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“It needs washing too. I’ll leave it on until you leave.”
He hesitated again, then nodded and lifted her into the tub. She sighed with pleasure as he gently settled her into the warm water before handing her a bar of soap and more of the bark-like cloth.
“I’ll be outside when you’re ready to get out.”
“All right. Thank you, Marsh - for everything.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and fled, the screen closing behind him.
There was no lock of course, and the thin cloth wasn’t much of a barrier but if he intended her harm, he’d had plenty of other opportunities. She shrugged and leaned back against the metal wall of the tub, letting the warmth seek into her aching muscles before she finally reach for the cloth and soap.
The soap too had a pleasantly herbal scent and it felt heavenly to wash the dirt and sweat from her skin and hair. She managed a little awkwardly to remove her tank and panties and washed them out as well, draping them over the side of the tub when she finished. It wasn’t until she started to call him to help her out of the rub that she realized she was now completely naked.
CHAPTER 6
Marsh paced back and forth across the bedroom, trying to calm his racing heart and his raging erection as the image of Aurora in his tub played over and over in his head. He didn’t think she realized that when he placed her in the tub, the water had turned her shirt and underwear almost completely transparent, giving him a glimpse of the stiff little nipples topping her small breasts. Even the little triangle of blonde curls at the juncture of her thighs had been visible.
His cock throbbed again at the memory, painfully hard. He’d never seen an actual naked woman before. His small collection of books included an art history book that contained both paintings and statues of women without clothing. He stared at them often enough, especially in his teens when his bodily urges first surfaced, but they were nothing like the reality of the soft delicate female in his bath, smiling up at him so trustingly.
Would she be startled if she knew the effect she had on him? Would she be horrified? She was so small and fragile compared to his massive size, not to mention the differences in their species. She didn’t scream at the sight of me, he reminded himself again. And she’s talked to him like an equal, perhaps even like a friend, even though she must have heard the stories about him. Stories he was normally happy to reinforce as long as they served to keep people out of his swamp. This was the first time he’d ever regretted the rumors, wondering what she might have heard about him.
Gentle splashing noises came from the bathroom and her image rushed back into his mind, but completely naked this time, without even the thin barrier of translucent cloth between them. His cock jerked again and he grabbed it impatiently but he already knew that his own hand would never satisfy him now.
“Marsh?” she called hesitantly. “Do you think you could help me out of the tub? And not look?”
Did he possess that much self-control?
“I will try.”
It was the best he could do.
“Then I guess I’m ready.”
He slowly opened the screen shielding the bathing room, doing his best to keep his head averted. As much as he would have enjoyed looking at her, he wanted her to trust him more.
The cabinet next to the door contained towels and he shook one out. Since it was large enough to cover him, it would definitely cover her, but how could he lift her out and wrap it around her without the use of his eyes.
“I’m not sure how to do this without looking,” he admitted, and she sighed.
“I guess it was a silly idea. Maybe I can put these wet things back on, at least for now.”
“They, umm, do not cover much.”
“You mean… Oh,” she gasped. “You’re right. You should have said something.”
“I was too busy trying to get out of the room before you caught me staring.”
“Oh,” she said again, but this time it was different, softer and almost speculative. “I guess if you’ve seen that much it’s kind of silly to worry about modesty now. J-just try, ok?”
“I will,” he promised, trying to decide the best way to manage this.
He very slowly turned his head and found her sitting in the water with her knees drawn up to her chest. The soap had turned the water milky white and he couldn’t see below the surface, although his imagination was only too willing to conjure up a picture. She gave him a hesitant smile but he was relieved to see she didn’t look as worried as he’d feared.
She was even prettier now, her face flushed from the heat of the bath, and all of the dirt washed away except a smudge along her cheekbone. Not a smudge, he realized a second later. A bruise. A low growl emerged from his throat - a sound he hadn’t even known he was capable of making.
“Who did that to you?” he demanded.
She winced, her hand flying up to cover the bruise as if she were ashamed of the mark.
