To her utter shock, Maura realized she actually was ready. The balance had shifted back between the two sensations and she threw her head back, letting out a loud blissful shriek.
***
James growled, tipped into his orgasm from hers. He gripped Maura's hips, holding her against him as her violent convulsions almost pushed him out of her silky, warm channel. Head thrown back rapturously; he felt the pleasure tear through every part of his body as he struggled to keep standing. Resting his sweaty chest against her heaving back, he was brought back to the present by her helpless moans, she was still coming against his cock.
"Hush," he managed, panting, "hush, now. Time to rest." James carefully pulled himself from Maura, removing the blindfold and stroking her cheek under the dim kitchen lamp, smiling as she pressed herself against his hand. "You're all right, little one." Her moans were trailing off into whimpers. "You're all right now."
Chapter 11: What the Hell Is a REE, MacLaren?
In which Maura makes the connection.
Maura woke up to feel James stroking her back with his long fingers as he read the book propped on his other knee. She found herself in his bed, and it was dark and quiet outside. "How long have I been asleep?" she yawned.
He shrugged, his eyes still following the page he was reading. "It's around midnight. You needed the rest," James answered, politely omitting that after her multiple orgasms, Maura actually passed out on his kitchen table. His hand stilled as she tried to sit up, choking back a gasp as she remembered that her bottom was still on fire. He chuckled, standing and pulling a soft blanket to wrap around her before picking her up easily and walking into his bathroom.
"I can walk," she mumbled.
"Yes, I am aware of that," James agreed as he started the bathtub, perching her on the bench beside it. She immediately shifted all her weight to one hip and off her bottom.. Suddenly shy, Maura hunched in her blanket, looking around the sumptuous room.
This was her favorite room in his house, walls tiled in pristine white and gray granite, old-fashioned hexagonal black and white tile floor, and the largest shower and bathtub she'd ever seen. There were perfectly symmetrical stacks of thick, pristine white towels and orderly rows of apothecary canisters filled with things like bath oils and salts, and cotton balls and swabs. In all, the room was likely bigger than the cabin of her houseboat. James handed her two pills and a glass of water.
"What's this?" She turned the pills over, looking up at him. James was changed into a pair of dark blue sweats, he looked freshly showered.
"Just aspirin," he answered, turning off the tub and holding out a hand to her. "You're going to need them."
Flushing at his half-smile, Maura downed the pills and took his hand. "This is so wonderful," she moaned as her sore bottom was cradled by the hot water. James put a fluffy sponge and a bottle of body wash on the side of the tub, getting ready to bathe her. As he moved to her back with the soapy sponge, Maura flushed. "I can do this," she said, uncomfortable with the idea of the ruthless crime lord bathing her like a child.
"You could," he agreed again. "Lean forward." His hand lightly pressed her shoulder forward until Maura gave in, arching her long spine as James stroked the sponge over her. She was tense, feeling strange about his treatment. He'd done this the first night too, but she'd been too exhausted to resist him.
"Do you do this for all the women who sleep over?" She tried to make a little joke of it, but James didn’t laugh.
Moving on to her arm, he gently moved the sponge over her battered wrist, frowning. "I don't allow women to sleep over."
"Oh..." She wasn't sure what to say.
Taking the other arm, James continued on. Maura began moving restlessly when his rough fingers soaped her breasts and the sleek lines of her stomach, and she flushed as he gave her a rakish little grin. He gently pushed her against the back of the tub again and lifted one leg to continue. Carefully soaping the bruises on her ankles, he ran his broad palms slowly up her toned calf, feeling her jerk back a little as his soapy attentions continued over her thighs, running one hand up each to meet at her pelvis, thumbs resting just over her clit.
***
Looking up from his work, James watched her eyes close, mouth open, and begin breathing a little faster. After what he'd put her through that night, it was a reaction he wasn't expecting. Still watching her, he ran one thumb over her slit, then a feather-light touch back up. As her hip made that first small rotation, he grinned again and ran his hands over her hips, curving them softly over her sore bottom. Maura's eyes popped open, irritated at the detour of those thumbs. Looking up to see the smug grin on his face, she huffed a little in embarrassment.
"Go to your knees, Pet."
James was pleased when Maura obeyed him immediately, lifting herself with a little sigh. He turned her to rest her elbows on the back of the tub for balance, and pressed one big hand along the length of her spine, arching her back so her sore bottom was on display. Maura jerked away when his freshly soaped hands went to her bruises, sprouting like bluish-gray flowers on her backside. "Shh," he soothed, "I'm just going to make you feel better.”
Maura's head rested on her arm. His hands rested on the narrow curve of her waist, looking at the rounded shape of her behind. Light slid along her wet skin, gleaming against the lean muscles that moved as she shifted her knees. Maura's skin was pink and flushing from the water, and his calloused hands ran along her, the warmth of her body sparking sensation from his sensitive palms straight down to his cock. Ignoring it, James continued to carefully wash his lover, lingering longer than necessary on her silky nether lips and watching them swell under his attention. He smothered his grin when Maura moaned involuntarily, her hips pressing a little against his hand.
"Darling," he warned, "I'm trying to be a gentleman and take care of you. Your response is making it a tad difficult to concentrate."
Her head was still against one pale arm, her inky curls piled on top of her head, James slid a hand into her curls, stroking them in the same pattern he was bathing her.
"I cannot believe I am saying this," she moaned, "but maybe... um, would you like to share my bath for a bit?"
James’s hands stilled. This was the first time - ever - that Maura initiated anything between them. "I'm not certain that's wise," he said reluctantly. "You're forgetting how uncomfortable you're going to be in the morning." But his clever, treacherous fingers were back to sliding over her center.
Maura's head turned, her eyes were the color of sea glass, the bits of blue and green glass washed up on a beach, and they glinted from under a curtain of black curls. "Please?"
James groaned. Fuck being a gentleman. He stood, dropping his sweats and putting one long leg over the side and into the warm water. Kneeling, he turned Maura and gently put her knees on either side of his narrow hips. Holding her waist, James slid her cunt up and down along the length of his cock, which was already hard and ready. Maura's head dropped bonelessly to his shoulder at the teasing sensation of his thickness sliding between her silky lips, but not entering into her painfully sore channel. Back and forth, he kept moving, strong hands on her hips easily handling her.
