Picking up a bar of soap, she scrubbed at the sand, grit and sweat that roughened her skin. She couldn’t wait to be clean again and dressed like a woman in ribbons and lace.
Their time on the beach had been wonderful, but now she wanted to pretty herself up for Talon. She needed to remind him she hadn’t always been a bedraggled urchin with dirty clothes and tangled hair.
What she wouldn’t have given for the emerald gown she’d worn at dinner that night back in London.
Using the scented soap on her hair, she scrubbed repeatedly, washing and rinsing until at last her tangled, dirty mane was squeaky clean. When she had finished washing, she lingered, reluctant to get out. She intended to wring every single bit of warmth from the water before she finally relinquished it.
“What’s this? A mermaid?” Talon’s deep voice startled her. She jumped, sending water sloshing over the rim of the tub.
She glared up at him. “You scared me to death. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
He smiled and held out his arms, emphasizing the packages he held. “Am I forgiven? I come bearing gifts.”
She smiled back, feeling like a little girl at Christmas, though heaven only knew her father had never troubled himself much on her behalf when she was a child. She grew misty eyed thinking of the way Talon would be with their children. He’d be stern yet loving, letting them crawl all over him and press sticky kisses to his brow.
“Let me get out first. Would you hand me a towel, please?”
He tossed the packages on the big bed and then grabbed the towel from the chair.
She took the towel from his hand and stood, a little self-conscious. If she were truly a lady, she wouldn’t let him love her the way he did, or worse yet, love him back in such wild and wanton ways.
He wrapped the towel around her and pulled her back into his arms. “Mmm, you smell good,” he whispered, his voice rough and low in her ear.
She pushed him playfully away. “Well, you certainly don’t.”
He laughed and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside and then shedding his trousers. “I intend to remedy that. Care to help?”
Gloriously bare, he stepped into the tub, sinking into the lukewarm water with a sigh. She watched him with a half smile, then knotted the towel around her breasts and knelt on the floor beside him, taking the soap into her hand.
“What did you buy me?” she asked, running the soap in a frothy trail across his muscular chest. “Something clean to wear, I hope?”
He nodded and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the back of the tub. “I bought you a few dresses. I hope they’re the right size. I just described the way you fit my hands, and the shop girls were able to help me out.” He held out his hands and mimicked the way he’d measured her breasts.
She smacked his arm. “Please tell me you did no such thing.”
He laughed. “I just got a few ready-made things in small sizes.
Whatever doesn’t fit can be returned tomorrow. But I did ask the shop girl to pick out all the necessary underthings. My experience with women only goes so far.”
She continued to bathe him, loving the feel of his wet, warm skin beneath her hands. “Did you go to the bank?”
He nodded again, a wide smile curving his lips. “I got the money. It’s enough to give us a good start. I can’t believe I was foolish enough to think I needed so much more.”
She ran the soap over the contours of his arms. “When can we leave? Have you found us a ship yet?”
He shook his head. “I’ll look into that tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll find something by the end of the week. Until then, we’ll stay here at the hotel, maybe go out to dinner a few times, and spend the rest of the time making love.”
“Oh,” she murmured. “You’re going to make love to me tonight? Are you through torturing me?”
“We’ll see.” He opened his eyes, and there was a teasing glint in their beautiful blue depths. “Maybe if you ask me real nice.”
She slid her soapy hands lower beneath the surface of the water, and his eyes darkened. “I think you want to make love to me. I really think you do.”
He grinned and sank back, letting her have her way with him. This was something she’d never grow tired of, learning his body, learning what made him shudder with desire.
After several long, delicious moments, he pushed her hand away and dunked his head under the water. “Wash my hair, wench, or I’ll get out of this tub right now and you’ll never get me clean.”
She laughed, loving that she had the power to affect him this way, to make his big body tremble with longing. Thank God he’d come into her life when he had. She could no longer imagine living without him.
