“Will you take a bath with me?” I ask him softly, brushing my nose against his. Of course, I want to get him naked, that’s part of it. But more than that, it’s that urge to be vulnerable with him, for the two of us to drop whatever walls still stand between us and just give ourselves over to each other.
He slips his hands down my jeans and grips my ass, and I feel him grin against my mouth. “Oh, I think I could be tempted…”
The two of us undress in the steamy heat of the bathroom together, and once he has me naked, he pauses for a moment, his gaze traveling up and down my body. I’m still a little self-conscious about all the changes I’ve been through as a result of the pregnancy, the loose skin on my belly, the stretch marks around my hips and my thighs, but when he looks at me like this, it’s as though he can’t imagine a damn thing more beautiful in the world than me right now.
“God, Lila,” he groans, and he kisses me again, this time guiding me back toward the bath so both of us can sink beneath the water together. He slides in behind me, parting his legs so I can nestle in against his chest; I can already feel his hardness pressing against the small of my back, but he seems distracted by just touching me for the time being.
His hands caress along my legs beneath the water, then up my arms, reaching my shoulders, pausing for a moment to massageme there before he travels upward to wet my hair. His fingertips dig lightly into my scalp, massaging softly, and I let out a sigh of contentment and sink back into him. The scent, the warmth of the water, it feels like we’re in some kind of heaven, or maybe that’s just what it feels like when we’re alone together like this.
His lips glide along my neck once more as he pushes a strand of wet hair from my skin, and I feel the heat starting to build, insisting on attention. My hands loop around his thighs, nails raking into his skin playfully, and I feel the vibration of a groan against my skin.
“You have no idea how good that feels,” he tells me softly, his lips moving up to tease against the shell of my ear. I wiggle myself back against him playfully, where he has stirred to full hardness now against me.
“Oh, I think I have some kind of idea,” I murmur, and I turn my head properly so I can kiss him on the mouth. One hand moves to my belly to keep me steady, the other sliding between my legs and parting my lips with the expert touch of a man who has learned every inch of me from top to bottom. I gasp into his mouth, and his tongue slips past my lips as he strokes my clit softly beneath the water, the tingling pressure starting to grow with every passing second.
“Just tell me when you want me inside of you,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Tell me everything you want, Lila, and I’ll give it to you…”
I need no more invitation, the need aching deep inside me just like it did that first night. Just as we did back in his cabin, I slip into his lap, lifting myself slightly on his thighs so I can press myself against him entirely. His cock slips along the outside ofmy lips, teasing, tempting, and I moan in an incoherent plea for more.
And he gives it to me. He slips his hand around his girth and brings himself against me, and I sink down on top of him, enveloping him in one motion as my legs hook over his. We let out a sigh in tandem as he fills me at last, his arms wrapping tight around me and his head turned to breathe in the scent of me as he stills himself there within me for a moment.
“You,” he growls, “are so, so fucking beautiful.”
I close my eyes, sinking into the embrace of his chest for a moment, forgetting everything. Nothing else matters when we’re together; nothing else could. He saved me on that first night when I needed him most, and he’s saved me again and again since then, even though I’m not even sure he’s aware of it. But I will spend the rest of my life, if that’s what it takes, showing him that there is no life I want to live that doesn’t have him in it.
His hand kneads my mound gently as he stirs his hips inside of me, our mouths close but not touching, our eyes searching each other’s deeply as our bodies come together beneath the water. The heat feels as though it blurs away any edges between us, leaving nothing there but the sheer pleasure of his body inside of mine.
I reach back to cup the back of his head, running my fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair and pulling him in closer. I feel as though I can’t get near enough to him. I could climb inside his skin, and I’d still feel as though there was too much space between us. And as he watches me, I know he understands exactly how it feels. There’s this sense of connection between us, something deeper than the emotional or the physical, something that feels born from a power that’s beyond my understanding. Ican feel his heart thudding against my back, and as I move my hips against his, he slips his hand down between my legs so he can play with my clit while he fucks me.
The combination of all of it, of this intense emotional connection and the physical stimulation, is bringing me to places I’m not sure I’ve ever been before. I’m breathing hard now, the water moving around us, some of it spilling over the tub and onto the floor below, but we don’t care. All we can think about right now is ourselves and each other, the way we come together to form this whole that’s beyond anything either of us could be alone.
He thrusts up into me and then falls still, his fingers still moving deftly against my swollen nub, one hand reaching up to caress the oil over my breasts, and just like that, I finally feel my release rise up and through me like I have been waiting my entire life for this moment.
I kiss him so hard I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to draw back from it. Our tongues speak a new language into each other’s mouths, and I feel myself tense around him, thighs trembling beneath the oil-slicked water, the pulsations of my pleasure overflowing my body and pouring into his in equal measure.
I feel him finish inside of me a few seconds later, his body tensing and clutching to mine like he never wants to let me go, and the last vestiges of pleasure leave us falling into each other completely. The scent of lavender blends with the smell of his skin, deep and herbaceous and rich, and I trace my nails down the back of his neck, making sure he knows that I’m not ready for this to be over yet.
He holds me there for a long time, our bodies still attached, his skin still warm against mine, until I start to feel the water growing a little colder around us. Finally, I ease myselfreluctantly off of him, and sink back down between his legs, resting my head just below his chin and letting out a satisfied sigh as I reach out with my toe to turn the hot tap on.
“How are you feeling?” he asks gently. It amazes me that he can even string a sentence together, after what we just did, but I guess he’s always worrying about me, fussing to make sure I have everything I need.
“Amazing,” I sigh, glancing toward the baby monitor I put on the sink to make sure the twins are still asleep; looks like we didn’t wake them, as they’re still passed out peacefully next to one another. I know it won’t last for long, and they’ll be up and awake soon enough looking for me to feed them, but in this moment, the quiet bliss is all that I need.
“Good,” he murmurs, as he reaches for the shampoo at the edge of the bath. “Close your eyes…”
I do as I’m told, and he slowly works his way along my whole body, cleaning me from head to toe. He starts with my legs, lathering them with soap, and then moves to my belly, my bush, my breasts, moving his hands slowly, almost reverently, like this is some form of worship for him. He works the shampoo into a lather in my hair and carefully cleans out every single sud, pausing to drop kisses on my neck and shoulders as he goes.
Beyond the obvious pleasure of his hands moving over my body, it feels like something deeper than that too. Like we’re finally washing the past off of us, finally leaving behind everything that has stalked both of us for so long. We don’t have to carry the shame or the secrets any longer, not now that what needs to be done has been done, not now that we have finally been honest with each other in the way we’ve always needed.
He wraps his arms around me tight and holds me for another moment when he’s done, and I focus on the feel of his heartbeat through the muscles of his chest.
“I love you so much, Lila,” he tells me softly.
I don’t even open my eyes, just letting the enormity of the words settle in to my mind. They still feel like a spell, some kind of alchemy that transforms this life of mine into something special beyond my wildest dreams.
“I love you too,” I murmur. And just as I turn to kiss him once more, I hear a noise from the next room, one that swiftly follows on the monitor a moment later. Matty, crying, and then Ross joining in a second later.
“Oh my God,” I groan, laughing. “Can’t I just stay in this bath a little longer?”
