Sunflower

37

We get back to the hotel around 5 and Charlie starts to draw a bath. As she strips down to her panties, she looks over at me coyly, "I was rudely interrupted the last time I tried to take a bubble bath." Then, she starts to walk back into the bathroom. I've seen her naked body at least twenty times in the last two weeks, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at it. Her skin is rich and creamy; the color of coffee with a splash of milk and yet her nipples are a rosy pink. Her ass is so round it's practically unnatural – something so symmetrical and circular shouldn't exist in nature.

I grab her arm just before she makes it to the bathroom door, "Don't think I won't do it again."

She smirks and shrugs out of my grasp. "Promises promises..." before disappearing into the bathroom.

I check my phone, interested to see if there are any updates from Jessica. Nothing, which I take as a good sign. Out of curiosity, I also take a peek at the comments on my mural photo where I spy a few "Is this your girlfriend's mural?" comments. Then I switch over to Charlie's account to see if she's getting anything weird. I only look at her most recent photos and it seems like everything is normal, so I sigh in relief. I also text Evan about tonight; we make a plan to meet downstairs at 10.

The chorus from "Circles" breaks my concentration on my phone; it's coming from the bathroom, so I decide it's time I join Charlie. When I step into the warm bathroom, the smell of lavender fills my nostrils. She's lounging in the tub and, surprisingly, there are no bubbles whatsoever, which means I can see every inch of her body through the water. She looks up at me and uncrosses her ankles, giving me an even better look at her long supple legs.

I lick my lips and say, "Room for one more?"

She sits up and scoots her body to the middle of the rather large tub. "Only if you promise to behave," she smiles seductively.

"Define 'behave,'" I answer as I peel off my boxers and climb in behind her.

When I'm fully submerged, I unfold my legs the length of the tub and pull her back into me, wrapping my arms around her; she's now squarely between my legs and reclining against my chest. I close my eyes and let the song take me back to Brixton Academy – the night that changed everything. Surprisingly, I'm enjoying this bath in a non-sexual way. Just having her in my arms, relaxing and sharing silence together is something I didn't know I could appreciate until now.

She flips over, causing water to slosh over the sides of the tub. I open my eyes at the movement and find her staring up at me. "Whatcha thinking about?" she asks.

"I'm thinking how underrated baths are," I reply honestly. "This is nice." I run my fingers along her spine.

She nods and then brings one hand up to my chest where she touches my necklaces. "I keep meaning to ask you - do these have any special meaning?"

"Yeah, one is the Fiennes family crest," I explain and then wonder if that's douchey. "And the other is a crab, since I'm a Scorpio." While both have meaning, they aren't exactly family heirlooms or all that precious to me. I've had the crest one for quite some time, though only started wearing it in the last year. The other one was an impulse buy – Mercy bought one for herself and I liked the look of it so I bought one, too. I never intended to wear them every day, it just sort of happened. 

"Do you ever take them off?"

"Sometimes," I reply. "Why?"

"I don't know," she shrugs. "I like them... I kind of want to wear them." She looks at me with one eyebrow raised, waiting to see how I react.

"Okay," I say and reach back to unclasp them. 

She sits up on her knees, her breasts now completely out of the bath, tributaries of water trickling over her nipples. "Turn around so I can put them on you," I instruct. She does as I say and scoots her back against me. I fasten the necklaces one by one around her long neck, thankful that her hair is wrapped on top of her head. "There," I say, indicating I'm finished.