“Stay?” Arwen requested softly. “Don’t go home. Just stay. I have clothes you can sleep in. We can hold each other all night,and you can wake up here with me. Say yes, Iro. I want you to stay.”
“Okay. Yes,” Iro replied. “But I could use a shower.”
“No problem. I’ve got the bucket and the pitcher all ready.”
“Sorry?”
“The bucket. I collect rainwater, boil it, and use that to shower.”
Iro’s face showed shock, and Arwen laughed wildly.
“I’m joking,” she revealed. “I just take fast showers. I wanted to see your face, though.”
“Oh, I see how it is,” Iro replied, stood, and rushed toward her as Arwen ran into her bedroom.
“No!” she yelled as she laughed, and before she knew it, she was on the bed, with Iro on top of her.
She pushed at Iro’s suit jacket, unsure of why she even still had it on. Iro removed it and let it fall beside her on the bed. Arwen ran her hands over Iro’s chest, not worrying about touching breasts she shouldn’t be, and she was surprised to feel hard nipples through the shirt.
“You’re not wearing a bra,” she noted.
“I usually don’t,” Iro said. “They’re rather small, so I don’t need anything to hold them up.”
“Well, now I don’t want to stop touching them.”
“They’re very sensitive, so if you don’t, we’ll end up in trouble.”
“Really?” she asked, hopeful.
But Iro slipped out of her grasp and stood in front of her. Arwen leaned up on her elbows and watched in awe as Iro began unbuttoning her shirt.
“I’m going to take a shower anyway, right?”
“Right,” Arwen whispered, watching her undo the top button.
The second one came next, and soon, Arwen saw that shirt parted and removed, and Iro stood there in a pair of her black suit pants and nothing else.
“My God… You’re perfect,” she said softly.
Then, Iro undid the button and zipper of her pants and let them fall to the floor.
“Are youtryingto kill me?”
Iro smiled and stood there in boxer briefs that looked as if they’d been tailored for her, and maybe they had. Arwen wanted to move to the end of the bed to touch her, to bring Iro closer and kiss her skin all night, but she resisted. Instead, she pointed to the bathroom because she had no words. She watched again as Iro smiled at her, walked in that direction, and started the shower.
“Towels are in the closet. Use whatever you need!” she yelled.
“I’ll be quick to save water!” Iro yelled back.
Arwen smiled to herself, stood up, stretched, and blew air out through her nose, trying to get herself together. Then, she found clothes to change into, dressed, placed clothes for Iro on the sink in the bathroom without peeking at all, something she was incredibly proud of herself for not doing, and lay down on the bed over the comforter to wait for Iro.
???
When Arwen woke up, she felt a solid body behind her, wrapping her up and making her feel wanted and safe, and she knew Iro was already awake.
“How long?” she asked.
“How long what?” Iro asked back, kissing the back of her neck.
