Water is raining down on us both, tangling in my lashes, coating his clothes, and still... he’s perfect right now. Gorgeous and warm, calm and steady. Clean lines and sneaky sensuality. He’s everything I need in this moment. Everything I wish Iwasin this moment.
I wonder if he loans out that kind of control.
Beau leans forward and presses a swift, firm kiss on my lips, and my fingers fly up to trace the imprint as he backs up.
Biting back a smile, I say sweetly, “I’m surprised you braved that kiss.” My smile is cherry syrup, saccharine and tart. “You know, considering my breath smells like carrion.”
Beau smirks back. “Toothpaste is on the shelf. I’d recommend it.”
He pulls his saturated shirt over his head, then tosses it down on the pile.
My smile dies, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as he turns toward the door with a wink, every golden muscle gleaming under the lights.
“See you soon, darlin’.”
* * *
I spenda sinful amount of time in the shower. Truly sinful. Pray to God for using up half the lakes in the forest sinful.
While I appreciated Beau’s sweet invitation to continue my breakdown in the shower, I decide to ignore it. My tears before are the last ones I’ll shed over this whole ordeal.
They have to be.
I’m back at Bristlebrook, and despite all the uncertainty and plans that need to be made, I’m safe, and I have a beautiful, wonderful man who has moved into my room. It’s more than I’ve had most of my life, and I need to remember how lucky I really am. There’s no point in dwelling on this. On my guilt, or my anger, or my heartbreak.
None of it helps me, and it’s only making me feel worse to think on it.
And so I won’t.
Instead, I brush my teeth. Withtoothpaste. I scrub every inch of my skin. Shave. Wash my hair. I even scatter scented shower salts over the floor only to realize they lost their scent long ago. I breathe in the steamy cloud.
In the mirror after my shower, I moisturize, then I dry my hair and catalog all the ways that I’m exactly the same as when I left.
By the time I’m done, I feel steadier. Determined. A little more myself.
Glancing around the room, I realize I didn’t bring any clothes in with me, so I wrap a towel around me and open the door... to a sight.
The fireplace is crackling, bathing the room in a cozy, amber light. There’s a wedge of cheese on the low table, cut up into small pieces, along with dried meat and some vegetables. A bottle of wine sits beside the platter, with a glass that glimmers in the light.
Beau’s things have been packed away, and Beau himself is sprawled on the bed, shirtless and resting against the sweeping wooden headboard, a glass of wine in his hand.
Curiously, his medical bag is beside him.
His eyes light on me.
“Well, now,” he murmurs. “Aren’t you enough to break a man’s heart.”
I stare at his chest. In the firelight, he’s soaked in gold. It highlights every dip and hollow of his abdominals, the planes of his pecs, the brown discs of his nipples. Heat flushes through me. He takes a slow sip of his wine, then gets off the bed.
“Come on, let’s get you fed.”
I’m torn between agreeing and wanting to dive straight into that bed with him, but at the hollow ache in my stomach, I follow him to the couch. I need to adjust the short towel over my thighs, but it hardly covers them.
Beau sits beside me, pours me a glass of wine, then he plucks up a wedge of cheese. I move to get my own, but he catches my hand.
“Let me.”
He leans over me, coaxing me back into the couch, and I take a deep, shaky breath. He smells good. His eyes are intent, fixed on my mouth, and my legs part just a little, already feeling warm and slick.