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Henodded.
“I don’t want to have a bath alone,” she said. “I just want to be withyou.”
He stood, offered her his hand. “You’re not bathing alone this time.Come.”
She took his hand and let him lead her into the expansive bathroom attached to the suite’s master bedroom. Steam curled in the air with the scent of lavender, a candle lit on the edge of thetub.
He turned off the water and stepped into the bath, then took her hand to help her in. She eased between his thighs and leaned back against his chest with a sigh, the warm water caressing her still sensitiveskin.
She closed her eyes. “I like this aftercarebetter.”
His arms slid around her waist. “I should have explained everything more clearly before. I’m sorry if I was overly…clinical.”
Shelaughed.
“You find that funny?” he asked near herear.
“It’s an understatement, that’s all,” she said. “Although I will say that the one place you didn’t seem clinical was inbed.”
“Andnow?”
“This is better.” He didn’t reply and she sensed that she’d said something wrong. She craned her neck to look at him. “What isit?”
“I meant what I said earlier, Nina. My bedroom preferences aren’t something that willchange.”
“I don’t need them to change.” She was surprised to find it was true. Excepting the sex club incident, she’d enjoyed pushing her boundaries with Jack. “I just need…something.”
“Something?”
“Something like this.” She trailed her hand in the water, lifted her hand and let it trickle through her fingers. “A little closeness, a little conversation before orafter.”
“And during?” he murmured, tracing circles around one of hernipples.
“Don’t you know, Jack?” She closed her eyes. “There isn’t much I wouldn’t let you do tome.”
“That’s…intriguing.”
“It’s all intriguing,” shesaid.
“Are you referring to something specific?” heasked.
“The ropes, the restraint, your… preferences. I guess I’m just curious about the why of itall.”
He didn’t speak for a long time, his breath so rhythmic against her back she thought he might have fallenasleep.
“Distance is critical in my world,” he finallysaid.
“What kind of distance?” She made a point not to look at him, not to move, not to sound too interested. This was new territory, and she didn’t want to do anything to force Jack back into the safety of hissilence.
“It’s difficult to complain about an upbringing like mine. I was giveneverything.”
“Everything?”
“Almost everything.” She waited. “My parents were what you might call old-school. Proper, ruled by a complex set of rules and expectations. Affection was against the rules — or affection the way you might think of itanyway.”
“Whichis?”
“Hugging, declarations of love, praise… these weren’t things that were given freely. I learned not to expect them, and in turn, not to givethem.”
