Page 99 of Sanctuary

“My scars?” Gabe asked as she turned around.

Lori thought she’d kept her reaction internal, but apparently she hadn’t managed that. “Is it still painful?”

“Sometimes, if I catch it wrong. When it’s desensitized enough, I’ll have it tattooed to complete my backstory… The story on my back,” she said when Lori frowned. “It’s a work in progress. Does it bother you?”

Lori took Gabe’s hand. “No, of course not. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t hurt you when I touch you—which I can’t wait to do, so please go shower.”

Gabe grinned then walked away. “Are you sure you’re not joining me?”

Lori’s gaze drifted from Gabe’s strong back to her tight ass. “I’m sure. I am going to watch though.” She sat on the small armchair beside the bathtub and leaned back to enjoy the show. When she was choosing a hotel for Saturday night, she’d wanted one with a wet room, a shower with no glass walls so she could do exactly this.

“I get it,” Gabe said.

Then she turned to face Lori and unbuckled her belt. Slowly. She pulled it from the loops of her combat pants with the urgency of a woman who held forever in her hands, then she draped it around Lori’s shoulders.

Lori nodded. “You do get it.”

Gabe opened the button of her pants, unzipped them, and then pulled them open to reveal snug white shorts. She turned around and bent over with her ass in the air facing toward Lori to unlace her boots. Which took an inordinate amount of time, but Lori reminded herself this was what she wanted. Even though she hadn’t really known it, or more accurately, hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it, she’d been waiting for this moment for two long months. Every meeting, every text exchange, every phone call had been a log on their fire, waiting to be ignited. The inevitability of their coming together was almost Biblical, as irresistible a force as the Earth being pulled toward the sun, and Lori was going to savor every single second of the crescendo.

Gabe kicked off her boots, and they were eventually joined by her socks and cargo pants, leaving her standing in just her watch and shorts and looking like she was ready for a Calvin Klein underwear shoot. She hooked her thumb in the waistband and edged them over her hips, low enough for Lori to see just the top of the triangle of hair that pointed down toward the good stuff. She maintained eye contact with Lori as she pushed them down further then shimmied them to the floor and stepped out of them.

Lori smiled widely. In all her naked glory, Gabe was even more magnificent than she could have imagined—and she’d imagined a lot.

Gabe backed away and got under the rainforest shower head before turning it on. The blast of cold water hardened her small nipples instantly, and Lori touched her own breast without thinking.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Gabe said as she pumped some shower gel and began to lather up.

Slowly.

“You’re touching yourself,” Lori said. “How is it unfair that I’m doing the same?”

“Because I want it to be the other way around.”

Lori unbuttoned her shirt and slipped her hand inside to cup her breast. “And it will be soon enough. Patience is a virtue, Gabe,” she said, for herself as much as for Gabe.

Gabe let out a long, breathy sigh. “But I’ve never been virtuous, and I think it’s too late for me to start now.”

“It’s never too late to take the right path.” Just like it hadn’t been too late for her to venture down this road and rescue them from the hungry mouth of the failed relationships beast. Lori fell silent as the gel became a white foam all over Gabe’s skin, and she watched, fascinated, as Gabe paid particular attention between her legs. She turned away from Lori and faced the wall. The water ran over her head and down her back, chasing away the soapy suds to expose her skin again. Gabe turned the shower off, grabbed a towel from the rail, and began to pat herself dry.

Mouth dry, Lori wished she’d brought a drink in with her. Who knew all this voyeurism could be such thirsty work?

Gabe hung the towel back on the rail and approached Lori, stopping just short of touching distance. She held out her hand. “Can I take you to bed?”

Lori grasped Gabe’s hand and stood up. “Only if you promise not to let me sleep.”

Gabe lifted Lori up, and she wrapped her legs around Gabe’s waist. “That’s a promise I’d love to keep.”

Lori softened in her arms, more than a little swept away by the effortless show of strength as Gabe walked them into the bedroom. “You can put me down here,” Lori said, and Gabe lowered her to her feet slowly. She pushed against Gabe’s chest, hoping to push her backward onto the bed, but the muscle in Gabe’s chest didn’t budge, and she remained standing as solidly as a brick wall.

Gabe winked and jumped back onto the bed as if pushed by an inhumanely strong person. She put her hands behind her head and lay there as boldly as if she were fully clothed. Oh, to have that kind of confidence, Lori thought. But with a body like that, how could she not?

“Is it my turn for a show?” Gabe asked.

“No. You are the show.” Lori knelt on the floor between Gabe’s feet. “Scooch down.”

Gabe shuffled closer. Lori hooked her arms under Gabe’s powerful legs and placed her hands on the solid slabs of muscle covering Gabe’s hips. She kissed the soft skin on the inside of Gabe’s right thigh, starting at her knee and working her way closer to the strong scent of Gabe’s obvious arousal. Lori skipped over to Gabe’s left thigh as she blew a light breath over Gabe’s clit, and Gabe pushed her hips up in an attempt to meet Lori’s mouth.

Lori pressed Gabe back to the bed and shook her head. “What did I say about patience?” she whispered before returning her lips to Gabe’s legs.

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