He squeezed her hips, his hand teasing her ass and the waist of the soft pajama pants she wore, so she would hopefully realize how much he wanted her. “I would like that very much.”
“Good,” she said, suddenly bouncing off the bed to rummage through her suitcase.
Henry pushed up on his elbows to study her, confused. He definitely hadn’t meant for her to leave the bed, since his seduction plan required her to still be next to him. “Uh, babe...”
She stared at him, her face red, and blinked.
Henry swallowed a smile and sat, drawing off his shirt. “Full body?”
He almost choked at her expression, and flopped back onto his stomach so he could hide his amusement before she got too nervous and ran away. Henry stretched and slowly gripped the headboard when he felt the mattress dip as Ophelia returned. His control was about to be tested to its goddamn limits. It might take a few years off his life to not grab her immediately, but he couldn’t afford to fuck it up. He breathed and forced himself to relax as her palm pressed on the small of his back and the slick oil she poured on his skin filled the room with a hint of something flowery.
Henry’s hands twitched as he resisted the urge to pat her ass. He just had to lie there. That was his only job, at least until she signaled she was ready for more. He clenched his jaw as her thighs moved over his so she could reach more of him, and figured it was payback for something awful he’d done in another life. It might be the longest night of his damn life, and he would revel in every minute of it.
Chapter 29
Ophelia
I must have lost my mind completely. First I practically offered to kiss his ass, then I almost propositioned him. Henry must have thought me out of my mind or too bold or... or maybe he liked it, because he was pretty excited about the massage. I’d meant to kiss him again or offer to trade something in exchange for the knitting needle poke, but I wasn’t brave enough. I’d chickened out.
And then he asked if the massage was full body. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing in disbelief as I balanced on my knees next to Henry’s prone form. He was just as much a tease as Evershaw, that was for damn sure.
He was every bit as intimidating, too. I could hardly breathe as I spread some scented oil on my hands and stared down at the broad expanse of his back. He was covered in scars—slashes and divots, what could have been burns, maybe a gunshot or two. I cleared my throat as I leaned over him and slid my hands up his spine. “What happened, with all of this?”
“Got knocked around a lot as a kid,” he said gruffly, and his grip on the headboard tightened.
I tried not to groan. Of course. He’d already said how miserable his childhood was and what a bully his stepfather had been, and there I went, bringing up the past. Best massage conversation ever. I concentrated on the feel of his skin against mine and almost immediately flushed. He really was all muscle, all coiled danger and strength. It made it hard to breathe.
I worked at the knots in his shoulders, humming a little under my breath. I didn’t mind the quiet as much anymore, not when the maelstrom of doubts and worries in my head had settled down with Deirdre’s lessons. It wouldn’t be easy, she’d been right about that, but knowing what the problem was was half the battle.
“How did you perfect your technique?” he grumbled, his chest expanding in a deep sigh. More tension ran out of him and the knots in his muscles loosened.
I smiled to myself, pleased that it seemed to be working, and maneuvered to straddle his thighs so I could drive my thumbs into the tension in his lower back. “I took some classes after high school and figured it might help me learn to control the magic. All the incense and meditation and relaxation aromatherapy stuff seemed like it might calm things down.”
“Did it?” He groaned in a low rumble that made heat kindle low in my stomach. He made the most unbelievable sounds...
I wondered what he sounded like during sex. I sucked in a breath at the thought and almost fell off him as he shifted around on the