“I’m happy to do that anytime. You just say the word.” He kisses me. “Or, hell, just give me a look. Maybe we should have like a Bat-Signal or something.”
“A Bat-Signal?” I smile and shake my head.
“Or we just continue to grow our relationship, and I’ll be able to feel it before it happens.” He smiles slowly, almost shyly.
The need to be closer to him starts to burn through me. So, I get up and climb onto his lap, straddling him and wrapping my arms around his neck.
Husband.
A word that should feel strange in my mouth, but somehow doesn’t.
“I want that too. I want to know everything about you. Your secrets. Your worries. And I want to be part of your celebrations too. But the one thing I want to make sure we don’t lose is our friendship.”
“We won’t because we’ll work for it. All of it.” He keeps one hand around my waist and brings the other to my neck, thumb stroking over my pulse point. “You know what I think we need?”
I trace my finger over one of the tattoos on his neck. “What do we need?”
“We need a bath.” He nuzzles my chest.
“Is that your way of telling me I stink from today?” I huff, playfully pushing him back.
“Not at all. I love the way you smell. It’s just something we can’t do at the house, and we have this big ol’ tub here, so we should take advantage of it.” He kisses my jaw. “And I want to get my wife naked and wet.”
Heat rushes through me at his words. “Okay,” I practically pant. “Let’s take a bath.”
He stands with me in his arms and walks us over to the tub. He sets me down so he can turn on the water and push down the stopper, and then he takes one of the bottles of bubble bath and pours some into the running water.
The tub is deep and is surrounded by windows. As the water fills, steam curls up, fogging the glass.
When he turns to face me, my hands go to his chest, and I start to unbutton his shirt. He stands still, letting me undress him slowly. Once it’s done, I push it off his shoulders, and he pulls the sleeves, removing it completely.
Then he reaches for me and takes the hem of my sweater and lifts it off me, tossing it to the side, on top of his shirt. He grabs my bare waist and runs his hands up my rib cage, then to my back to unclasp my bra. I shrug my shoulders forward, letting the straps fall down my arms to the floor.
I curl my hand into the waistband of his jeans and tug him closer. I pop the button and slowly pull down the zipper. With a newfound boldness, I reach into his boxers and wrap my hand around his erection.
“Fuck, baby,” he hisses.
I stroke up and down a few times, then slip my hands under the band of his boxers to his ass and push them down with his jeans, bending to take them all the way to the floor.
When he steps out of the legs, I trail kisses up his thighs, stopping to swirl my tongue around his swollen crown.
He grabs me under my arms, pulling me up. “Not yet. I want to take my time with you tonight.” His thumbs brush the sides of my breasts as he holds me, making goose bumps appear on my skin.
I bring my hands to his chest and trace the planes of his muscles and over some of the larger tattoos. His body is a work of art, figuratively and literally. Some of the ink on his skin could be on a wall; it’s so good.
His hands move to take hold of my breasts, and he squeezes gently, pushing them together. “God, you’re perfect.” His voice is thick and deep.
I remove my hands from his chest and unbutton my pants, and his hands fall as I shove them down with my underwear.
When I straighten, Silas’s gaze makes my knees nearly buckle.
“You’re staring,” I tell him.
“I just can’t get over the fact that you’re my wife,” he says quietly.
Something warm flutters in my belly.
Then I take his hand and step into the tub first. I sink down into the water, letting the heat wrap around my body. When he steps in behind me, I scoot up a little to give him room to sit, and I watch the water rise and spill over the side as he sits behind me.
