2
Chloe stood in the private suite after the door clicked shut, the robe still loosely belted around her.
Steam rose in slow curls from the dark stone tub.
The water looked almost black in the low light, surface shimmering with a thin film of oil that smelled of something warm, almost spicy.
She noticed some intricate wooden carvings adorning the walls.
For a minute, Chloe felt like she was royalty in some opulent palace.
This place really is nice… they sure know what they’re doing, Chloe thought, taking a deep breath.
Then, she untied the robe and let it fall open. Her eyes wandered over to the massage table. It looked so… intimate.
The question arrived fully formed and slightly panicked.
Am I supposed to lie on that table completely naked? I guess so…
The thought made her stomach tighten. Of course she was.
That was how these things worked. Still, the idea of stretching out bare under a thin sheet while a stranger’s hands moved over every inch of her felt suddenly enormous.
She had never been naked in front of anyone who wasn’t a boyfriend or a doctor.
And Vespera—taller, older, those dark eyes that had moved over her so slowly in the changing room—was neither.
Chloe swallowed. Her massage therapist beautiful.
Exotic. There was no point pretending otherwise.
The way the black top had clung to the full curve of her breasts, the lean strength in her arms, the calm, assessing look that had felt almost like a touch.
She was practically oozing sensuality, and her face hinted at a mischievous side.
Chloe was straight. She had always been straight.
But the thought of that gaze still sat warm and low in her body, and standing naked in this quiet, fragrant room only made it stronger.
She stepped out of the slippers and walked to the edge of the tub. The stone was smooth and cool under her feet. She tested the water with one foot—hot, almost too hot—then lifted one leg and lowered herself in.
The heat closed around her calf, her knee, the soft skin of her inner thigh.
When the water reached the place between her legs it felt startlingly intimate, a thick, silken pressure against her bare pussy that made her breath catch.
She sank lower. The water rose over the soft curve of her stomach, then higher, enveloping the undersides of her breasts, the nipples tightening instantly at the sudden heat.
She settled all the way down until only her head remained above the surface, the rest of her body suspended in liquid warmth.
A soft, involuntary sound left her throat.
The oils left a slick film on her skin. Every small movement sent little currents sliding along her inner thighs, between her legs, across the heavy weight of her breasts.
She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the curved stone edge.
The ambiance of the room pressed in. Somewhere low music still played, combined with the occasional soft lap of water and the sound of her own breathing.
Her mind began to drift.
She thought of Vespera’s hands. She thought of the way those eyes had moved over the open collar of the robe, lingering for half a second longer than necessary.
Chloe shifted in the water and felt a warm pulse in her clit.
A slow, unexpected wave of heat answered.
She was getting worked up. It was ridiculous.
She was alone in a tub. Nothing had even happened yet.
But her body didn’t seem to care about reason.
The combination of nakedness, heat, and the thought of that calm, beautiful woman running her hands over her was doing something to her she hadn’t expected.
She stayed in the water for about twenty minutes, until her skin was flushed and the edges of her thoughts had gone soft and unfocused.
Finally she stood, water streaming down her body in shining rivulets—over her breasts, along the soft line of her stomach, between her thighs.
She reached for one of the thick towels and dried herself slowly, deliberately, aware of every brush of cloth against sensitive skin.
The massage table waited on the other side of the room, white sheet turned down neatly.
Chloe walked to it on bare feet, heart beating a little too hard.
She climbed up, lay face-down, and pulled the sheet up over her hips and back.
The fabric was cool against her still-warm skin.
Her breasts pressed into the padded surface.
The air touched the backs of her thighs. She pulled the sheet over her.
Chloe turned her head to the side, cheek against the face cradle, and waited.