A quick check showed it was warm now, so she tugged G.G.’s T-shirt up over her head, dropped it on the floor next to her discarded boots and stepped into the glass enclosure, then closed the door.
The water was hot and soothing on her body, washing away the evidence of her first time making love, but not the memory. Ildaria stood still and enjoyed it for a moment, and then quickly washed and conditioned her hair, before grabbing the bar of soap. She built up a lather and washed the rest of her body, surprised to find herself sore in some places. It seemed G.G. had been a little overenthusiastic with her breasts. They were tender now as she washed and rinsed them. That surprised her. The tenderness between her legs surprised her too. The pain she’d experienced the first time had been minimal really, sudden, sharp and then quickly gone. She was tender there now, though, and frowned at the knowledge, thinking that the nanos should have healed her already. She and G.G. must have been unconscious on the floor for—
Oh, right, Ildaria thought suddenly. She hadn’t fed yet today. She should have grabbed a bag or two the moment she woke up, but she’d been distracted by G.G.’s presence in her kitchen, and then Lucian had arrived, which had been followed by she and G.G. doing the Mimi.
Good Lord, G.G. was lucky she hadn’t bit him, Ildaria thought and actually stopped soaping herself up to wonder why she hadn’t, or hadn’t at least been tempted. In the end, she decided she’d simply been too distracted by other needs to recognize that one among them. And then their coupling had been incredibly swift. Both times.
Ildaria had heard the expression “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am,” but with them it had been “Wham, boom” followed by long periods of unconsciousness. She’d guess in the four hours since Lucian had left, they’d spent about three hours and fifty-four minutes unconscious, and perhaps six minutes actually having sex. Three minutes each time. Or perhaps five minutes the first time because they’d had trouble getting her pants off.
Speaking of which, those were a ruin, Ildaria thought as she finished washing and rinsing herself. That was a shame; she had really liked those pants.
Shaking her head, she opened the door and reached out to grab the towel she’d hung up to use earlier. It wasn’t there, but suddenly appeared in front of her. Turning her head, Ildaria found Mary Guiscard holding out the towel.
“You aren’t a failure,” G.G.’s mother told her softly when she didn’t immediately take the towel. “I am. I failed Joshua terribly by allowing him to witness the turn. Which ultimately means I failed you too, and I am terribly sorry for that.”
Mary Guiscard then released the towel and turned to leave the room.
Ildaria caught the towel as it fell, quickly dried her hair and body, then wrapped it around herself and tucked the end into the top before following the woman out of the bathroom. She found G.G.’s mother seated on the bed next to where H.D. had curled up and gone to sleep.
“I was told you had left G.—Joshua with a neighbor and the neighbor brought him home too soon,” Ildaria said as she walked to the bed. Picking up the panties, she stepped into them and pulled them up under the towel as she added, “That is not your fault.”
“Yes, it was. Obviously I was not clear about how long I needed her to watch Joshua. Unfortunately, I had no idea myself. Robert had said sometimes it took a night, sometimes two or three days, so I was vague with her. That was my second mistake,” she added gravely as Ildaria dropped the towel to don the bra.
Ildaria had hesitated, briefly debating turning her back to don it, but then she’d decided she was acting like a silly virgin and had decided she would brazen it out. It was just a shame she didn’t feel brazen. She wasn’t used to dressing or undressing in front of anyone. Her grandmother had always been very conservative and given her privacy for dressing once she could manage it on her own. But she’d started this, so she tried to act like it didn’t bother her as she slid her arms into the bra, tugged it into place and then reached behind her back to do it up. She was just finishing doing it up when G.G.’s mother said that about it being