Chapter 12
Jordana looked around Forrest’s house. It was him.
All earth tones and natural woods, stones, and materials.
It was also covered in dust. “Sorry, I haven’t been home in a while.
” Forrest used his arm to wipe off the kitchen table where a big basket of food sat.
“Waverly got my key from Kane, and I’m so glad she did.
” He stopped, sniffed, and then smiled. “Barbeque. It’s the best you’ll ever have. ”
Jordana could believe it. It smelled delicious. Her stomach rumbled and painfully tightened with memory of her constant state of near starvation over the past almost six weeks. “Food and then bath?” Forrest asked.
“Yes, please.” Jordana might have drooled as Forrest brought out an aluminum pan from the oven.
He made a plate for her and set it down on the table so she didn’t have to get up.
He then brought her a large glass of water and gave Blackbeard a bowl of water.
They didn’t talk while they ate. Instead, they just groaned and moaned their appreciation for the food.
Jordana was sure food had never tasted so good before.
“My bedroom is downstairs. I don’t want you to feel as if I’m pushing you, but it would be easier on you if you slept down here. If you want, I can sleep upstairs.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We slept together in a canoe. I think we can sleep together in a bed,” Jordana told him as he cleared the plates and then offered his hand to her. When she took it, he swung her up into his arms and carried her to the back of the house.
“Good. It would feel strange to be apart from you. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. Also, I have a bathtub. I figured that’s how we’re going to keep your feet dry while you get clean.”
Jordana wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled into him. Food and a bath? Could anything be as luxurious as that?
Forrest chuckled as he entered his bedroom with Blackbeard following them.
“I hope I can always keep you looking so satisfied.” He set her on a bed that didn’t seem dusty at all.
And it was so soft! Next to it was a duffel bag with a note on it.
“Clothes for Jordana from me, Natalie, Maggie, and Bex (even though she’s still in D.C.).
I changed the bed and brought personal items for Jordana. They’re in the bathroom.”
“I might be in love with Waverly. Could she and Kane be any nicer to us?” Jordana asked, unzipping the bag and pulling out everything from pajamas to athletic clothes to jeans and dresses.
They all varied in size so she was sure she’d be able to find something.
The smaller athletic clothes would be great for now, but as soon as she could eat her weight in that barbecue, she’d need a larger size.
She wasn’t naturally an extra small girl.
She was more of a medium. That was all thanks to being kidnapped, on the run and scrounging for food for weeks.
“My siblings have all found wonderful spouses.”
Jordana noticed the strange look on Forrest’s face and was going to ask him about it when he shook his head and blinked. “I’ll get the bath started,” Forrest told her.
“Do you think she packed a toothbrush?” Jordana was instantly up and hobbling toward the en suite bathroom behind Forrest. “Yeah,” she said, looking at the items laid out. “I might love her.”
There was a comb, hairbrush, toothbrush, body soap, shampoo, conditioner, face cream, deodorant, a razor, and face wash ? all brand new.
Jordana immediately started brushing her teeth.
She wasn’t sure she could even get a brush through her hair right now with how knotted it was.
It was only when she heard the running water, that Jordana saw the tub tucked beneath the tinted window on the far side of the bathroom.
Forrest was sitting on the side of the soaking tub adjusting the water temperature. “I have wonderful sisters-in-law,” he told her after she finished brushing her teeth. “You’re going to fit right in with them. You’ll love them as much as they’ll love you.”
Jordana felt her breathing catch. Her mind was whirling.
Forrest made their relationship sound like an actual relationship when she didn’t know what it really was.
They kissed, yes. They’d learned to depend on and trust each other very quickly.
She respected him, she liked him, she was attracted to him, but .
. . they’d never been on a date or in any kind of normal situation where it was romantic, not a matter of life and death.
Would it change things when they were in calmer waters?
Would he get tired of hearing her talk about plants?
What would happen when she went back to Brazil?
Was this only a situationship or could it be a real relationship?
Jordana shook her head to bring her back the present. If she’d met Forrest under regular circumstances, she’d have fallen for him hard and fast. The man was drawing her a bath for crying out loud. He was perfect. She should stop overthinking this and just live in the now.
Forrest’s cheeks flushed slightly. “I’ve thought about how to get you into the bath without getting your feet wet, but it will require you to be naked. With me. If you’re not comfortable with that, then I can call Waverly and Maggie to come help you in.”
See, he was perfect. He was so respectful.
Jordana looked down at herself. Layers of dirt coated every inch of her and her clothes.
How on earth did he ever kiss her? She wouldn’t kiss herself like this.
The need to be clean was too strong a desire to put off any longer.
She trusted Forrest with her life, she could trust him with her body.
“No, it’s okay. I trust you. What do I need to do?”
“Undress and I’ll do the rest.”
Forrest turned around, fussing with the bath, and giving her some privacy to undress.
He put in some bubble bath and the scent of lavender filled the bathroom.
Jordana unbuttoned her pants and pulled them and her panties off.
She didn’t bother folding them. She tossed them right in the trash along with her shirt and bra.
“Okay,” she said softly.
She saw Forrest take a deep breath and turn.
He kept his eyes focused on hers as he walked over toward her.
She saw him swallow hard as he stopped in front of her.
“I’m trying to be as respectful as possible, but it’s so hard not to soak you in.
” It wasn’t the only thing that was hard.
Jordana wasn’t being as respectful and let her eyes drop.
Forrest closed his eyes and took another breath.
“I’m going to pick you up and then set you down in the tub.
I need you to keep your legs straight. I put a towel on the edge of the tub where you can rest them. ”
“Thank you. I’m so ready.”
Forrest looked down then as he scooped her up into his arms. She had to admit, she was getting used to him carrying her around.
She felt safe in his arms as he slowly lowered her into the tub.
The warm water and the smell of lavender quickly enveloped her.
She moaned as the tension left her body almost instantly.
Forrest removed his arms from the water and she closed her eyes, melting deeper into the bath. “Now I understand what Waverly meant about her first shower.”
“Let’s get you cleaned up and then you can soak while I take my shower.
” Jordana opened her eyes to find Forrest carrying over the array of products Waverly had left for her.
Forrest handed her the face wash as he wet a washcloth and lathered it with bath gel.
Jordana felt him wet her ankles and calves that were outside of the water and then he began to clean them as she washed her face.
She washed her face three times. That’s how long it took for the suds to no longer turn brown with dirt. By the time she had her face washed, Forrest was done with her legs. She finally saw her skin clean for the first time in a month.
“Here,” he said, handing her a sudsy washcloth. “I’ll wash your hair while you get the rest of your body. Then I’ll get your back.”
Jordana grabbed that washcloth so fast that she probably surprised him, but she couldn’t wait to be clean again.
Forrest turned on the small handheld shower and placed his hand on her forehead, before he wet her hair.
She stopped scrubbing as he gently began shampooing her hair.
His fingers were strong and firm, yet soothing, as he massaged her scalp.
She groaned and leaned into him, forgetting her mission to scrub away the past month.
Similar to her face, it took him three shampoos to get her hair clean. He then put in what felt like the whole bottle of conditioner as she went back to scrubbing herself clean.
“Do you want me to comb your hair out? My sisters say it’s easier to get the tangles out when you have conditioner in your hair.”
Seriously? Could this man get any more perfect? “Yes, thank you. I’m slowly getting cleaner with each scrubbing. Although, the water may need to be changed.”
“We’ll do that after you’re done with the washcloth. Then you can just soak and relax if you’d like.”
See, perfect.
Forrest got to work on her hair as she worked on cleaning her body. There were some tugs, some small curses on both of their parts, but ten minutes later her hair was untangled and Forrest was washing her back. “There. I think you’re done. Do you want to pull the plug?”
Jordana felt around, found the plug and pulled it. The dirty water washed down the drain just like she wished the past month would disappear.
Forrest used the handheld shower to rinse her hair and clean out the tub. Then he put the plug back in, handed her the bubble bath, and turned the faucet on.
“I’m going to take my shower now. Do you need anything else before I jump in?”
Jordana noticed that the glass-enclosed shower was in the direct line of sight from where she’d be soaking in the tub. “No, I’m good,” she said, knowing she sounded a little breathless. How was cleaning off from this nightmare turning into something so sensually erotic?
Forrest leaned forward and kissed her. “You were beautiful when I first saw you, and you’re even more beautiful now.”
Then he stood up, walked over to the shower, and turned it on.
Jordana felt as if she were watching a strip show as he turned his back to her and pulled his damp shirt over his head and tossed it into the trash can.
Then came his socks. Next his pants. Jordana bit her lower lip as he put his thumbs into the waistband of his boxer briefs and slowly lowered them.
She fully appreciated the muscled sculpture that was before her.
His back muscles and his glutes flexed as he finished undressing and walked into the shower.
Her breath caught as he closed his eyes and stepped under the water.
She forgot about relaxing and her bubble bath as he began to wash his body.
First it was his chest where her eyes trailed those suds down, down, down .
. . Jordana held her breath as his hand followed the suds down, down, down. Meu Deus!
Muscles bunched, flexed, and moved in a hypnotic way so when Jordana finally did breathe, she realized she was breathing quite heavily.
Forrest turned in the shower, placing his hands on the tile wall below the shower head and leaned under the stream of water.
Jordana caught her reflection in the shower glass as it began to fog up.
She snapped her mouth shut and then giggled.
She didn’t mean to. She was a freaking adult, but looking at that fine butt and knowing she’d been staring, mouth open, just made her laugh. And it felt so good to do.
The glass door opened and steam rolled out into the bathroom. “Should I be concerned that you’re looking at me and laughing?” Forrest asked as water dripped from his hair.
“Not at all. I’m enjoying the show.”
Forrest waggled his eyebrows up and down and sent her a saucy grin. “I aim to please.”
He closed the door and went to wash his hair. Jordana couldn’t stop laughing and he over-exaggerated everything, including slapping his hand against the steamed-up glass as if he were in that scene from Titanic.
Forrest finished his shower and while she’d seen him naked, there was something so sexy about a man with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Ready to get out and take a nap?”
“Yes.” Well, she was ready to get out. She didn’t know about a nap. She had another idea for what they could do in bed instead.
She pulled the drain as Forrest got ready to pick her up. She felt incredibly sexy, even with her injured feet, as Forrest’s eyes darkened as they took in the water slowly exposing her to his gaze.
Then she was in his arms and napping was definitely not what she wanted to do. He lowered her feet gently to the bathmat and wordlessly began to dry her off. His hands used the towel to cup her breasts . . .
AHHHHHHHH
Jordana jumped back and almost fell into the tub if it hadn’t been for Forrest catching her. “Blackbeard!” Forrest yelled and rolled his eyes. “I’ll take him out back and then I’ll meet you in bed.”
Jordana realized her hand was over her heart as she tried to calm it down.
She nodded and finished drying off before putting on the pajamas.
Wow, Forrest’s bed was so soft. And warm.
And comfy. And his pillow . . . Jordana didn’t mean to, but the second she lay her head on that pillow she fell fast asleep.