“Minka?” Cato calls out. “Hey!?”
Daniel Tiger and his neighbors were my siblings. Dora the Explorer taught me Spanish, and Swiper the sneaky fox was all the commotion I ever had to tolerate in my youth.
To go from that… to this…
Sixty minutes, that’s all I’m asking.
I climb the stairs, one flight at a time, and take comfort in knowing that even if my four-floor trek remains the same, at least this one is done in temperature-controlled comfort and without having to pass eight other apartments and whatever odd smells they’d conjured in my absence.
I emerge onto the top floor and push through my bedroom door, slamming it behind my back and dropping my bag on the floor.
Archer wanders out of the bathroom in jeans with the button undone, his belt hanging open, the zipper lowered, and his shirt… gone.Locking his eyes with mine, his lips curl into a delicious smile. “Good. I was worried you’d go to the kitchen instead and?—”
“Shhh.” I stop-sign my poor husband, stunning him into silence while I toe my shoes off.
“I was going to say?—”
“Nope. Shush.” I don’t plug my ears, since doing so would hurt his feelings. But I kick my shoes across the room and watch as one rolls under an armchair and the other settles upside down near our bed. Then, I start work on my buttons. “I need quiet.”
“But—”
“Stop.”I’m a monster. I’m a bitch. I know. “Please, no talking. I’m begging you.” I peel my shirt back and toss it to the end of our bed, then I unsnap my pants and make a beeline for the bathroom. “I just need quiet. I want a shower. And maybe a fistful of ibuprofen. We have that nice big tub in here, don’t we?” I stumble through the bathroom doorway, my hair hanging in my eyes and an exhausted groan crawling along my throat in response to the humid air. But then I brush the locks off my face and stop, rocking on aching legs, and reeling from the sight of the bath already full.
A light blue sizzle of color spreads through the water.
“What?”
“I wasgoingto say, I ran you a bath.” Archer steps up behind me, resting his hand on my belly and his lips on the back of my neck. “I figured you were at your wits’ end and needed a moment to decompress. I walked in and heard the New York Malones doing that thing they do, and I knew you’d kill them if you had to socialize immediately. Besides…” He feathers his lips across the side of my neck, dragging my hair aside to make room. “We have such a cool bathroom now, I thought you’d appreciate a chance to use it.”
“God, yes.” I drop my head back and rest it on his shoulder, closing my eyes and savoring the moment of silence.
How is it that he knows me so well?
How is it possible I found the kindest, most generous, most selfless man on the planet, and it just so happens that he lovesme?
“Thank you.” I hook my hand around the back of his neck and hold him close, slowing my heart until my pulse matches his. Melting into his touch as he strokes my belly.
“Will you stay with me?”
He slides his hands into the waistband of my pants and gently pushes them over my hips. Down my thighs. He releases the fabric so they hit the floor and pool at my feet. “Do you want me to?”
“Yes.” I lick my lips, swallowing and lubricating my throat. “I want to be alone… but with you.”
“My favorite way of existing,” he rumbles. “And the tub is large enough for us both. I came in here when I got home and remembered how you like to float. How water calms you, and how youdidn’tget to swim yesterday like you planned to.” He drags the tips of his fingers over my flesh, drawing goosebumps to the surface, before reaching between us and unhooking my bra with an easy flick. “I’m not even gonna hit on you while you’re naked.”
I close my eyes and snicker, allowing him to peel my bra away before I lean back again. “Why not? You don’t like me anymore?”
“Likeyou?” He nips at my earlobe, gently grazing the skin with his teeth. “I’m obsessed with you. Toxically codependent.” He traces my ribs and slips his fingers into the waistband of my panties so they go the way of my pants. “You’re completely naked, and my cock rages for you. There will never be a day when I don’t want you. But just becauseIuse sex as a coping mechanism doesn’t mean other people de-stress the same way.” He wraps his arms around my torso, bear-hugging and crushing me close. Then he starts forward, walking us toward the tub. “I’ll fuck you later. When you’ve had time to relax.”
I open my eyes and study the blue-filled bathtub, the fizz and sizzle of a fragrant bomb providing a sensory treat as the bubbles race toward the surface.
He takes my hand in his, pulling away to give me room to move, then he guides me into the bath, holding on while I transfer from one foot to the other and lower into the warm water.
“Not too hot,” he croons. “Not too cold.” He bends and presses a tender kiss against my temple. “Thought the color thing would feel nice on your skin.”
“The color thing.” Grinning, I lie back and glide my palms through the deep water, cupping the blue liquid and watching it drain free again. “Were you born with the ability to read my mind, Detective Malone? Or is that a skill you’ve learned and honed since that day we met at a busy airport?”
“Must be the latter.” He shoves his jeans and boxer shorts down, freeing a perpetually hard cock that springs high and slaps his belly. But he doesn’t grab it. He doesn’t even glance down and study the thick length. He merely steps closer to the tub and hums his appreciation when I make room behind me.
