“It’d be better to have skin to skin contact, but I don’t need to, if you are uncomfortable.”
It’s strange to me that she can sense my discomfort, and yet stranger still is how I’m not entirely uncomfortable with her.
“It’s good.” I hesitate. AmIasking a question or giving her permission?
“I’m going to move the sheet then,” she warns me like I’m a caged animal.
And fuck, I do not want to admit the fear sawing at my chest.
I nod against the donut pillow as Vale slowly moves the sheet downward, folding it over once, and then once again, and finally bringing it to the top of my ass where she pauses.
“Um . . .” She chuckles but covers it with a quick throat clearing. “You could have kept your underwear on.”
I want to argue that she told me to get undressed.
“I don’t wear underwear.” Not necessarily true, but the comeback pops out in place of my argument.
The silence that follows is thick before Vale clears her throat again.
“You might want to for any future appointments.” Her voice isn’t as steady as she might have hoped because she sounds a little distressed.
Victory or defeat at knocking her off balance is erased when she smooths the sheet along the base of my spine, just before the swell of my ass. I stiffen again as if her touch offends me when she’s been nothing but cautious and kind, warning me with every movement.
Get a grip, man. This is Vale.
She isn’t a stranger, even if I no longer know her, not as the adult woman she’s become. Deep down, I know I can trust her. She isn’t leading me on. Isn’t acting inappropriate. Isn’t hurting me.
Her bare hands return to the middle of my back. Again, the pressure is strangely comforting, and the skin-to-skin contact is even warmer than minutes ago. I relax just a little as Vale waits on my breathing to settle. Then she repeats the measured movements, setting her palms higher and lower along my spine at the same time.
Closing my eyes, I inhale and exhale again with each pause she gives me.
With her hand just at the base of my spine, she adds pressure to her fingers on my right lat. “Does that hurt?”
I shake my head despite the awkward cushion holding it.
“How about here?” She rolls her hand backward, forcing the heel to push gently against my lower left side.
I grit my teeth. “There.”
“I’m going to apply some light pressure. Tell me if it’s too hard. Or if you want it a little harder.”
The mere thought of Vale using those words in another manner has me closing my eyes. If I wasn’t in so much pain, I’d find humor in the moment. I might even flirt. I’d like to takeVale hard, push a little harder into her. Bring us both back to that moment beside the Falls and have a do-over.
But as Vale applies more pressure, I grind my molars despite the pleasing relief, and I release any thoughts of a second chance with her.
Like the water cascading down Sterling Falls and drifting toward a larger sea, I had my moment with Vale and then lost it.
7
[Vale]
After Cort’s session, in which he offered me a grunt of gratitude, I slip out of the room to allow him privacy to dress. Once inside the staff kitchen, I rest my hands on the counter, flexing my fingers, while bowing my head. I take a large inhale, hold, and then exhale slowly, as if I’m blowing out the nerves doing a jig inside me. Rolling my shoulders back, I try to release the tension and energy lingering after touching Cortland Haven.
The relief lasts only seconds before images of Cort, naked on my massage table, resurface in my mind.
That strong back. The firm curve of his ass. The strength in his arms.
Shaking out my fingers and tilting my head side to side, I fight the images dancing in my head.
