“You say that now,” I said, drying my hands on a towel.
His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms again. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Perhaps one day you will find me…not so trip-ish.”
“Yeah, Annie,” he breathed. “No fucking dice.”
I opened the wrong drawer, then remembered where our toothbrushes were and opened that one. I handed him his.
“You remembered,” he said, slathering mine with the paste.
“I was almost comatose after we got here, but I do remember you saying—” I cleared my throat “—dental hygiene is very fucking important.” I tried to do his voice, but it was way…off.
He spit out the water he had just taken in the sink, roaring with laughter. He pulled my hip closer to him, keeping us together as we brushed our teeth together. “No fucking way you won’t be the trip of my life,” he said.
“Mmmhmm…” I grinned, copying his brushing technique. He was extremely serious about dental hygiene, and I knew why. His mamma. Mia had warned me about it during our shopping trip, and she said that, out of all her brothers, Mariano had taken it the most seriously.
Even after all the traveling we did to get to Fiji, he was ready with our toothbrushes before bed. I was too tired to even move from the bed after we stepped into theburethe night before. I had waved him off with my hand, which felt as if it had pasta for bones. “One night will not kill my teeth.” The next thing I knew, I was floating. Or felt as if I was in his arms. He brought me into the bathroom and set me on the counter.
“Dental hygiene is very fucking important,” he had told me, preparing my toothbrush. He brushed my teeth for me, saying all that I could not do, he was there to do. Even things I could do but were an honor for him as my husband.
“Does this include dressing me for bed?” I had asked, delirious. I knew I was delirious because he had done this for me plenty of times before.
“Clothes,” he had said. “Who needs clothes in paradise.”
After he had made love to me, I could not even remember my name, or where I was. All I craved was sleep.
He shut his water off in real time, and so did I. I did not want to be a slacker when it came to the brushing, so I timed my brushing to his. He did have the most beautiful teeth. When he smiled, the sun came out full force, and I melted. I set my back against the counter, watching as he tied a towel around his waist, running his hands through his hair to tame it.
I turned some and grabbed a comb I had seen in the wrong drawer. The one without the toothbrushes. He noticed. He opened his palm toward me to take it, but I shook my head.
“Allow me to do this for you.”
Our eyes met, and it took him a minute, but he finally nodded. I tapped the comb against my palm, thinking over all the times I had watched him do it, and then reached up to?—
—he picked me up in a rush, making me gasp, before he set me down on the counter. He stood between my legs, his hands on each side of my hips, and looked down at me.
I swallowed hard, nodded, and started to comb his hair. He moved into the motion as if he had never felt anything as good. He made a pleasurable noise in his throat. It vibrated. When he did, the spot between my legs ached, and I shivered.
Myfigahad a pulse, and it seemed directly connected to my breath, which was coming in shallow pants. I had to fight with my thighs not to close. Not to keep him out, but to lock him in. I wanted to bite his shoulder while he pounded into me, screaming when he reached me so deep inside, it almost felt as if he might rearrange my insides. Then he would slowly pull out, touching every sensitive nerve, and…I made a pleasurable noise of my own.
His nostrils flared, and he slowly opened his eyes. His heated gaze traveled between my legs before he met my eyes. “You smell so fucking sweet,” he said. Taking my face in his hands, he kissed me while one of his hands roamed to my thigh, where it glistened with want. I wrapped my arms around his neck, the comb falling to the floor, and as I wrapped my legs around his waist, a knock came at the door.
I made a desperate noise, and a breathy laugh from his mouth touched my lips. He kissed them, patting my hips. “Merlin said he was going to bring over new communication equipment. The other ones we had were older and crapping out. It’s important to have them. We’re so fucking off the grid here.”
“Perhaps I will take a shower.” I was breathless, and my hands were curling into fists. I was trying to keep myself from launching my entire body at him. This was how badly I wantedhim. He was…beyond fine. His scent swirled in the air, and I closed my eyes, breathing him in.
“Annie.”
My eyes opened. He was about to walk out.
“Yes?”
“A shower will be a waste of water. You’re just going to get dirty again.”
“Ah,” I breathed out, as he went to answer the door.
Taking a deep breath, I turned toward the mirror, setting my hands on the counter. I touched my face. I was too pale. It was as if I had never recovered from the sickness when I was apart from my husband. However, my hair... I set my hand over my head, attempting to squish it down. My hair was naturally wavy, although closer to straight than curly, but here…the humidity was thick, and it seemed to plump my hair to levels I had never experienced before. Venice was humid, and I found Maremma was as well, even if the weather was milder there, since it was along the coast.
