She frowns without opening her eyes and says, “Maybe if someone hadn’t drained me like this, I wouldn’t have.”
“Fair enough. Do you need shampoo?”
“I want to say no, but yes,” she grumbles.
I stand up and fetch a vanity case I’ve had purchased just for her. Everything in here is catered to her, from her curly hair to her delicate skin, all with the enchanting scent of jasmine. When I open it by her side, she opens her eyes and looks at its contents.
“Is that from a past conquest?” she wonders with a touch of jealousy.
“No, this is for you. See? Curly hair.”
“And jasmine… How did you know?”
“In case you didn’t notice, I pay attention.”
“Oh, I did notice, baby.”
She lifts a soapy hand from the water and pulls me in for a small kiss. Then she brings it to her hair and starts looking for something until she pulls out a pin. She finds a few more, releasing the strands that haven’t already slipped out.
“Okay, I think I got them all,” she eventually says. I tangle my fingers in her messy curls, seeking stranded pins. She almost purrs with delight, even though I’m not trying to make it good for her. “On second thought, there should be more in there,” she purrs.
“Let me help you shampoo,” I suggest instead, finding no more pins.
Aftercare was always a common courtesy, but with her, it’s a need. She’s given me so much tonight, so much of herself and of her love, that I need to give her this in return.
So, for the first time in my life, I shampoo someone else’s hair and run a sponge over a body that isn’t mine—or I suppose not mine in the typical way. And I love it. Every single second of it, every little moan she makes, every time she asks for a kiss, every thankful graze she gives me…
Once I have cleaned every last inch of her that I have soiled with my demanding attention, I leave to fetch a towel. When I return, I help her out and dry her with gentle pats. The bath seems to have helped, and she has a little more energy.
“I need to take a quick shower,” I explain once she’s dry. “You can go wait for me in bed.”
I give her forehead a kiss and turn her toward the door. It’s easy to guess how sore she is with the way she waddles out, and while I should feel bad for demanding that much out of her, I don’t. She had it coming, and knowing her, she wouldn’t change a thing about everything we did.
When I come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hips after a good scrub, I don’t find her in the bed as I expected, but standing by the window. She’s slipped on one of my T-shirts and looks particularly petite in it. We’re on the verge of dawn—blue, pink, and orange hues mapping the sky. Her eyes are on this spectacle, but I’ve seen it too often to care, so I look at her as I approach. She welcomes my embrace with a sigh and leans into me as my arms circle her.
“Remember how you promised you’d take me on a date and then fuck me until the sun rises again?” she asks softly.
“Yes, I remember.”
She twists her neck to give me a naughty smile. “The sun hasn’t risen yet.”
I’m torn between laughing and gaping, so I merely stare at her with a raised eyebrow. There’s no way she wants more of me right now. Hell, I don’t even think I could take a sixth round.
“If it were only my choice, I’d take you right here and right now,” I explain. “But you can’t handle more of me, Andrea.”
“I can always handle more of you,” she argues, turning around in my arms. “And there’s a part of me you haven’t fucked at all tonight.”
There are several parts I haven’t fucked, but I understand which one she means.Greedy little…
I lift a hand and press my thumb on her lips. She immediately welcomes it in her mouth and starts twirling her tongue around it. “Are you sure you want this?” I insist.
“Yes. Then we sleep for twenty-four hours straight.”
She looks disappointed when I don’t immediately agree, but that quickly changes when I order, “Get on your knees.”
What the fuck am I doing? I should be crawling my way to bed, not kneeling down in front of Lex.
But maybe some part of me wants to prove to myself that I can be enough for him. Even more than enough. So, I carefully kneel down, ignoring my trembling legs. When I look up, Lex’s eyes are already on me with something dangerous, something predatory. He tenderly caresses my cheek, his thumb grazing the freckles he loves.
