Chapter 18 Love and Hydration
Chapter eighteen
Love and Hydration
Kenji
Before I could take Nyomi away on my special surprise date, she insisted that she needed time to do her hair. Apparently, yesterday's water play had "ruined her parts" and "reset her pattern."
I had no idea what either of those things meant, but I nodded like I did—the same way I'd navigated a thousand criminal business negotiations.
Except this time, I wasn't hoping to gain leverage. This time I wanted her to know I would try to understand her world, even the small rituals that were hers alone.
When she smiled and said she would handle it quickly, I should have waited in the other room.
Got dressed myself.
Made calls.
Checked messages.
Pondered war strategy.
Instead, I followed her into the shower because I'd realized I didn't want to spend even that small slice of time away from her.
When had that happened?
When had alone time stopped feeling like freedom and started feeling like deprivation?
We took off our clothes, and I turned on the shower. The steam filled the space within seconds, fogging the glass and softening everything around us.
Grabbing a shampoo bottle, Nyomi stepped under the spray first. Her dark brown skin glistened as water streamed down her back. The scent of her shampoo filled the air—rich and creamy with notes of coconut, shea butter, and a sweetness I couldn’t name.
I stood behind her, completely captivated. The moment she tilted her head back, water poured through her curls in tiny rivulets, each strand absorbing and releasing light.
Fuck. She’s so beautiful. How did I survive all these years without this view?
I'd never shared a shower with a woman before.
Not once.
Sex had always been lusty or transactional. Limited to hotel rooms that never progressed to morning routines. Encounters always ended with departures, not domesticity.
For some odd reason. . .I'd always kept that line drawn.
Yet now I was realizing that sex was one thing, but the intimacy of routine, of witnessing the unguarded moments. . .that was quite another.
I could do this every day.
An urge, raw and primal, pulsed through me, lighting my veins on fire. The sight of her body, the sound of water against her skin, the sweet scent of her shampoo; they all coalesced into a symphony of hot desire that was impossible to ignore.
I reached out, my hands longing to explore the territory of her back, the curve of her waist, the swell of her hips.
The warm wetness of her skin sent a shiver racing down my spine and I couldn't help but marvel at her.
The depth of her beauty.
The expanse of her soul.
I trailed my fingers lightly across the slope of her shoulders, feeling the shudder run through her body, matching my own.
Her head tilted back, taking in more droplets.
My hand slid lower, drawn to the smooth plane of her back, tracing the arc of her spine.
Heat pooled in my gut.
I stepped closer.
My cock hardened, and I pressed the hungry length along the contours of her ass.
A soft moan left her. “Kenji, what are you doing?”
“Let me show you, Tora.” I slipped my hands to the front and began caressing those full, round breasts.
She shivered. “You’re so bad.”
“You make me this way.” The sensation of her wet skin under my fingertips, the faint quiver in her frame, it was all more intoxicating than any high. “Are you still sore, Tora?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad.”
She chuckled.
I slipped my hands down to her pussy, and my fingers found her clit.
“Oh.”
“Mmmm. I don’t think you’re too sore.” I toyed with her clit, my fingers relishing the slick warmth, the welcoming vulnerability.
She trembled and arched her back. “We’re supposed to be getting ready.”
“This is one of the ways I like to get ready.”
“No, Mr. Dragon.” She batted my hands away and got out of my hold. “We can’t. It’s already going to take me some time to get my hair ready.”
“Tora—”
“Nope.” She turned around and shoved me back. “You stay two feet away from me.”
“What?” My body protested. I could feel the tension coiling within my body, a spring wound too tight. “Are you telling the Dragon no?”
“Damn right I am.”
I growled.
Laughing, she put her back to me.
“This is mine.” I squeezed her soft, wet ass.
She shoved my hands away. “I’m about to kick your ass up out of here.”
“Tora, this is our bathroom.”
“No. This is the Tiger’s bathroom. I’m just letting you use it.” She chuckled.
My cock jerked.
She looked down at it. “I’m serious, Kenji. Let me get ready.”
I bit down on my lower lip, willing myself to keep control. “I’ll stop for now. But when we get to my surprise, there will be no stopping me.”
“I think that is a fair compromise.”
I sneered, yet remained silent. My body protested again, but something deeper warmed in my chest.
Only my Tiger could tell me no.
Only my Tiger could make me wait.
Only my Tiger could claim space even when I wanted to consume all of it.
And I was beginning to love her more for this power.
I grumbled under my breath as she retreated, her body still wet and glistening, skin kissed by droplets that shone like jewels.
She had been a delicious heat against me, her curves melting into mine, her soft moans music to my ears.
But now, she was stepping away, putting distance between us that I didn't want and didn't understand.
The way the water slipped over her skin, how the steam clung to her body—it was all too much.
I wanted to touch her, to lose myself in her.
The anticipation was maddening and delicious.
She turned back under the shower, humming some slow song that vibrated low in her throat.
Water cascaded down the valley of her spine, pooling in the dimples just above her ass before spilling over that perfect curve.
I stayed where I was, a predator feigning disinterest while hunger gnawed at my insides.
My gaze went to her neck and took in the bite marks—imprints of my insatiable hunger for her. I traced them with my eyes, painting a path from her neck down to her lower back, then back to the roundness of her ass.
I’m going to bite her some more today.
The sight was too intoxicating.
Especially on her ass.
I envisioned my teeth tearing into my Tiger once again, sinking down into the soft flesh of her ass as I finger fucked her wet pussy.
The thought alone made my cock violently twitch.
She glanced over her shoulder. “You’re staring. Instead of showering.”
“I’m appreciating.”
“No. It actually looks like you’re plotting.”
I grinned. “Same thing.”
Her laughter echoed around the small room, tinged with teasing. It wasn't helping. Every chuckle, every playful glance she sent my way only served to stoke the fire within me further.
I watched as she rinsed out her hair, tilting her head back to let the water cleanse and refresh. Then, she squeezed out a handful of thick conditioner and began to massage it through her hair, section by section.
I leaned my head to the side. “What is that smell?”
She fully turned around giving me a heavenly view of her breasts—round and plump with perky nipples begging to be touched. Droplets of water clung to the curves of her breasts.
I could stare at her for hours and never be bored.
She raised the bottle between us. “This is coconut and hibiscus. You like it?”
“I love it.” Without thinking, I took it from her.
“Kenji!” she gasped, laughing as I poured too much into my hand. “That’s expensive!”
“I’ll buy more.”
“Well. . .” She blinked. “Oh yeah. I guess you will.”
I inhaled the lovely scent. “In fact, I may buy the whole company so they can only make this for my Tiger.”
“Oh God. That would be hilarious.” She laughed harder, shaking her head as I gave her the bottle back and lathered the liquid into my own hair.
Oh.
The pink foam felt cool, luxurious, and soft.
She put the bottle up and then raised her hands to my head. “Let me help you. Lean over.”
I widened my eyes and did just that, bringing my head down to her hands.
“Perfect.” She captured my head, then slowly she began to massage the foam in with her fingertips and knead tension away.
Mmmm.
My scalp tingled from the loving attention.
My body vibrated in pure soothing pleasure.
A dark groan left me. “T-tora.”
“Aww. You like that?”
“You tell me to behave and then do this.”
“I’m just washing my baby’s hair.”
“No. You’re trying to get fucked in the shower.”
“Sir, I’m going to need you to chill out.”
I closed my eyes. “This feels so good.”
“It’s supposed to. It’s called love and hydration.”
I didn’t know much about hydration, but I was certain I’d never been loved like this before.
This is what I’ve been missing in my life. . .
A gentle tug brought me out of my thoughts. She was working the foam through my hair, finger-combing it through with meticulous care that I'd never experienced.
Her fingers brushed against my scalp once, twice, three times and I found myself leaning into her touch, my body begging for more, my cock twitching over and over.
I grunted, and my lids dropped low.
“Okay. Now you’re good.” She moved her hand away.
“No. I’m not good. I need more of that.”
“More of what?”
“Whatever you were doing.”
“Kenji, I am trying to get out of this damned shower and you are trying to keep us in here.”
I grumbled.
We rinsed our hair together beneath the steam and water, trading quiet laughter and soft touches. By the time we stepped out, her brown skin glowed and my hair—so rarely treated with such care—felt light and alive.
After handing me a towel, she wrapped herself in one too, and placed another around her head. “Now give me some more time because I have to do more.”
“More? You already washed your hair.”
She grinned, tightening the towel at her crown. “Oh, baby. The wash was just the beginning.”
“Was it now?” I had no idea what was coming next, but I’d already decided one thing—whatever ritual this was, however long it took, I was staying right here to watch every second of it.