Chapter 18
A short timelater
What I really need is a long, hot shower.Elaine took a sleepshirt from the drawer and carried it to the bathroom. The steam-filled air from where she’d turned on the shower was scented from the eucalyptus and sage essential oils she’d sprayed on the walls. The calming fragrances always helped her sleep. Tonight, she would need it.
She shed her clothes, put them on the hamper and stepped into the shower box. For a moment, she just stood there, letting the water cascade over her, sluicing away the cares of the day.
Turning, she stretched to hold her arms over her head as the water slid over her breasts and down her belly and legs, savoring the scents surrounding her. It was like bathing in a waterfall in a tropical rain forest.
The shower box door whispered open, and her gaze found Griff standing there, towel wrapped around his middle, his expression full of a shy longing and hope.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked.
“I think there’s room enough for two.” She stepped back.
The towel slipped to the mat on the floor, and he joined her, closing the door behind him.
“I was thinking that since one of our arms is kinda messed up, you might need some help–you know–wash your hair?”
She pursued her lips. “I might,” she agreed. “There’s the shampoo.”
Taking the bottle from the built-in shelf, he opened and poured a small amount into his hands, then threaded his fingers through her hair, gently scrubbing her scalp as the soap foamed and bubbled. Knees trembling, her hands went to his waist to hold herself in place. Fainting was not an option.
“You really do have beautiful hair,” he murmured. “It’s so pale, it’s like starlight. I’ve never held starlight in my hands before.”
“Glad I could provide the experience,” she told him, reaching for the loofah bath sponge hanging from the showerhead. Lathering it with body wash, she held it up. “I’ve never bathed a Marine before,” she said. “Mind if I give it a try?”
“Let’s rinse your hair first,” he suggested, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose.
He moved her so that the water could stream through her hair and down her back while his clever fingers finished their work.
“You’re right,” she sighed, turning to face him. “I never could have managed that without help.”
“Our mission is to serve and please.”
“The Marines or Brotherhood Protectors?”
“Both,” he said solemnly, giving her a slow salute. “What was that about bathing a Marine, Ms. Prescott?”
“There are two loofahs,” she pointed out. “One for each of us.”
“No sense in letting a good loofah go to waste,” he agreed, taking it down and pouring the body wash over it.
They moved the loofahs slowly, exploring skin and curves, savoring new territory as their hands glided up and over and down arms and legs while the water’s soft hiss sang around them.
Gasps of surprise and delight were exchanged as sensitive spots were fingered and smoothed and stroked until their need reached a higher level and the shower was abandoned. The slow, gentle toweling of bodies became an exercise in exquisite, tortured pleasure, as if waiting until the last moment to start the next step would only make the coming pleasure all the greater.
And then, much later, when they had exhausted every possible pleasure, they nestled against each other, listening to the sound of each other’s steady breathing.
“You okay there, Ms. Prescott?” Griff asked.
Her soft laugh rippled over him. “I think my lips are bruised from kissing you too hard,” she said.
“I’m glad you were careful with my more important parts,” he teased and laughed when she swatted at him.
“Do you still like my ass?” she asked, rolling to prop her chin on his chest, her fingers doing a little dance there.”
“Best ass in town,” he said, giving it a little slap. “Prettiest too. And you’re a really, really good kisser.”
“Am I?” She inched up to demonstrate her skill with a maddening slowness, her hands palming his face.
“Oh, yeah,” he sighed. “How’s your arm?”
Her grin slid past wicked. “How’s your knee?”
“Well,” he said, “I think we need to test our private form of physical therapy again before we go to sleep.”
“Copy that,” she whispered, and surrendered to his kiss.