Flirt
Zorah entered the bathroom and smiled as Icaro, with his sleeve pushed up to his elbow swished bubbles around in the tub.
“You went all out,” she commented as she took in the dim lights and candles.
“I noticed you limped a bit up the stairs earlier and figured your feet might be killing you. A hot bubble bath will feel good.” He looked away as she began to peel her clothing off. Clearing his throat, he got up from the edge of the tub and started to walk around her towards the door. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll sort out dinner with the chef.”
She felt a twinge of disappointment as he almost ran from the bedroom, the sound of his footsteps clomping down the stairs. It took mere seconds for her to get into the tub to soak, her eyes flicking to the door more than once to see if she could see Icaro coming back up.
After the day they’d spent together, she was reluctant to be separated from him. She couldn’t deny she enjoyed the way he was catering to her today. Her thoughts went back to the way he’d scooped her up at the town square, held her against his chest and, she was sure of it, cried with her. It felt cathartic to cry in his arms, to let go of all the pain of the past week.
Their open, honest communication today went a long way to reassuring her about the decision she made to tell him the truth and to stay with him. Then, the way he sat quietly with her for almost an hour in the open-air ancient theatre to pray soothed her soul far more than she’d expected.
Sinking lower into the tub, she also couldn’t help but try to hide her smile as she considered the way he punched Caiu Giarre in the face. The bigger man, when Icaro said he wanted him to leave bruised in order to keep up appearances, Caiu initially protested but then when Vodingo said it would be good if anyone was watching the house to report back, they’d let him go but not without a mark on his face, the giant man agreed.
What Zorah hadn’t anticipated, was how much she would appreciate the fluid way her husband’s body would move when he struck like a cobra. One minute he’d been sizing up his opponent and the next he’d drawn his fist back and landed a punch which caused the bigger man to stagger back and fall against the sofa in devastating move. If the cracking noise hadn’t told her Icaro landed his punch, the immediate and copious amount of blood streaming from Caiu Giarre’s nose did. Zorah squealed and was immediately repulsed by the vision in front of her, but Vodingo’s hearty laugh and Icaro’s grin paused her reaction. Then the Walrus himself gave a painfilled laugh asking Icaro if they were even then and then man clapped each other on the back before Vodingo and his men escorted the other man out of the house.
Men were odd, she decided as she contemplated how the three of them were buddies again.
Again, her mind flicked to the way, Icaro’s back muscles stretched the cotton of his white shirt when he’d pulled back his fist and swung and she gave a groan and sunk lower into the tub. It had been a long minute since Icaro last touched her and today, she hated to admit it, because of the violence associated with it, but she found him sexier than she wanted to admit.
She plunged her head completely under the water as she tried to force her sordid thoughts away. She should not be thinking Icaro being violent was hot, but it was. It was hotter than the water she was sinking in. Maybe it was because the other man agreed to it, or maybe it was because the three men were laughing at the outcome, or maybe it was because she was slowly becoming as depraved as they were, but it was sexy.
“Zorah,” Icaro’s voice called as he came back into the bedroom, “dinner will be a bit. The chef wasn’t sure if we were eating in or out. It’ll be an hour or so. Is that okay?” his words came to a halt as he stepped into the bathroom and took in the sight of her with her hair plastered to her head, her cheeks rosy from the steaming water and a glimmer of something in her eyes he was reluctant to identify.
She nodded and cleared her throat, “sure. Did he say what he was cooking?”
“Pizza,” he spoke his eyes focused on the taps in the tub instead of her, “Sicilians make their own version of pizza, and the chef knows some of the guards of the compound here love pizza late at night when they’re doing rounds. He is going to make us our own to eat while we watch our movie.”
“And we’ll watch a movie in bed?”
“Unless you’d rather go down to the room where the television is. The guys may be in and out though as they do rounds. Up here, we’ll be on our own.”
She watched as he did his best to avoid looking at her in the bath, despite the bubbles covering her from the neck to her toes.
“What if someone is looking into our bedroom from the water like the girl who was spying on me?”
“While we were out today, the crew made adjustments to the windows and doors on this side of the house. With a material on the outside, we can look out, but they can’t see in.”
She took a breath and then spoke quietly, “so if I walk around our bedroom naked, people outside won’t see me?”
His eyes met hers for a fraction of a second,” are you intending to walk around naked?”
“Maybe?” she lifted a shoulder out of the water, feeling naughty when the top of her breast was exposed for a split second. She relished the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down at her movement.
“I won’t complain if you do.” He rolled out his shoulders.
“Then maybe I will.”
“You definitely should,” he gave a decisive nod of his head, “but only if you feel comfortable doing so.”
“Will it make you uncomfortable?” she asked curiously, wondering where her sudden flirty behavior was rising from.
“Yes, but I believe it is the purpose of my month of abstinence, to be uncomfortable.”
“Will you be looking at me if I do?”
“Zorah, I am struggling to not crawl into the tub right now and touch you, let alone keep my eyes respectfully away from your gorgeous body. I want to touch you, not simply look at you.”
“Then maybe you should.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
