SHE was already washing her hair when I came up behind her into the pool house showers.  I watched for a moment as she hurried to do everything in a rush.  I needed to slow her down.

“Gabrielle.”

She turned and dunked her head under the spray and let the shampoo rinse out of her long dark hair, her eyes closed tightly, not acknowledging me.

I pulled her against my chest, my hands linked behind her back so she couldn’t push away.  Her breasts pressed into my chest, soft and wet as I put my lips to hers.

Her hands came up to my chin and faltered.  Maybe in defense, or possibly just protecting herself from me, but it was still an acceptance, and she didn’t do more than just hold her trembling hands suspended between us while I kissed her under the shower spray.

I could work with that.

A kiss was intimate, and helped me to dig my way further under her skin.

I know how to win, using every small thing to my advantage in order to get there.  I had the medals to prove it.

She was my win.  My gold medal.

Winning Gabrielle would be my toughest competition yet.

But so worth it.  So fucking worth it in the end.

~*~