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"Mmmm," she lowered herself down further and rested her head on the edge. She looked at Josh, still standing, a bit uncertain in his expression, as if he was not quite sure what to be doing and feeling awkward as a result. She reached out and took his fingers.
"Come, kneel here beside me. "
He felt his way to a position parallel to the tub and knelt just as he should, his legs folded under him, his thighs cradling his genitalia into a triangular, straining area of denim. He laid his palms flat on his thighs and she permitted it, because it did not obstruct her view of anything and it kept his forearm in stroking distance.
"You may open your eyes, but only if you keep your gaze on the floor. One flicker of those beautiful lashes," her finger brushed them, gently, but they quivered in response, "and I'll blindfold you with my robe. "
She watched his eyes open, blink, and focus on the tile. He tried so hard to control the involuntary flicker toward his peripheral vision that his eyes teared up. He would steal a glance when she started to wash, she was sure. She was hoping for it. She tilted her head back and let the water from the fountain nearest splash down on her head, the back of her skull seated comfortably on a smooth ledge of rock.
The water ran down her face, her throat, and pitter-pattered down her breasts, the rounded tops floating just above the water's edge, like the smooth curve of a dolphin's rise.
"Would you like some help scrubbing your ears, sweet love?" Marcus asked.
Chapter 9
Lauren raised her head. He leaned in the doorway, watching them both. "Nothing more relaxing to a lady than being groomed by a good looking eunuch or, in this case," he smiled enigmatically, "The closest thing to one. "
His gaze passed over Josh, kneeling by her tub, his eyes down. Marcus's expression reflected acceptance, and no surprise. Somehow, Fate had brought together three who knew how this game was played. She knew it as a way to intimacy and to explore the deepest regions of her heart. Marcus seemed to have turned its practice into just another art form he admired. Her eyes strayed to Josh. It was a mystery as to how Josh knew the secret handshake, so to speak, and uncovering that mystery would become as much a part of the game as anything else.
For now, she knew she felt comfortable, and she had not felt that way in a sexual situation in a long time.
She had not felt comfortable with Jonathan. This wasn't the same game she had played with him. The same field perhaps, the same essential rules, but not the same game.
It was a relief to realize that Maria might be right, that the game was not the problem. What had unbalanced her was the discovery that she was not playing with someone who cared about her, someone she could trust, and perhaps, even more painful for her to acknowledge, never had been.
She nodded to Marcus. "The cream colored wash cloth and the moisturizer soap in my bag on the counter," she said. "The one that smells like vanilla. "
He nodded and retrieved the items, then came to kneel by the tub, next to Josh. Marcus's gaze passed over her naked body. He did not look at her with impersonal disinterest. He looked at her as a lover of art would, with appreciation for form, and she felt flattered to see approval in his eyes.
"What I like best about this is not seeing you naked, love," Marcus said. He began to massage the bar of soap in the washcloth, creating a rich lather. "Though you are quite beautiful. What I like is knowing Josh is kneeling here beside you and cannot see you. " He held out his hand and she put her wet palm into it.
He began to wash her arm, smooth strokes less than a foot from Josh's bowed head. "He can only imagine the way the cloth strokes the soft, pale skin on the underside of your arm, that area between the elbow and wrist as soft as a baby's skin. " He turned her arm as he spoke, in tones that were slow and measured, like the caresses of a lover's tongue. "The way your breasts lie heavy in the water, the nipples full and soft from the warmth. Your legs wet and slick, your knees bent so the soap rolls down your thighs and melts into the bath. "
A muscle flexed in Josh's cheek, sending a ripple along the tense jaw. His nostrils flared, taking in her scent like a stallion whose eyes had been covered with a scarf. Lauren ached, watching him. It was a state of delicious anticipation, her will torn between wanting to thrust her wet body into his arms and give him what he desired, see how he handled it, and taking him higher, seeing when the stallion would break free.
She was in control of the cards, so this could go somewhere or nowhere, and the choice was hers as long as Josh's choice was to submit to her will. But there were other factors at work here, and it was not that easy.
She knew how to whip him into a state of arousal akin to the grip of a deadly fever, a state that would make him believe he had no choice. While not the same thing as forcing him, it was problematic to her conscience. It was why a Dom often shied away from the damaged subs. It had to be the sub's choice throughout. If it wasn't, then you had crossed the line, and it was hard to see that line in a cloud of emotional issues, and to resist the temptation to draw on a sub's weaknesses. Power could corrupt a good intent. It was that simple. She had to be careful. Josh mattered.
She turned from the disturbing path of her thoughts to the man washing her. Marcus's squatting, splayed-knee pose made it obvious he was aroused by Josh's plight, and while the arousal wasn't for her, it did not make her less appreciative of the view. It was difficult to keep her eyes open, though, with his capable hands lathering her shoulders in a massaging motion that had her purring. He pushed her unresisting body so she lay with her head resting on the cushioned rim of the tub. Her eyes came back open, however, as he slicked the soap smoothly down her breasts. It was peculiar to have a man hold her breasts who had no interest in them sexually. However, since he handled them with such reverence for their form, she could not feel offended. In fact, quite the opposite.
As he traced them with his knuckles, weighing them in his palms, her heightened sexual awareness of Josh made the nipples rise under the light brush of his fingertips. She arched, expelling a trembling breath.
Josh gripped the side of the tub, agitated by the possibilities beyond his sight. A smile touched Marcus's lips as he raised his eyes to hers and her own lips curved. The flickering candlelight of the bathroom played along Marcus's perfect features and deepened the dark shadows in Josh's expression.
"I can smell the desire for you coming off his skin," Marcus observed. "Lay back, dearest, and let me rinse you. You should see her breasts, Josh. They're perfect. Large enough that they quiver when she so much as breathes, glistening with the water and soap I've put on them, but small enough that they weigh comfortably in a man's palm, particularly a broad palm like yours, where those long fingers could reach up and tease her nipples. "
Lauren swallowed and shifted, lifting the objects that Marcus was describing.
"They're stiff now," Marcus continued in a murmur, "large and dark red, filled with blood, just aching to be sucked. "
The hot water passed across them and back, the stimulation of tiny needles. Lauren caught her lip in her bottom teeth and bit down hard to suppress a groan.
"I could take care of that. " Josh's voice was almost a growl.
Lauren reached out trembling fingers and trailed them along the nape of Josh's neck, making circular patterns on the skin.
"No," she murmured. "Not yet. I like watching you want me. "
