“It’s gone.” She’s motionless. I help her up and into the tub. I’m about to leave her for a second to search underneath my sink for hotel bubble bath or anything remotely usable for the tub. Esme grabs my wrist. “Don’t leave me.”
“Just grabbing soap,” I assure her.
Finding a small bottle and grabbing a washcloth, I return to her as she stares blankly forward. I pour the small bottle and hang the cloth on the rim of the tub. Peeling my shirt up and off, I strip down and step into the warm water to sit behind her, positioning myself so she’s between my legs.
Immediately she leans into me. “All my photos.”
“Shh, don’t worry about that now.” I kiss her neck, and the overpowering smell of fire is drenched in her hair. I begin to comb the strands with my wet hands. As much as Esme has backups of everything she photographs, my guess is she means the photos from when she was younger on the wall.
“I feel so numb.”
Wetting the washcloth, I begin to scrub her arms, going slowly and gently. I’m not even second-guessing taking care of her now. It’s pure instinct.
“Try and relax. There is nothing you can do right now.”
I give up on the need for suds to spread over our bodies and instead rest with Esme. Her fingers skim the surface of the water, and I kiss her shoulder. We don’t need to say anything; tonight’s events are enough to occupy our brains.
“I’m so tired.” Nothing that she says has any tone, only somberness.
Stroking her arms, I want to comfort her, and I’m not sure if I’m doing this all right. “It will be okay.”
She tips her head up, attempting to glance over her shoulder. “Maybe in this moment it is. I fear for tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to. I’m here.”
Esme nestles further into my body, and we’re a fit perfect for this tub.
“I won’t wake up tomorrow and find this was a nightmare, will I?”
Rubbing her arms with my hands, I reply, “I can’t promise that. But I hope being here in the water with me isn’t a nightmare.” I try to make her smile, and when I do my best to curve my head around her body to check, I see a very faint stretch of her lips, and that’s good enough for me.
We stay this way for quite a while, just lying in the tub, and I clean her with the cloth. When the water cools and we both smell of peppermint from the soap, I get out and wrap a towel around my waist and bring the other up and open wide to wrap around her when she stands.
Now isn’t the time to admire how beautiful she is completely naked. I need to get her warm.
In my room, I give her one of my shirts to sleep in, and she leads her own way into my bed, pulling the duvet up. She’s intent on sleeping. If she’s like me then her body must feel weighted down.
Staying in my boxer briefs, I opt not to wear a shirt because I will just get too warm. Joining her in bed, I scoop her protectively in my arms until her head is tucked under my chin. I gently reach to turn the light off.
To my dismay, she rolls out of my arms and lies on her side. Mirroring her position, we face one another, and I kiss her forehead. “Try and sleep,” I whisper.
Her only answer is to peek her head out to kiss my lips. A chaste kiss, a parting before sleep kicks in.
But I’m mistaken as she hooks her leg over me, and withher in only my shirt and nothing else, I realize that I should have offered her shorts, too.
It doesn’t matter, as she wants one thing, and she rubs her body against me. “Please,” she murmurs.
This is what she needs now.
Maybe I should question her on this, but she’s already reaching between us to slip her hand inside my boxer briefs. This is how people sometimes deal with grief, and I’ll give her this.
I begin to trail my fingers up her legs, smooth from the bath. Esme scoots my briefs down until my cock springs free, already hard. Her legs part open, and I swipe my fingers between them to feel how much she wants this.
I move to enable me to bring my mouth to her pussy, discarding my underwear in the process. Lying on my stomach, I push the fabric of my shirt up to reveal her breasts. Spreading kisses from her bellybutton up, I slow the journey up to take a nipple in my mouth, and I hear a gentle gasp. Gently squeezing her tits with my palms, I remind myself that she is fragile glass right now.
Which is why I abandon her breasts and retrace the road of my kisses and move down, pausing just above her pubic bone, and her hips tilt up, offering me more.
“You’re so beautiful,” I utter softly against her skin, and I drag my lips along the line of her hipbone.
