Page 27 of Canvas of Lies
I knew I should agree, avert my eyes and nudge her into the shower alone, but I couldn’t. Instead, I cupped her cheek in my hand and dropped a gentle kiss to her lips.
“Only until it doesn’t hurt to move,” I replied.
“Well, that much we can agree on. I think my arms are just about useless.”
I managed to keep my eyes off her breasts, covered by pale blue lace, and turned her so I could unwrap the bandage from her arm. Only a small section of the cut had opened, presumably during her heroic monkey bar routine on that branch, but I cleaned it with antiseptic before tipping my head toward the shower.
“Go on, get in. It’s going to take me a few minutes to bend far enough to get my jeans off.”
It looked like she was about to offer her assistance, then she snapped her mouth shut and turned away to remove the bra and her black jeans, which she’d obviously decided were a better option to flee in than oversized sweatpants. I tried to focus on removing my own clothes, but then I saw the reflection of her bare back in the mirror as she stepped behind the shower curtain.
Certain parts of my body disagreed rather vehemently with the assessment that further relations needed to wait.
When had a woman’s back ever intrigued me like that? The sleek curve of muscle on either side of her spine, the indent of her waist, the flare of those soft, generous hips—fuck, I was like a horny teenager all over again, still lusting after Katherine Willoughby.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
My father’s favorite phrase nudged at my brain as I leaned on the counter beside the sink and closed my eyes, trying hard to control myself in an attempt to not greet Kat with a raging erection.
From within the billowing steam of the shower, she gave a sharp gasp that went a good way toward quelling my arousal.
“Everything okay?” I called, kicking off my jeans faster than I’d thought possible.
“Yes, the water just stung for a second,” she replied as I opened the curtain to join her.
Her mouth dropped open as she gave my naked body a slow once over, but she managed to shut it as I stepped in. With obvious effort, she forced her eyes to my face, smirking when she caught me in the same struggle.
She was nothing less than perfection. The coating of dust and dirt didn’t even begin to detract from the fact that this woman was a dream come true. Our gazes locked and held for another beat, then I allowed myself a second perusal of her bare skin, watched as a pretty blush spread across her chestand cheeks, caught the way her breath lifted her breasts like an offering before me.
With immense effort, I kept myself from reaching for them and offered a crooked grin instead. “Turn around. I’ll wash your back. You look like you took a bath in those rocks.”
Shockingly, she did as instructed without any of the clever little quips I’d expect from her. My hands came down gently on her shoulders, smoothing away the layer of dust as water streamed over her skin. It would’ve been stunningly erotic if not for the pain radiating along my limbs, but when Kat let her head fall forward and allowed me to take care of her, I was overwhelmed by a flood of affection.
Even if landing flat on my back was certainly not the highlight of my day so far, I imagined she felt far worse after her climb. It had taken me too long to locate her, meaning she’d probably been trying to tough it out longer than she would admit.
I pressed my thumbs into the muscles just below her neck, easing the tension with firm circles until she dropped her chin to her chest and made a soft sound of pleasure.
In silence, I worked my way down her back, coaxing the sore muscles back to life even as I tried to ignore my reaction to the way she arched and swayed into my touch. When I paused to add another squirt of body wash to my palm, Kat peeked over her shoulder at me.
“You’re good at this,” she said.
I grinned and started back at her shoulders, this time moving my hands slowly down her arms. A tiny hiss escaped her lips when I rubbed her biceps, though I carefully avoided her injury. When I reached her hands, I laced our fingers together and tried to keep a respectful distance between us, no matter how much my own body complained about the space.
“You’re stronger than you look. I thought for sure you were going to come crashing down any second from the moment I saw you hanging there. That was pretty impressive.”
Kat snorted and leaned back against my chest, effectively ruining my gallant effort to hide my body’s response to having her naked, glorious self so close.
“I’m sure it was pretty stupid, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
I gave up on chivalry and rested my chin on her shoulder, finally allowing my gaze to drop so I could look down the front of her. A droplet of water rolled slowly from her collar bone over the swell of her breast, then clung for a second to the bud of her nipple before dripping downward.
“Well, shit.”
“What?” she asked, turning her head to look at me.
The movement set her lips a fraction of an inch from my jaw. Her cheeks, already flushed from the steam, went scarlet.
“You have the most glorious breasts I’veeverseen,” I informed her, unabashedly watching as the dusky pink tips peaked under my gaze. “And my father was French. I’ve seen a lot of breasts in my life, you know.”
