‘Do you have any ibuprofen?’ he asked.
‘Sure.’ She lowered her Kindle. ‘What’s wrong?’ Poking around her nightstand drawer, she found a blister strip and handed it to him.
‘I’ve twinged something and it just won’t release.’ He squinted through the pain. ‘Smashing out the last of those upstairs fittings. Petunia made minced meat out of me. One after the other, bam! Out they went. Framework. Sinks. The bidets. As if they were made of cardboard.’
‘Let me give you a rub,’ Sarah offered, getting to her knees behind him on the bed. ‘Show me where.’
‘It’s ok, you don’t have to.’ He went to lie down, but the twinge caught him again.
‘You stay right there,’ she ordered and shot off to fetch a small tub from the en suite. ‘Beeswax. Grammy Vi’s special trick. I’ll have you right in no time. Where does it hurt?’
He grimaced through another wave of nerve-tingling electricity. ‘From here,’ he pointed to the upper right side of his neck, just below his ear, ‘across my shoulder, and down to my hand.’
Assessing him, she returned to her previous position behind him on the bed as he sat on the edge with his feet resting on the floor. ‘Take your top off,’ she said. ‘Else this will make a mess of your pyjamas.’
‘If this is just a ruse to get me naked . . .’ he teased.
‘I wouldn’t be starting with your top end, trust me.’
‘Touché.’ He pulled his top off and dropped it beside them.
Sarah’s jaw dropped, and she was thankful that Matthew was unable to see her face. Matthew had a slim build, but was toned and well-defined, both front and back. The skin on the back of his neck at the base of his hairline had taken much sun over the previous weeks of their outdoor labour, and had a deep brown tan. The rest of his skin was his usual light olive; just enough Mediterranean glow to reflect his ancestry.
Sarah’s hands were poised mid-air, not knowing where she wanted to touch him first.Everywherewasn’t an option. His muscular tone continued down to the small of his back, and she could just see the top of his buttocks down the nape of his cotton shorts.
‘Everything ok?’ he asked.
‘Of course.’ She took an almond-sized portion of wax from the tub and warmed it to a liquid in her hands. Dropping her palms to his shoulders, she was struck by the warmth of his skin. Smooth and taut, she bit down on her lower lip. ‘Tell me when I hit a tender spot.’
He nodded.
Slowly and gently, Sarah ran her fingers along the invisible line Matthew had shown her. The feeling of his muscles, each perfectly defined along his shoulder line, made her subconsciously hold her breath. Suddenly, he flinched under her touch. ‘There?’
‘Yes,’ he shuddered. ‘And just down a bit.’
Sarah’s fingers found a tiny knot of tension that had built around a pinched nerve on the crest of his shoulder, and she ran her thumb along the ridge. ‘And there, I’m guessing?’
Matthew practically leaped from the bed. ‘Yes. Yes . . .’
‘Ok. Just relax.’
It took a moment for Matthew’s tight torso to succumb to Sarah’s hold, but he eventually let go. She steadied herself then guided him to lie against her, so that the back of his neck rested against her upper chest. In this position, she was able to muster the strength and rhythm needed to awaken the muscle that was in spasm. With both hands, she took his shoulder and turned it simultaneously in opposing directions, trying to unlock the caught pinch.
Suddenly, with a final gentle twist, Matthew exhaled. He rolled his shoulder as best as he could in his current position and was relieved to find it relatively pain-free. ‘I think you got it.’
‘Magic hands,’ she said, miming her best ‘tada’.
‘I’ll say.’
Just as he went to pull away, she coaxed him back onto her. ‘You’re not going anywhere. That pinch is gone, but you’re still tight. Let me loosen you up. Lie down.’
They both stood up and Matthew stretched himself across their bed, lying face down with his hands folded as a pillow under his head. ‘You’re too good to me, Sarah.’
‘I’m going to sit on you now, ok? Because it’s the easiest position. Don’t get any ideas.’ She prodded his bottom playfully with her knee as she straddled him. Tugging on the waistband of his pyjama shorts, she shimmied them down a few inches. A carnal desire suddenly ignited as she revealed the entirety of his lower back and half his buttocks.
She shook her head to refocus her attention.Head out of the gutter, Sarah, she told herself.
Sarah’s hands, now slick with a fresh coat of wax, moved the entire length of his spine, twisting at the small of his back, pushing up and over his shoulder blades then moving in unison down his toned arms and to his hands. She repeated this process over and over until his skin tingled and was rosy from the stimulated blood flow. Sarah enjoyed every stroke, relishing how his perfectly oiled skin felt under her palms.
