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“We’re not done.” He stood and extended his hand. “Come with me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll like it,” he said.
“That’s what you said about the communal bathing,” she said, reluctantly rising.
“And did you?” he asked.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” she admitted.
He led her into the bathroom where the huge tub was filled with steaming water with rose petals floating on top. She glanced at him. “I already had a bath today.”
“It wasn’t with me,” he said and stripped off his clothes.
She looked at him, unable to tear her gaze from his body. The light was bright enough for her to see every well-defined muscle. In the past, when they’d made love, the power of his physique had distracted her so much that she couldn’t study him. But now she could. As he turned his back to her, she took in his wide shoulders, the V-shape of his waist to his hips, his tight buttocks and long strong legs. He turned a certain way in the light and she saw thin white lines of abuse on his back and lower.
She stared at the marks, but then he stepped into the tub and turned around to face her. “Well?” he asked.
Rising to her feet, she pulled off her clothes. “I’ve already bathed three times today. I guess one more time won’t hurt.” She walked to the large steaming tub with the rose petals fanning away from the wake he’d caused.
He took her hand to steady her and she stepped inside, blowing a quick puff of air from her mouth. “Hot,” she said.
“You’ll get used to it,” he said and pulled her into his arms. His nakedness felt delicious against hers. He was so hard where she was so soft. Pulling her down to her knees, he supported her.
“Yikes,” she whispered at the heat.
“A little further,” he said, splashing water over her shoulders. “Come on. A few minutes and you’ll wish it were warmer.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, but she allowed him to pull her the rest of the way into the tub.
He kissed her, taking her soft gasp into his mouth. She closed her eyes and the combination of the hot water and his n**ed body surrounding her made her feel as if she’d entered another dimension. She lifted her hands to his shoulders, her br**sts rubbing against his chest. He nudged her thighs apart, wrapping her legs around his back so that she sat on his lap.
“Good?” he asked, rubbing his forehead against hers.
“Yes,” she said, deciding she could let down her guard for just tonight. She was far from her sisters, far from her job and in the arms of a strong, strong man. “Very good.”
Leo fed his bride a breakfast of fish, which she appeared to enjoy. After they’d made love last night, she’d slept like the dead. She often seemed as if a part of her was on guard, but he’d sensed something different in her. The woman usually seemed to be wound tighter than a clock, and damn if it wasn’t his pleasure to unwind her. He watched her take her last bite and sigh with pleasure, similar to the way she sighed when he made love to her. Similar, but not the same.“That was wonderful,” she said.
“Good,” he said. “Did it make up for your communal bath yesterday?”
“I’ll tell you the truth. The communal bath was actually very nice and Mrs. Kihoto made it seem like the most natural thing in the world. She chatted and was very friendly.” She paused and shot him a curious look. “Have you taken a communal bath with Mr. Kihoto?”
He nodded. “Last time I was here. It wasn’t a big deal. Men aren’t as hung up about their bodies as women are.”
“That sounded sexist,” she said.
“There are differences between men and women. Most of them are good,” he said.
“Oh, really?” she said, lifting her chin.
He touched her pert nose. “You look snooty when you do that. Did you learn that expression in your girlie classes?”
“Girlie classes,” she echoed. “You mean my etiquette classes.”
He shrugged. “There weren’t any guys in your class, were there?”
“No,” she conceded. “I thought the classes were a waste of time the first two times I took them.”
He stared at her, choking on his coffee. “How many times did you take them?”
“Four,” she said with an expression of disgust. “I flunked them the first two times and my mother wanted to make sure I learned everything, so she made me take them a third time. Then I took the advanced level. I didn’t want to take them again, so I got those right the first time.”
He took another sip of coffee and watched the sunlight gleaming on her tousled hair. “You fought being civilized,” he said.
Her lips twitched. “I wouldn’t have put it that way.” She rested her chin in her hands and studied him thoughtfully. “I want to ask you about something.”
“Then ask.”
She took a deep breath and frowned. “You have marks on your back. Were you injured at some time?”
Leo immediately pulled back. “Car accident when I was little.”
Her eyes wrinkled in concern. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t remember anything about it or anything before then.”
“Oh,” she said, a stunned expression on her face.
He could see the sympathy coming and was determined to stop it. “That was all before the egg,” he said.
She didn’t smile in return. In fact, she frowned. “Do you know how old you were?”
“Around eight,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say that? Don’t you think it had an impact upon you?” she asked.
There’d been years when he’d fantasized about the family he must have had before the accident. Before Lilah and Clyde had rescued him. He knew his family had died in the crash, but he hadn’t known how many siblings, if any, he’d had. He didn’t know what his mother and father were like, if they’d treated him well. Now that he was grown, he suspected he’d been treated better by his real parents. How could he not have been?
“I don’t focus on the past,” he said. “I focus on the future.”
“You don’t think you can learn important things from your past,” she said.
“I’ve learned everything I need to learn from my past. I don’t dwell on what happened when I was child because if I did, I’d go crazy.” He paused a half beat, refusing to give into the secret need for information about so many unanswered questions about himself. It was a fruitless endeavor. “We’re flying out tonight. I’ve arranged for your guide to take you souvenir shopping one more time while I wrap up my last meeting with Mr. Kihoto. In the meantime, don’t forget the trip to India in a few weeks. Have you cleared it with your boss?”
“I thought I would finish this trip before I start asking about another,” she said, irritation leaking into her expression. “Are you sure it’s necessary for me—”
“Absolutely sure,” he said, standing. He was much more comfortable with her irritation than the sympathy he’d glimpsed.
She followed him to his feet, her irritation turning to anger. “And what if I can’t?”
“If you can’t find a way, then I’ll help you,” he said.
“That sounds like a threat,” she said.
“No. It’s a promise of assistance. Don’t argue about this anymore,” he said and headed for the bathroom.
“If you think you’ve married a submissive little Stepford wife, you are very mistaken.”
He paused, thinking about her words. He turned to face her. “I never received any indication that you were submissive. I just understood that you were a reasonable adult willing to make the adjustments necessary in our marriage.”
“And what adjustments will you be making?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Whatever adjustments I make, they won’t include continuing petty debates like this.” He entered the bath and closed the door behind him, but not before he heard her make a sound of utter frustration.
Leo avoided her after that. It was amazing how much space the man could create around himself even in his personal jet. After they landed and returned to his condo, they might as well have been separated by a small city. Fine, she thought. She didn’t mind. Every hour that passed when she didn’t have to deal with Mr. Demanding was one less hour on her six-month time clock. His remoteness didn’t bother her for at least two days. She had plenty of work to do. She visited her sisters and cousin and delivered the souvenirs from Japan and avoided her cousin’s questions about her marriage.The more she thought about what Leo had told her about the accident he’d had as a child, the more curious she because. On her return drive from visiting her sisters, she dialed the number for her P.I.
“Rob here. How you doing, Mrs. Grant?”
Calista made a face. “I haven’t technically changed my name.”
“Like that matters,” he said. “Congratulations on bagging the big one.”
She ignored his sarcasm. Rob had once wanted to date her. They’d become friends instead and he’d given her a cost break when she’d asked him to investigate the man who’d caused her father to go over the edge. “I learned something recently that has made me curious.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Leo was apparently in a terrible accident when he was about eight years old. He remembers nothing before that. Nothing about the accident.”
“I stopped my investigation once I found out he was involved in the grifting scheme with your father,” he said.
“Well, there’s something about his childhood that bothers me. He won’t talk about it.”
“Probably because plenty of people would like to skin his late father and him,” Rob said.
