Page 29 of His Forever

When her first client came in, she walked her to the room and told her she would be back in a few minutes and would knock before coming in. While she waited, she did some more deep breathing exercises to push the pain further away, then squared her shoulders and after knocking, went in and got on with her day.

***

He could tell when she walked in the room that she was in pain, even though she smiled and chatted with him as if all was well.So independent. While he admired that quality, he wanted her to feel comfortable enough to share whatever was bothering her. “Marleigh? Are you okay?” he finally asked.

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine Zeus,” she replied, not wanting to tell him that the cramps were off-the-chain horrible this month.

Reaching out somewhat blindly as he was now on his stomach with his head down in the head cradle, he touched her leg. “No, you’re notfine, mi siempre hermosa,” he said firmly. “Now, tell me what is wrong.”

Sighing because whenever he usedthatvoice he turned her into goo, she said, “Just cramping bad today. It’ll pass. If I keep moving, it helps.”

He gently rubbed her leg before replying, “I’m sorry, mi siempre hermosa, that you are hurting today. I wish I could help.”

She smiled because just his words of concern helped her more than he would ever realize. “You already did, Zeus.”

“How?”

“Just by showing concern.” With that, she continued his massage and once again, her hands and what she was doing put him in a light doze until she leaned in close and said, “You’re all done. Take your time, I’ll see you out front.”

“M’kay, mi siempre hermosa.”

Once dressed, he found her in the breakroom rubbing her low back. Taking her hand, he led her back to her room and closed the door. “Lay down, Marleigh, and let me see if I can help, okay?”

As embarrassment flooded her face, she looked at everythingbuthim. He tilted her face in his hands and kissed her forehead before he said, “I mean it, mi siempre hermosa. No shame here, remember I’ve grown up in a household of mostly women.”

Sighing loudly, she laid face down on the table, breathing in the essence that was him since the sheets had not been changed yet. He gently pushed up her top to under her bra and then said, “Tell me how to use these magical stones of yours.”

She nearly groaned out loud at how good that was going to feel before saying, “Use your hands to pick one up in each hand and then rub it across the area you want to loosen. Once you have them where you want them, you can let them sit for a few minutes.”

He went to the warming container she used and pulled out two flat stones and shook off most of the water before he gently moved them across her back before settling them in the curve just above her ass. “Mmm, that feels heavenly, Zeus,” she murmured, already feeling the difference as the heat seeped into the aching places.

Once they had cooled, he removed them off to the side where he saw she had others, then he grabbed some of her lotion and warmed it up in his hands before he placed them on her back and began rubbing. “Tell me if that is too much, okay?”

“Feels good, Zeus, it really does,” she replied, doing her best not to let out a moan. For not being a professional, he had good hands and she thought it had more to do with the kind of work he did than anything. She could feel the cramps easing up and just laid there letting him massage and soothe the area.

After about twenty minutes of his gentle yet deep massage, she felt like melted butter and said, “Zeus? You’ve got the magic touch as well.”

“Only for you, mi siempre hermosa, only for you.” He grabbed a clean towel and wiped the lotion off so her shirt wouldn’t get ruined then pulled it back down before he helped her sit up. She looked at him and smiled and he felt his heart clench. She honestly had no clue how he felt and while he wanted to shout it to everyone who would listen, he was waiting forherto realize how she felt. He was a patient man, most times, and would continue to bide his time. “You good, Marleigh?” he finally asked her.

“Yeah, Zeus. Thank you. I think I can even handle our trip to Walmart and the pet store now,” she said, laughing.

“You will not pick anything up. I remember how my sisters and Mamá would get sometimes, so I know you’ll try to do too much,” he told her.

“No, no I won’t. I mean, moving helps, of course, but honestly? When they’re this bad the only thing that helps is a heating pad and the medicine. Speaking of, I need to add a heating pad to my list before I forget,” she told him, standing up to go grab her purse and pull out the list she had started. He stopped her and pulled her close, keeping his hands pressed firmly in her low back. Without thinking, she raised her hand and cupped his face before standing up on tiptoe and kissing him.

He quickly took over the kiss and she found herself moaning for an entirely different reason that had little to do with pain and everything to do with the passion that his touch ignited. He finally pulled back and wasn’t surprised to see the look of bemusement on her face. Chuckling a little, he said, “You ready to run our errands, mi siempre hermosa? The sooner we get done and eat, the sooner you can go home and relax.”

“Y-yes, I’m ready. Let me just grab these sheets and toss them into the laundry. I think your mom and the girls are coming in Monday to do a deep clean of the rest of the salon and they said they’d do the laundry for me.”

“Very good. You’ll have a few days to get past the worst of it then, si?”

“Mmhmm,” she said, grabbing the used sheets and making short work of cleaning the stones before shutting the heater off. She turned off the candle warmer, and grabbed her phone from the dock before saying, “I’m ready if you are, Zeus.”

“Mi siempre hermosa, don’t forget your tips!”

“Ah, thank you, I tend to do that and am grateful I work with folks who are trustworthy. I think the cats need their ‘gushy food’ as Paulie calls it. Well, actually, that’s what he saysHarrycalls it.”

“Will you…can you beg off from your mother’s tomorrow?”

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