Page 48 of Hiding Rose
He held his hands up against his chest. “Only if you want to,” he answered, then spun around and turned the bubbles on in the tub, letting them swish the heated water around for a bit. We had the forethought to fill the tub earlier in case we wanted to use it tonight. The question still hung in the air. Did I want to wear a suit? Did I want to get into a jacuzzi with him in my birthday suit? Was I ready for what might happen if I did? I suspected I wouldn’t be able to answer that question until the moment was upon me. Do I love him? Yes. Do I trust him? Surprisingly, yes. I hadn’t reached a decision when he strode back to the bed and pointed at the bathroom.
“I’ll be right back.”
I nodded and stared at his receding backside, which by all rights was enough reason to pray he decided to wear his birthday suit, too. He worked out religiously, and a girl could definitely appreciate his efforts. I quickly shucked my dress, bra, and panties, crutching to the tub. If I could get up on the edge of the tub balancing on my crutches, I could fall into the water and hide under the bubbles. When he came out he wouldn’t know if I was dressed or not. I made several attempts to swing my good leg over the edge, but each time I slipped back to the carpet, the lip a hair too tall for my tiny frame. I would have to wait for him to help me in, which meant I should put a suit on. Before I could move he strode back into the room, his clothes gone and his lower half barely covered in a Speedo. He had two towels and laid them near the edge of the tub. In his scantily clad outfit, it was easy to see his reaction to my nakedness. He stalked toward me and stopped a few feet away, his eyes closing and his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he steeled himself.
“You’re so damn beautiful, Rose,” he whispered, his eyes still closed. “I’m not even ashamed standing here hard before you. Do you see the incredible power you have over me?”
His eyes opened and he took my crutches, bracing my hands on the tub while he laid them down. “I’m going to lift you up and over, then you settle where it’s comfortable.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he seamlessly lifted me over the edge, setting me into the water. The heat and bubbles instantly soothed my tired leg, and I leaned back against the edge, moaning softly.
“Incredible. I need one of these at home,” I sighed, as he joined me in the tub.
He chuckled. “I think you should tell Gideon it would help in your recovery. He would have one for you the next day.”
“Which is the reason I don’t say anything. I already feel guilty enough about all the money and time they’ve spent on me. I can never repay them for saving my life.”
He lifted my bad leg and laid it over his lap, not touching it, but propping it so it was elevated. “They don’t want you to feel guilty or to pay them back. They have this inability to separate themselves from a friend in need. I’ve seen it over and over with them. Gideon pulled Mally out of homelessness and paid for his schooling, then gave him a job, all because he was willing to drive Kate to the hospital as she lay bleeding in the back of his taxi cab. I’ve seen it when Lei was being stalked and threatened. Gideon flew a private investigator over and paid for full-time security until Lei was safe again. I have story after story of Gideon and Kate helping the people on this island. They’ve been fortunate and they like to give back. When Kate was given a second chance, they vowed to use their fortune to do good. They’ve taken care of you, and now you’re giving back to their resort by implementing a project the likes of which no other resort on the island has ever seen. In a matter of a year you’ll have brought in more revenue for the resort than they ever spent saving your life, and that’s only one year. You have to stop feeling guilty or it’s going to eat you alive.”
I lay in the warm, bubbly water and considered what he said. “I suppose you’re right. Sometimes it’s hard to see the end game when I’m still in the middle of the final quarter. My leg isn’t healing and Jarrett is out there taunting me somewhere. I struggle to remember it won’t be this way forever. Eventually, if Jarret is cau—”
“When Jarrett is caught,” he insisted and I held up my hand.
“When Jarrett is caught, maybe it will be easier to plan a future. Right now, I spend every moment in fear of when the next bullet is going to rip through my flesh.”
His arms encircled me before I saw him move. “Not going to happen,” he said through gritted teeth. “I will take the bullet before I let him hurt you again. Do you understand me. No one will ever hurt you again.”
“I’m trying to believe, Sawyer, but it’s going to take some time,” I whispered, his warm, wet chest heaving under my cheek.
His arms loosened and then released me as he leaned back against the tub, his hands going under the water to run lightly up and down my leg. “Will it cause a problem if I do this? Does it hurt?” he asked, his touch tentative as his fingers trailed across the lumpy flesh.
“The water is relaxing the muscles which are usually tight and unforgiving. You aren’t hurting me,” I answered, my head resting on the tub and my breasts floating at the top of the water line.
“I’m glad the water is helping relax it. You need to find something you can use when it gets to be too much. I’m going to talk to Gideon about getting a jacuzzi tub put in your apartment.”
I grasped his arm. “Please, don’t. I can use the one in the workout room when it gets bad enough. I don’t want any special treatment. Please. Besides, when you buried my leg in the sand the other night, I discovered how sand conducts the heat. I can always spend time on the beach with you if need be.”
He gazed into my eyes for the longest time, but finally relented. “For now,” he said. “But we’ll revisit it after we see the doctor tomorrow. We need to do whatever he suggests, even if it means we have to spend some money. I have a bigger apartment than you, and I can always put a small portable hot tub in the corner for you to use.”
“We?” I asked, surprised by his words. “Your apartment?”
He nodded. “I’m in this with you for the long haul, Rose. I won’t give up on you and I won’t give up on us. You deserve happiness, and so do I.”
“And I make you happy?” I asked, as he tucked his hand over the edge of my thigh and let his hand settle there. He was dangerously close to my mound and I had to swallow when I let my mind wander to what it would feel like to have him touch me.
He leaned on the edge of the tub with his shoulder, his lips making contact with my neck. When I turned my head, he caught my lips with his and his hand caressed my face. “The last eight months have been pure torture wanting to be with you, but not wanting to scare you. Even as I struggled to break into your heart, it still made me happy to see you. When Gideon told me I would have to work with you in order to get a daycare center kitchen and menu completed, I saw it as an opportunity. I had a reason to get to know you, and show you how much I care about you. I didn’t know if it would work out between us, but I knew I had to try. You make me happy every time I think about you, which is basically all the time, you might as well know. You feel like your world is in turmoil right now, but I’ve never been happier. I’ve never been with a woman like you, Rose. It’s a heady, sexy, overpowering feeling of love when I hold you.”
My hand went to his face, dripping water down his cheek and onto his shoulder as my lips sought his. His hand brushed my breast as it floated lazily on the bubbles and I moaned against his lips. His hand abandoned its shoring on my shoulder and grasped the tender mound of flesh, barely big enough to fill his hand, but sensitive enough to set me on fire.
He shifted on the seat and lifted me by my waist, settling me on his lap, letting my leg float free in the water. His hardness pulsed against my thigh and I stroked it lightly, not expecting the hiss that escaped his lips.
"You stood naked before me, trusting your whole self to me, and I was a goner," he whispered, his lips leaving mine to tease the nipple floating near them. He sucked, kissed and massaged until I wanted to explode from the pleasure of his touch. I arched my back and he used his left hand to brace me while his right hand slithered below the water, his lips back on mine. I could feel his hand hovering on my belly. "I want to touch you. Will that scare you?" he asked.
I tossed my head back and forth. “I need you to touch me,” I begged, lost in the moment.
His tongue plunged into my mouth at the same moment his hand settled on my mound. I reached inside his Speedo and gripped him, a growl ripping from his throat. His hand stilled on me and he sank his teeth into my shoulder gently. "We have to stop, now, or I won't be able to," he panted, kissing away the sting left behind from his nip.
"I don't want to stop," I whispered, keeping a firm grip on him. "I just want to feel."
