Page 64 of The Mountain
Lily pulls back, gripping my shoulders with both hands, no longer bothering to cover her chest. But all I can see is her face, eyes gleaming, expression earnest and warm.
“I trust you. When you touch me, I know you don’t want more, because you’ve told me. There’s nothing confusing about it.” She tilts her chin to the running shower, then adds: “There’s nothing confusing about any of this.” She scrunches up her nose. “I love being close to you too. I love everything about you, actually.” Her eyes widen at the admission, cheeks flushing so dark, the freckles scattered across her nose momentarily disappear.
My stomach flips, the oxygen suddenly rushing from my lungs, as if I’ve just been shot straight up to ten thousand feet altitude all over again.I love everything about you. It’s not quite the words that have sat on the tip of my tongue for the past couple weeks, but it’s not far off either. The words that have danced like campfire embers in my fantasies, mingling with smiles and close bodies and laughter under the stars.
“I… I don’t know how to explain it,” she continues, her voice thick, raspy. “But what I feel for you, it’s like this pull, right here.” She presses one fist to her bare chest, above her heart. “It’s intoxicating—and terrifying—because I haven’t even known you for two months. I mean, is this how people feel? Is this normal? To feel like you’re drowning and flying at the same time? To feel like your very soul is tied to someone else?” She gives a breathless laugh, then shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I probably sound completely crazy…”
I shake my head vehemently, unable to speak, to think.
Her bare shoulders slump, but she powers on. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not sitting here, hoping you’ll suddenly want to have sex with me or whatever. What I feel for you… it’s in my heart, not between my thighs.” She gives another self-deprecating chuckle, then adds, her voice almost a whisper: “And I think you’re perfect, just the way you are.”
“Oh, honey.”
I pull her against me so fast, the air rushes out of her in a surprisedumpfas she slams against my chest. I wince, a muttered ‘sorry’ brushing against the top of her head before I pepper her snowboard-mussed hair with kisses. All the things I want to say to her evaporate with the steam swirling around us, the You mean its?andI don’t deserve yousunable to make it past the lump in my throat.
It's probably for the best. Words are just beautiful air. I want to make herfeelwhat she means to me.
I release my hold on her, give her a watery smile, then peel off my sweater and thermal in one quick move, sighing in relief at the feel of the air on my skin. I lock my eyes with hers as I reachto pull down my sweats, pausing with my thumbs tucked under the waistband.
She grins back at me, a broad smile full of relief and gratitude that has my chest almost cracking.
“You better get in the shower before we use up all the hot water,” I tell her teasingly, though in truth the chances of that happening are pretty small. Even with all six of us, I haven’t had a cold shower once, so the owner of this condo obviously didn’t skimp on the hot water cylinder.
Lily snorts before turning her back to me, quickly stripping off the rest of her clothes and climbing into the shower. I do the same, ignoring the way my hands tremble as I pull back the shower curtain, my heart thundering even louder than the shower spray.
By the time I step over the lip of the tub, Lily is standing directly under the spray, head tipped back, eyes closed and lips parted. A tendril of wet hair drapes across her shoulder, rivulets of water running from it over her collarbone, then around the swell of one breast. I track its movement down the length of her body, smiling at the bikini tan line that hasn’t quite faded, despite a month and a half away from the sun.
“You going to make room for me?” I ask, eyeing the space dubiously. I know she and Eddie have showered together in here before, but I’m quite a bit bigger than he is.
“Oh, yeah, sorry!” Lily splutters under the water, reaching up to swipe at her face with her palms, then steps to one side. “Your turn,” she says, eyes creasing at the corners. “I can be a bit of a shower hog. Fair warning.”
I huff out a laugh, my hip slipping against her backside as she shuffles past, and I take her place beneath the spray. “Noted.” I chuckle, tipping my head back to soak my hair.
The feeling of relief is instantaneous, like all the stress of this morning, and all my earlier anxiety about being naked with Lily, is slipping with the water down my body and down the drain. I reach up, scrubbing at my scalp, groaning at the almost scalding heat against my shoulders, drenching my hair.
“Can’t believe I apologized for hogging the shower,” Lily grumbles, nudging me in the chest. “You’re even worse than I am.”
I blink rapidly, attempting to clear the water from my vision. “Sorry.” I flash her what I hope is an apologetic smile, but the faint twinge of guilt isn’t quite enough to make me want to move from under the water just yet. “It’s been a while since I showered with anyone.”
“I can see why,” Lily deadpans, reaching past me for her shampoo. The move has her shoulder bumping against my side, our bodies slick and hot where they rub together. The feel of her, of that smooth skin against my own, it has a sense of rightness settling deep in my bones.
Lily gives me a bemused look before tilting her head back to lather up her hair, squeezing her eyes shut as suds drip down her body in clumps, pooling at her feet.
“I can do that for you,” I offer, feeling suddenly shy.
I’ve never washed anyone’s hair before—except for the twins, when they were younger, but that always involved a significant amount of bribery and pleading. Occasionally wrangling. I’m not sure why I’m offering to wash Lily’s now—it’s not like she needsmy help or anything. But I want my hands to be where her hands are, touching her. I want to draw out the little moans and sighs she sometimes makes when I’m rubbing her shoulders in the evening.
“Okay.”
Her lips curve into a smile, her eyes still squeezed shut, and she turns blindly until her back is to me, the curve of her ass nearly brushing the tip of my half-hard cock. I grimace at the sight of it, thick and arching toward her, and hope she doesn’t feel it. Doesn’t see it. Doesn’t mistake what is just a biological reaction to heat and relaxation for something more.
Hands trembling, I reach up, slipping my fingers into her soapy tresses. She leans against my touch, like a cat eager to be petted, a soft sigh leaving her lips. That sound, faint against the drumming of the shower, has something solidifying behind my ribs, a steadying sense of determination rising up in me. I deepen the pressure, grinning when it draws a hearty moan from her.
“You like that?” I chuckle.
“Hmm.”
I can’t see her face, but I can imagine it, expression slack and lips parted and eyes closed. The faintest of satisfied smiles curving her lips.
