“Is it now?” She reached for a cake of soap and black cloth.
“And I trust you with my life.”
“As do I, you.” She began rubbing soap on her upper arm.
“But at the moment, my praise might be dominated by the delightful aesthetics of your backside.”
She clenched said musculature against my abs, prompting my own body to go stiff. “That part there?” Her singsong tone carried a lilt that both delighted me, and threatened to overwhelm my entire mind.
“That would be the one.” I panted a few times and stepped back. “Soap, please.” I held out my hand, palm up.
“It is agreeable to see you embracing your duties as consort.”
“I relish a fine embrace.”
I vowed to wash her down properly. Ensuring I cleansed every square centimeter of that delightful form. Not allowing the touch, the sight, the scent of said delightful form to distract me. Yet that vow washed away like the trail of soap bubbles down the curve ofSephimara’s back as I glided slick fingertips from her neck to between her shoulder blades, feeling the shifting muscles beneath her skin. It was all there to see and feel, even her neck exposed, that short hair covering precious little. And those ears? Were elf ears sensitive? I lathered up my hands and traced fingertips from the base all the way to the pointy tips.
“Umm…” The moan was whisper quiet, but it was there.
I repeated the gesture along the bottom arc of her ears, yet before reaching the tips, she took my hands in hers and glided them from her hips to her abs, stopping just below her breasts, letting me feel the outline of her ribs, the rise and fall of her chest.
“Ears sensitive?” I asked.
“Perhaps I simply wish for you to cleanse my breasts.”
I lifted my hands, cupping more and more of their weight in my palms, until my index fingers brushed against her nipples.
She twitched a little, uttering another soft moan.
Pressing a quick kiss to the nape of her neck, I resoaped my hand and returned to massaging her back, yet found my eyes squeeze shut with pleasure as I reached the swell of her hips. I dropped to my knees to continue.
“I have rather a lot to cleanse compared to a human woman, darling consort. I trust it is not too much of an imposition?” She shifted subtly, brushedher buttocks against my chest, prompting my torso to freeze in place.
I was no beanpole in stature, yet those hips of hers were notably broader than my chest. It didn’t look it when she was clothed, standing a few paces distant. She was tall and elegant, sleek and fit. Yet seeing her, feeling her this close was like meeting for the first time. I kissed the small of her back, getting a hint of soap on my lips, and began to work on her legs.
Gods those thighs are amazing.
As she shifted weight from one leg to the other, the clench in her calf muscles triggered another eye-fluttering freeze-up from me, yet I finally made it all the way to her feet. “I believe that should leave you thoroughly clean.” I gazed up at her from my kneeling position, gaze gliding up shapely calves, sleek thighs, that lovely swell of her hips, necking down to a slim yet muscular waist, those shoulders… and having a sudden urge to run my tongue along that freshly washed swath of skin from calf to the nape of her neck.
She turned to face me, revealing a different, yet just as glorious sight, gazing down at me with the subtlest of smiles on her plush lips.
We stared in silence for what had to be half a minute, the water running down the curves of her form in tantalizing little rivulets.
“I have fantasized about having you on your knees in front of me.” She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “But I did not wish to come across asdemanding. You were a good friend to me since… well, since that first encounter. You are a good man, Theo, and that is rarer than many people like to believe. My jesting aside, I never want to take that for granted.”
“I don’t really know what elven society is all about. A few insights, yes. But mostly the view from the outside. From our first encounter I always thought there was something amazing inside you. Those little glimpses you showed me. Our repartee. The way you…” I put a hand atop hers and pressed it into my shoulder. “I thank you for showing me what I always suspected was in you.”
Her smile broadened.
“Also, as a point of information, I am not averse to being on my knees before you in this fashion in the slightest.”
Her warm smile turned mischievous as she tipped her head. “Itisthe duty of a consort to serve under their house. But first, let me reciprocate for your hard work.” She poured what looked like honey from a blue glass bottle into the palm of her hand and began massaging it into my hair.
The substance had a curious scent I couldn’t place, and foamed into thick layers of bubbles.
Though, more importantly, the feel of her long, strong fingers massaging my scalp, gripping and releasing locks of my hair was exquisite.
“What… what is that? Some high society elven magic?”
