Anna dropped the towel and rounded the corner, chin up and her gaze locked on his, praying she didn’t slip on the tiles, pass out, or start giggling uncontrollably.
He kissed her forehead before rotating her back to his front and slipped soapy hands under the suit’s straps, pulling them over her pink-tinged shoulders and down her arms. He cupped her freed breasts from behind and brushed his lips over the exposed skin on the back of her neck. She froze under the stream of warm water and planted her hands on the tiled wall. Her rolled suit was stuck at her hips, and she was stuck between curiosity and caution when he slid his thumbs between her skin and the clingy fabric.
She wriggled her butt free, lifted one foot at a time, and the suit dropped to the tiled floor. Daniel crouched, circled one thigh with both hands, and sluiced the water and fine beach sand down her legs, one at a time. He soaped her feet, washing bits of seaweed from between her toes, and worked his way up her body while she washed the salt out of her hair.
Anna lifted her chest and lowered her defenses while they rinsed under multiple showerheads.
When he brought his hands to her waist and turned her to face him, she shushed the voice urging her to stop and reconsider this whole being bare-assed naked in the shower thing. Quieting that voice got easier as his arousal showed itself in the way his hands skimmed over her face and shoulders and down her arms, in the way he looked at her, and in the way his cock stiffened every time it grazed her body.
Daniel let go long enough to reach behind her and turn off the faucets. She picked up two of the generously-sized towels stacked on the built-in bench and handed him one. They mimicked each other’s movements, squeezing the water out of their hair before drying the bodies.
“Do you like this lotion?” He had tied a dry towel around his hips and stood in front of the mirror, reading the label on the bottle supplied by the hotel.
“Mm-hmm, it smells edible.” She held her towel in front of her, its bottom edge heavy from absorbing water in the basin of the shower stall.
He met her gaze in the mirror, and he tilted his head toward the bed. “Follow me.”
Daniel walked to the far side, peeled back the covers, and dropped his towel, nothing rushed about his movements. Anna glanced beyond his shoulder, to the open windows and the pulled-back curtains, and decided she would at least draw the sheer panels closed.
Diffused light was more complimentary to her skin. Putting off getting into bed with a very naked Daniel gave her time to count a few breaths, just like at the workshop.
Just like with Liam.
She dropped her protective terrycloth shield and brought one knee to the mattress, her breasts swaying. She was far more voluptuous than she had been the last time she and Daniel were naked together. She slipped both legs under the sheet and the light cotton blanket, covered her chest, and cozied herself by his side.
“Did you say something about applying that,” she gestured to the bottle in his hand, “to this?” She swept her hand over her body’s curvy topography in a playful invitation to continue.
“Turn over.” He must have been watching her. There was an amused expression on his face and a darkening in his eyes. Maybe he’d caught on to her avoidance techniques. His voice going husky, he said, “I’ll start with your back and see where that takes us.”
Anna rolled onto her belly and stacked her hands, elbows wide, resting one cheek on the corner of a pillow, the gauzy curtains floating in and out of view on the warmed air coming in through the sliding glass doors. Daniel folded the bed coverings down to her hips and flipped the cover on the lotion.
“I’m going to warm this a bit first,” he murmured, bending forward on his knees to deliver his message like a silken ribbon caressing her exposed ear.
Slowing down allowed her to relax and expand toward his touch, rather than shy away. He coated her from one shoulder to the other, down the sides of her ribs and over the sides of her breasts, into the dip of her lower back and over the rise of her butt. She closed her eyes as he smoothed the terrain of her body, varying the pressure with each pass of his hands, building a connection through the years, back to when they were lovers, and friends.
She wanted to believe in the truth of this connection. Recent experience had introduced her to a level of communication around consent. Would Daniel be as responsible, even if things between them began to move more rapidly?
For now, it was enough to stay present to sensation and reaction.
He pulled the sheet away, exposing the backs of her thighs, and released more lotion into his palm. Anna’s skin soaked up the moisture and the attention, refilling a deep and thirsty well. She spread her thighs when he shifted position, giving him more space to sit. He pressed the heel of one hand into the base of her right buttock, opening the most private area of her anatomy to his gaze.
“Is this okay?”
Anna nodded, accepting the intimacy of his touch with fluid approval, watching herself relax like her mind was on the shore and her body was taking off for a swim. “Yes. Very okay.”
Would she be as okay if she hadn’t been with Liam first?
She stretched her arms toward the head of the bed, reaching blindly for a handhold. Daniel rose on his knees, stroking her arms until his palms rested on the tops of her hands. He braided the fingers of one hand between hers and settled the length and weight of his body
