back to the stairs and the lower level of the police station where he’d left Anna. He slowed as he approached the changing rooms, noisy with the sound of running water.

Steam billowed up against the ceiling, filled with the clean scent of soap. He came to a stop outside the door of the shower room, images of Anna naked in the shower flooding his mind. He’d be a liar if he said he hadn’t thought about her naked before now. But the sound of running water and the warm steam drifting out teased him. He imagined her there now, blonde hair in a straight sheath down her back while she bent to soap those long limbs, water streaming between her breasts, turning her skin pink and flushed with heat.

He ran his palm cross his face, trying to distract himself, and took a slow breath. Shit, Garrick, pull it together, she’s been through hell and back. The last thing she needs is you pawing her. Your job is to escort her to a safe place in one piece.

But the truth was, he wanted her. Wanted her more than he had ever wanted a woman. His cock woke as his mind continued to give sneak previews. He wanted to run his hands across her full breasts, pinch her rose-pink nipples and glide his hands into the slippery cleft between her legs. Taste the creamy skin at the base of her throat, and make her breath quicken as he drove her body to the extremes of pleasure under his hands.

He heard a muffled groan and realised it was his as he pressed a hand to the hot hardness in his crotch. Safe for the moment, locked away from the world gone to shit outside, he finally admitted to himself that he wanted to possess every inch of Anna. She was everything he had always avoided: smart, opinionated, and awkward. Yet he had wanted to cover her naked skin with his since the first moment he had seen her and that perfect mouth had given him cheek. He wanted to bite that lip, pull it between his teeth while his hands caressed every warm, smooth inch of her body.

Fresh thoughts cut through him, unravelling him at his very core. What if he opened up and let go of the fear and doubt that consumed him? Through the grime and the exhaustion, he sensed something new and vulnerable within himself. Previously, sex had been mutually casual relationships. Quick, hot, happy sex for all concerned with no strings attached. He’d always been quite clear that was all that was on the cards. He’d never been interested in anything more.

Yet.

Yet, here I am, and I want more from Anna. For the first time in my life, and it scares the hell out of me.

She understood what hardship was. She’d been alone her entire adult life and had locked herself away too. She was just as self-sufficient, maybe more so given how smart she was. He wanted to protect that. Protect everything about her. Cherish her, physically and emotionally.

He rested his head against the smooth wood of the changing room wall. Counted his breathing in and out, trying to control the desire that raged through his veins.

Dammit, Garrick, she’s hurt, and all you can think about is getting naked under the shower with her.

Desire formed a blazing knot low in his belly. He struck the wall at the side of the door with the heel of his uninjured hand, pain shooting up his forearm, providing distraction from the turbulent anger and desire that threatened to overwhelm his body and mind.

Fuck it.

He pushed open the doors of the changing room. To his left were the showers. To his right, the staff quarters where he had already piled up chair-cushions and some grey wool blankets from the cell-block storage into a makeshift bed.

The door to the staff lounge was open. He could walk right in there, sit down, and wait for her to come through.

Yeah, right.

A smashed dispenser on the wall caught his eye. Tiny plastic toothbrushes and condoms. He huffed out a long, low breath of want. If the Chittrix invasion had taught him anything, it was that life was too damn short. For the first time since forever, he felt something. Was consumed by it and didn’t want to walk away.

He turned left and pushed open the door of the shower block, billows of steam rising against his skin. He took only one step before his legs pulled him up short.

She was naked, her clothes already rinsed through and hanging neatly nearby on the radiator. She was standing with her back to him, hot water sluicing soap suds from her shoulders.

A long, slow curl of heat and need rose up through his belly, his cock straining painfully at the confines of his cargo trousers. He was transfixed by her soft curves, the swell of her hip, and the dimples in the small of her back just above the globes of her backside.

Desire consumed all rational thought in his mind. His breathing hitched in his chest. He wanted her so badly. Even his hands were trembling as he stood, soaking her all in.

She peeked over her shoulder, her blue eyes meeting his. She turned, deliberately making no effort to cover her modesty. Her hands were relaxed, loose and delicate at her sides. Water continued to stream across the smooth curve of her belly and thighs.

A tingle of anticipation spiralled deliciously down his spine.

Just as perfect as I imagined.

Her breasts teased him, full and rosy in the warm water. Delicate curls of blond hair at the juncture of her thighs hid all the secrets he wanted to taste.

Garrick’s legs moved of their own accord. The primal part of his brain was consumed with a raging need for the woman in front of him, his cock aching with arousal as he strode purposefully into the hot, rushing water.

He hesitated, suddenly concerned that lust was undermining his decision-making.

But her eyes never left his, and she reached out with her small hand and pulled him under the rain of hot water.