“Bath?”
His one-word question makes me jump slightly. I’m deep in my own thoughts. He’s staring at me intently, halfway between me and the bathroom. If he keeps looking at me with that smoldering gaze, then the parts of me that are still lingering, wandering behind the others in some strange, distant land, are going to quickly catch up.
“A bath? Sounds heavenly.” I hear the shake in my words. As I stand I groan, my stomach full of goodness.
His phone buzzes. So does mine, simultaneously.
“Ignore it,” he says, voice neutral.
“But -- ”
“Silas has strict orders. No calls for me. I have my emergency phone if it’s life-or-death. Those aren’t.” He crosses the room and puts his hands on my shoulders, rubbing them slightly, his thumbs moving in seductive circles that stoke a fire in me. “Let’s take a bath.”
“Together?”
He bites his lower lip, then frowns. “Or alone, if you want.”
“No, no!” I stammer. “We can, together.” I look at my sling. “I just don’t know...”
“Wait till you see the tub. I requested one with an accessible door.”
“A bathtub with a door?”
He motions toward the bathroom. When we walk in, I see.
Drew has truly taken care of all the details.
The bathtub is enormous, and taller than usual. It has seats in it on opposite ends, and a small door that he opens with a flourish.
“This is a bathtub for old people,” I say, chuckling.
“We’ll be old people someday,” he says with a shrug. “And we’ll do it together.”
I try to imagine him with silver strands in his brown hair, with age lines (never wrinkles, Mom says – just age lines...) and that older, sophisticated look men acquire. He is my husband.
Mine.
Forever.
A rush of desire overwhelms me, plucking my breath, making me ache for him in a way I didn’t think I could feel ever again. It’s all coming back now. My diamond ring sparkles in the low light of the room as Drew pulls me into his embrace, whispering in my ear.
“If this is too much, say so.”
“It’s too much,” I say, “but I love it. I love you.”
He kisses me, searching and sweet, then bold and strong. Every embrace is at an angle, my arm a third wheel in our relationship. As the kiss ends, he reaches for my shirt, unbuttoning the front buttons, working carefully.
“Can I help you undress?”
“Yes.” I’m not shy, to my surprise. Just skittish, a little cold, and covered with aching reminders of what happened to my poor body. Once he has me fully undressed, he motions for me to sit inside the bathtub on one side, then he quickly makes himself nude, climbing in to the other seat, turning on the faucet.
“We sit in here and it fills up around us?” I marvel. He grabs a hotel-provided container of bubble bath. Sickly-sweet vanilla scent fills the air, bubbles foaming instantly in the shallow water at our feet.
“Yes. We just wait. As the water rises, our bodies acclimate, and then we enjoy. Like foreplay,” he jokes, but there’s no smile on his face.
Just desire.
Within minutes, the water is up to my breasts, threatening to get my shoulder wet, so he cuts off the flow. My breasts bob in the bubbles, the feeling of soaking divine. I’ve only taken showers with plastic bags all over my arm, so a bath is a piece of heaven.
A bath with Drew is even better.
“Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“What if I changed my mind?”
“You did?”
“Well, what if?”
“You can do that. You have all the control.”
“Actually, you changed my mind.”
“I did? How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on, Lindsay. You have to tell me so I can do more of it.”
“I really don’t know. You didn’t do it on purpose. You just...did.”
“This is really unfair.”
“Why? Oh! Oh, I mean, if you’re not interested...”
“Oh, I’m interested. Trust me, baby. I’m interested. I just want to know what I said to make you change your mind.” His toe finds mine under the water. He brushes it lightly, all along my calf, to my knee, then gently up my thigh, halfway, until I shiver.
“It wasn’t one thing. I can’t explain it. You just...well, you were just you.”
“And being me made you...” He moves swiftly across the water, bent before me, face to face. His hands are on my thighs, waiting.
“Want you.”
“Oh. Damn, Lindsay,” he says as he sighs. “That may be the most honest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I think that one time I called you an asshole I was more honest.”
“Hey!”
“You told me to give you the whole me.” Using my one good arm, I spread it wide in a boasting gesture. “This is it.” My bad elbow slips and almost dips into the water, but I save myself.
“I didn’t know name calling would be part of it.”
I give him a coy smile.
“What name do you have for this?” His fingers creep slowly up my side, making me relax, making me close my eyes and tip my head back, accepting his touch. He cups one breast, not moving once he has it in his hand. Just feeling, exploring, touching.
Taking his time.
I’m surprised by how much I want him. Back in the hospital, I’d given up on ever being close to anyone again. That sense of being so dirty and used, turned into an animal, a device, an object moved around by other people to meet their goals made me want to crawl into a hole and just live the rest of my life alone.
Drew wouldn’t let me do that. And now here he is, loving all the pieces of me until they work together again, as one.
Helping me to be whole.
Desire lives inside his gentle touch, his intent clear. The hot bath is both soothing and cleansing, invigorating and sensual.
So is he.
“Lindsay,” he whispers, moving close, his mouth against my ear, kissing me lightly on the soft skin beneath my earlobe. “You’re my wife now.”
I shiver at the word wife.
“You’re mine. No one else’s. I’ve spent all these years trying to find my way back to you. No one will ever keep us apart. No one. Do you hear me?” He looks into my eyes, dark and firm.