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“He should be offering a full back massage. ” Her laughter was low, teasing, rueful. “I don’t think I can walk straight for a while. ”
“We’ll carry you. ” Mac came to his feet and glanced back at Jethro. “I’ll order the pizza. You okay to stay up here?”
Never leave a woman alone after shattering her previous impressions of pleasure. Cuddle her. Spoil her. Keep her comfortable. Mac knew how to do it, and over the years he had taught Jethro how to do it.
“I’ll take care of her. ” His gaze flickered to her, watching as she relaxed back into the water and Mac stood.
“I’ll leave her in your hands. ” Mac clapped him on the shoulder as he left the bathroom.
Jethro looked around the steamy intimacy of the bathroom. Here, Keiley’s influence was more felt. It was softer than the bedroom, with slate-gray marble cabinets and sink and several narrow shelves that held an array of feminine products: soaps, lotions, and scents. He knew that beneath the cabinet was a built-in drawer system that held makeup. Hanging on an inner wall was a blow dryer and assorted curling irons.
A French door led to a balcony that ran the length of the bathroom and bedroom, the pale gray sheers covered with darker pearl-gray curtains that were presently pulled back.
“You’re too interested in the bathroom walls,” she said with an edge of uncertainty. “I’ll be okay by myself. ”
Jethro whipped his head around, staring at the water lapping at her breasts before he let his gaze meet her wide hazel eyes.
He shook his head slowly as he knelt on the lower step that led up to the rim. “Not a chance. ” Snagging the bath sponge, he lifted a bottle of bath gel from the wide back rim and soaped it slowly. “Taking care of you will be my privilege. ”
“I should be totally embarrassed,” she said as he caught her hand and drew her toward him so he could reach her back. “I’ve never made love with anyone but Mac until now. ”
He watched, entranced, as the bubbles gathered on her back, and then her words slammed into his chest. Made love. Had he ever made love until now?
“Did you enjoy it, though?” he murmured as he smoothed the sponge over her shoulders.
She sighed heavily. “Very much. Too much. I’m sure I should be feeling embarrassed or something by now. ”
“Don’t have the energy for it?” His lips quirked into a smile.
“I don’t know. ” Her voice was reflective as she stared back at him, the short strands of her hair clinging to her cheek and neck as she stared up at him. “Maybe I should be more frightened that I’m not. ”
Confusion filled her pretty eyes. They were hazel now, the blend of browns and light greens that he loved so well. But earlier, her eyes had sparkled with green fire. Like gems held suspended within a brown velvet background.
Jethro shook his head at his wary suggestion. “No reason to be frightened, sugar. Mac loves you. You know that. Nothing that happened tonight changed that. I’m just here to help him give you a little extra. That’s all. ”
A frown flitted between her brows. “And what do you get out of it, Jethro?”
What did he get out of it? A chance to feel loved, at least the periphery of it. A chance to feel alive as he never had until he saw her.
“More pleasure than you can imagine, Keiley,” he assured he softly.
More pleasure than he had ever believed possible. The darkness of his past and a lifetime of loneliness receded when she was near.
“Enough pleasure to stick around a while?” Mac’s question had him jerking around, almost guiltily.
“You never know. ” Jethro grinned, injecting a humor he didn’t feel. “Director’s in no hurry to have me fill my desk right now. ”
“Jethro likes to pound on the criminals. ” Mac glanced at his wife, his gaze assured, confident of his place in her soul. “I’m trying to convince him to take a vacation when his suspension is up at the end of the week. ”
Jethro watched the silent communication between husband and wife. That bond that allowed them to read each other. To see each other without words.
“You should,” Keiley agreed softly, turning her head slowly to meet Jethro’s gaze.
She didn’t say anything more. Instead she took his wrist, the sponge still held loosely in his hand, and pulled it to her shoulder.
Jethro couldn’t speak. There was no need to speak. Aware of Mac behind him, he did what he had done many times in the past: he bathed the woman they had shared. Unlike those other times, he didn’t tease or joke. There was no teasing in him tonight. Nothing to joke about. This was more serious than he had ever imagined it could be.
She had given him a gift that shook him to his soul, and he couldn’t even explain exactly what it was.
