“You’re welcome to come into the bathroom whenever you want.”
With a light slap to his ass, she headed for the shower. She could feel his covetous eyes on her the whole way around the corner. He didn’t follow immediately, but she’d be surprised if he didn’t show up after he’d changed. Tonight was going to be interesting, balancing the need they both felt with Hauk’s sensitivity to touch.
Interesting, and a whole lot of fun.
His bathroom was tiny, with just enough room for a sink, toilet and shower stall, but the appointments were all exquisite—a hammered copper sink, thick green towels and a handmade glass shower door with a smoky texture.
She turned the water to hot and dropped her clothes on the floor as she thought over the research on burn scars that she’d done since meeting Hauk. At first she’d hit the internet out of curiosity, but over the last two weeks she’d had a more intimate purpose.
The recovery process for burn scars was so painful and took so long that many patients came to associate all physical contact with pain, sort of like a touch-induced PTSD. Add to that, the scarring could deaden sensation, creating patches of feeling and no feeling across the area. She could touch Hauk somewhere and he wouldn’t feel it; then when she shifted slightly, he’d be startled to realize her hand was on his thigh or whatever. It was also likely Hauk was protective of his new skin, both appreciative for it in ways other people couldn’t be and hating it for the way it changed his life and his self-image.
She stepped into the shower and let the hot water soak her hair and skin. A physical relationship with Hauk was a little intimidating, and patience wasn’t normally one of her virtues. But Hauk was the kind of man who didn’t come along every day. Hell, she’d never encountered anyone like him and doubted she ever would again. He would risk himself, body and soul, for the people he cared about.
Now she had to convince him to take risks for himself.
They would take things as slow as he needed, moving one step at a time. But she could make sure every step rocked his world and left him panting for more.
As far as plans went, she thought it was a pretty good one.
* * *
Hauk pulled a short-sleeved shirt on and shut his dresser. The sound of pelting water changed from the steady staccato on the floor to the uneven rhythm of a body blocking the flow.
It was amazing to have her here. He shuffled toward the screen like a man hypnotized, imagining her red hair and soft skin naked and soaked.
He wouldn’t have to imagine it anymore.
At the screen he heard her voice, low but clear, singing some pop song he barely recognized. She was a shower singer, huh? He liked knowing that about her.
As he stepped around the corner, her voice came through clearer, singing raunchy lyrics without a whit of self-consciousness. He almost made a joke but stopped cold at the sight of her naked back through the textured glass. It wasn’t a clear image. The shadowy swirls distorted her just enough that his imagination still had to engage. But she was naked. In his shower. And her hourglass shape was worthy of a painting.
Her hands lifted her hair, massaging shampoo into the thick mass. Water trailed down her back, tracking paths he’d give anything to follow with his tongue. Her ass swayed to the rhythm of her song. Long, muscular legs led to her bare feet, something he rarely saw. She stood in his shower like an opened gift, so defenseless and yet content. And she’d invited him to see it.
He should probably say something, tell her he was there.
As he opened his mouth to speak, she twisted around to rinse her hair. The words died before he could form them.
She was still blurred. But even so he could make out the pink of her nipples and the smooth skin, absolutely smooth, all the way down to the cleft of her sex. Based on the costumes she wore for the burlesque, he’d guess she was waxed bare, but seeing it live blanked his brain.
She continued to sway as she sang, moving sensually to the rhythm of her words as lather washed down her body. She smoothed back her hair, and her eyes opened. Seeing him, she smiled and finished the last line of her song, singing it to him.
He briefly