Page 57 of Lost Kingdom

“Which is completely normal. Come on.” He quickly pulls back, surprising me with his swift move, then he tugs me off the bed and makes a beeline for the bathroom. “Bubbles. Warm water. I’ll get you coffee and we can chill the fuck out in the tub for a while.”

“Well, actually…” I stop in the door and watch the mighty and powerful Timothy Malone lean over a lake-sized jacuzzi tub and switch the taps on.Shut up, shut up, shut up! But when he grabs a bottle of perfumed soap, I can’t help myself. “That stuff is really bad for vaginal health.”Dear lord, shut up Joanette.“Our natural pH levels are thrown out after sex. Bubbles are the kiss of death when trying to rebalance things.”

He looks down at the purple bottle, then over his shoulder at me—blushing. Then he tosses the bottle. “Noted. I want your pH levels to be perfect, of course. Your mother would disapprove of anything less.”

“Godddddd.”

He spins and sweeps me into his arms, his smile wide and beautiful as a squeal bursts from my chest. But then he walks me to the filling tub and risks both our necks when he steps over the side. “I’ll set you on your feet.” He drops a gentle kiss on my lips. “You can sit in your own time, okay? If it’s too hot or too cold, tell me.”

Pleasure mingles in my blood with a painful dose of worry. Because I’m here with Tim and he wants to take care of me. But also,I’m here withTim, and having a bath with the man I’ve fawned over for too long is terrifying.

“Stop freaking out,” he croons, carefully lowering my legs and balancing me on my feet. Already, the warm water touches my skin and slows my racing heart. “You’re getting a little pale now that the sun is coming up. And I don’t want us to have that awkward morning after.”

“Because it’s weird?”

“Because it hurts you.” He releases my torso, but twines his fingers with mine. Then he sinks into the wide tub with his legs on either side of mine, resting his back against the freezing porcelain. And though he’s now eye-level with my vagina, he looks up instead, holding my eyes and gently coaxing me down. “Sit with me, Aubree. You even get to have your back to me, which means no eye contact.” He presses a kiss to my thigh, just inches from my core. And yet, he makes it feel wholesome. Adoring. And not at all seductive. “I want you to do whatever is comfortable.”

“I can sit.” Hesitant—how does one sit without bending? And if I bend, I’ll flash the poor man my butt. But… he had his tongue in my ass just a little while ago. Soooo…

“Aubree?”

“Yeah.” I rest my hands on the lip of the tub and lower to nestle between his thick thighs. And though I hold my breath when the water laps against my sensitive skin, it doesn’t sting. The warmth, the contact, none of it hurts nearly as much as I expected it would. “It’s not so bad.”

He cups the warm water and trickles it over my uncovered nipples. “It’s not so bad. Those are exactly the words I was hoping you’d use the first time we share a bath together.”

“Oh, shush.” I relax against his chest and exhale a contented sigh as the rushing water level rises. Over my thighs and up to my belly. Then my sternum. “This isn’t about you, okay? Not everything is about you.”

“Did you forget my last name?” He feathers a gentle kiss to my temple. “Everythingisabout me. Always.”

“Narcissist.”

“Confidently well bred.” He cups more water and drips it over my collarbone. “Feel better?”

“Yeah.” And I do. So much better. Tilting my head back, I search for his eyes and smile when they dance with pleasure. Adoration. Sweet, kind obsession. “I don’t know what happens once we leave this room and go back to the real world. And I don’t know if we’re saying this. But I love you.”

His heart thumps to a standstill beneath my ear.

“It can be the friendship kind of love. Or the family kind. Or the lovers kind. But I need you to know you’re loved.”

“Aubree—”

“Ever since I sat down and started bugging the cranky, older bartender, that’s the way I felt. It didn’t make sense, and God knows, you’re not the type of man I should give my heart to. But I know the life you’ve lived, and I know you probably haven’t heard those words very often. Not even from the brothers who do, in fact, love you.”

Never, his eyes scream.Never, ever, in the history of ever have I heard those words. Not like this.

“So you need to know how I feel.” I drag my bottom lip between my teeth and fight back the blush that wants to fill my cheeks. “This isn’t one of those post-sex word-vomit declarations. This is the same love I felt for you yesterday.”

He sets the pad of his thumb on my lip, tugging it from my teeth, and sliding the digit from left to right. “I know. All of it. I love you too. And not just because I know what your pussy tastes like.”

“You’re a jackass.” I turn in the bath, rising water lapping at the walls because of my momentum. But I rest against his chest and smile. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing my expression. Because he is, in fact, a jackass. But he’smyjackass, and that love I feel wouldn’t exist if he was different.

Flaws and all. We’re not who we are unless we embrace every facet.

“Jackass.”

He brings a hand up and slowly begins plucking pins from my hair. One, then two. Three and four. I know my updo is messy. Falling out in places and sitting off center because of the way I slept. Because of the way he wrapped my locks around his wrist and tugged so recently. But I didn’t remove the pins before I slept, and now they’re lost in my hair. Hidden as he slowly picks through and sets the steel lengths on the lip of the bath. “What are we when we leave this hotel?” He finds another pin, but drops it into the water by accident. “When we go back to our real lives, do you return to hating my guts and destroying my property, or…?”

“Do youwantme to hate you and break your things?”

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