“Sorry,” he said. “But in my medical experience, I find things really do tend to hurt less if you’re relaxed, if you know what I mean.”
“Eeew!” I shook my head and buried it in the duvet. “Fine. I’m relaxing,” I said, trying to convince myself of this, even though every single nerve and fiber and cell in my body was screaming something else entirely. “I am so relaxed right now,” I whispered in a Zen voice. “I am soooo relaxed . . . like a leaf in a breeze, so, so relaxed soOOOO—”
I screamed as the first strip was ripped off. “WhYYY?” I wailed. “Warn me next time you do that!”
“Sorry, I thought it would be less painful if you didn’t know it was coming.”
“OWW!” I arched my back in pain once more as he ripped the next one off—again, no warning.
“Jesus, Alex!” I screamed. “I asked you to warnnnOOO—”
I screamed again as he did it a third time. This time I felt tears come to my eyes. I blinked a few times in absolute agony.
“All done!” Alex said quickly.
“Oh. My. God,” I whimpered. This waxing had been the worst idea, ever. Well, that wasn’t really true, now was it? The braids had been the worst idea. But this was a close second. I swear, if I didn’t get laid after all this effort, pain and humiliation, then damn! I would be furious.
“It’s okay, it’s all over.” And then, I felt his hand on my back once more. But this time it felt different.Very.It was warm and soft. He placed it on my shoulder at first, and then slowly, gently it trailed down my back, all the way along my spine, coming to a stop on my lower back. Suddenly, all the pain was gone, especially when his fingertips retraced the length of my back again. Up, up, up, down . . . down . . . down . . .
His fingers weren’t stopping where they’d stopped before. This time they travelled further south. I felt the towel slide back a bit and his fingertips move even lower. I shivered. My skin pebbled and the hairs on my arms and back of my neck stood straight up. His fingers finally came to rest right at the very bottom of my back, right where my back curved into my bottom.
“It’s still sticky,” he finally whispered after what had been a long silence. His voice sounded small and far away now.
“Yes,” I replied, with an equally small, whispery voice. Truthfully, I was feeling somewhat entranced right now. The feeling of his warm hands grazing my back had left me spinning. And then, I felt him stand up. I heard him walk away. I looked over my shoulder, careful not to lift myself too far up that the towel exposed my naked front.Or wait, did I care?Did I want him to look at me there?
I raised myself up on my elbow, slightly exposing the side of my breast.What was I doing?I wasn’t quite sure, but for some reason, I wanted Alex to look at me in that way. I didn’t want him to see the fun girl that he’d been hanging out with, I wanted him to see me as more than that . . .
Alex walked out of the bathroom and stopped when he saw me. His eyes moved down to the spot I wanted him to look at. They seemed to linger there for a while, going from a light silvery gray to a darker stormy color that sent an excited shiver through me. And then, his eyes drifted up to mine and he held my gaze with such intensity and purpose that I felt myself melting into the mattress below him.
He broke eye contact and cleared his throat awkwardly. He moved towards me and I put my head back down. Soon, I felt a warm, wet soothing cloth being dragged over my skin. His movements were slow, gentle and the warm water felt good against my skin. He didn’t say a word, and neither did I. Instead, he silently wiped the sticky patches off my back. I lay there, breathless and wordless. Something about this, no,everythingabout this felt less like wiping sticky patches and more like . . . like . . .what?
I felt his fingertips brush my lower back once more. A ball of hot energy exploded inside my stomach and radiated outwards from there, sort of making me . . .oh God, wait, what was going on . . .was I. . .? Yes! Oh, yes. I was.
Turned on.
Big time.
I closed my eyes and let the feeling wash over me. It seemed to build with every slow stroke of the cloth on my back. And before I could stop myself, a breathy whisper escaped my lips.Shit!I hadn’t meant for that to happen, and it had sounded so sexy and moany, the kind of noise you make during sex. Suddenly, with some panic, I wondered if Alex knew what I was feeling. And then I wondered if Alex was feeling the same thing too?Was he doing this on purpose?It felt like it.
The pressure on my back got firmer suddenly. Alex seemed to have moved from a gentle wipe to a somewhat firmer massage. And all of a sudden, nothing about this felt like Alex and me. This felt like two totally different people doing something else entirely.
His hands continued to work the length of my back, his fingers glided over my shoulders and he ran them up into the nape of my neck and up into my hair. I tilted my head forward to give him even more access. His fingers tangled in my hair and then his fingertips traced the side of my ears.
My body physically reacted to his touch. He’d never touched me like this before, and once again, I was overcome with a desire to roll over and look at him, and let him touch me somewhere else. His hands left my neck again and moved over my shoulders once more and then, it really changed, when his hands moved to the sides of my back. I held my breath with anticipation. I didn’t have to wait long. His hands worked their way down my sides, and slowly, softly, his fingers grazed the side of my breasts . . .
I inhaled sharply as a wave of pleasure vibrated through me from head to toe. So intense and heady that I felt drunk on the pleasure.
What was happening?I wanted to turn around so badly. I wanted his hands on the front of me, my breasts, my face, my . . .
And as quickly as it started, it stopped. I felt him get up. I heard his footsteps on the floor and then heard the door. I looked up just as he closed the door and walked out of the room.
I sat up in bed and stared after him.What the hell had just happened?
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
I was ready. I looked at myself in the mirror. The pretty pink dress that I’d worn to the engagement party and the high heels looked different with my hair and make-up like this. I’d found some red lipstick in my bag and put it on. I’d also given myself a very dark smoky eye. My hair was down, tumbling over my shoulders, and I looked good. Ididstill have it. I just hadn’t realized that in a while. Alex had brought a razor and I’d managed to even myself out. I took a deep breath and walked out my room, heading down the long corridor towards the reception where, yes, as always, he was waiting for me.
“Wow.” He stood up and stared at me as I walked in, my heels clicking loudly on the marble floor.
