She recognized the silver and purple label. “Zora’s?”
“She says it’ll wash away my curse.”
“Well then.” She cranked the hot water faucet to full blast. “Let’s get to washing.”
“Mmm.” Winding one arm around her waist from behind, he tugged the elastic from her ponytail. “Sounds delicious.”
How could she be anything but delighted by this playful, loving, horny man? She reached back and goosed his firm, jeans-covered butt. “You’ve got a bathing kink, don’t you? First the shower, now this.”
His laughter shook her. “You’re opening up new worlds to me, Hannah.”
She wiggled her ass into the cradle of his hips. “Here’s where I say something about getting wet with you, right?”
“Always a welcome development, beauty.” He slid his fingertips beneath her green satin blouse.
“Ah ah ah.” She slipped out of his grasp. “Take off your own clothes while I set the scene.”
Thanking Past Hannah for her foresight, she lit candles scattered around the tiny, cornflower blue bathroom, then switched on soothing saxophone jazz and dimmed the lights.
A very naked Xander drew her tight against his heated skin. “You have excellent setting-the-scene skills.” His lips teased the shell of her ear. “I should hire you to decorate my shop.”
“Nope. I’m keeping my nose out of your business decisions, remember?” She wriggled out of his embrace and whisked her blouse over her head. “Now, let’s get to work lifting this curse.”
She shucked her jeans and, clad only in a mint-green bra and panties, emptied Zora’s potion into the tub and bent to swirl twinkling salt crystals into the gushing water.
Xanders hands settled on her hips. He hummed his appreciation, a low rumble that triggered an echoing pulse between her thighs.
But experience had shown her bathtub sex was better in horny imaginations than in cold, porcelain reality.
“Bath first. Let’s clean away all that dark energy.” She pivoted to face him. And hoo-boy, was he a glorious sight—full lips parted, broad, naked chest rising and falling as his glimmering gaze drank her in. And that cock! Ruddy and straight, bobbing with his pulse, its plush crown tipped with a crystal tear.Yum.
“Besides, I like ogling you. You’re a beautiful man, Xander.” She ran her fingertips over his pecs and down his sides to trace the indentation on the side of each muscular ass cheek.
Xander’s eyes drifted closed. “Hannah, your touch is so… I don’t even have words to describe the feeling. It’s like you open me up and pour in starlight.”
She felt it too, this sense of slipping the bounds of gravity and floating, weightless, just the two of them—a fragile joy made all the more precious because it couldn’t last. Nothing this good ever did.
“In you go.” She guided him into the tub. “Let’s clear your aura so we can get on with the bedroom part of our St. Patrick’s party.”
While he settled against the porcelain curve, she sat on the low stool that usually held her bathtime tea—or wine, depending on how rough the day had been. With a plastic pitcher shaped like a pelican—bought long ago from Gus’s shop—she sluiced water over his skin, admiring the artistic swirls it made in the dark hair on his chest and abs.
“Mmm, Zora’s herbs smell nice.”
“Very relaxing,” he agreed.
Unable to resist a bobbing target, she swirled a fingertip around his stiff cock. “Part of you isn’t relaxed.”
Wicked intent sizzled in his grin. “Well, you’re near, so…” He clasped her arms. “Come in, beauty. Share this curse-banishing bath with me. There must be some bad vibes you want to wash away.”
He had a point—and not just the one pointing skyward between his sturdy thighs.
Ever since Mom broke the news of her impending retirement, Hannah had lived under a cloud of anxiety about the paper’s future, which dulled her enjoyment of this blossoming connection with Xander. Why not give Zora’s potion a go?
Humming along with the sexy sax, she stood and unhooked her bra, then shimmied out of her panties and carefully stepped between Xander’s spread legs. The warm water felt silky against her skin. As she folded herself into the narrow space, his heated gaze glided over every inch of her.
“Oooh, Hannah. You are breathtaking.” He skated his slick hands over her arms, down her sides, and up again to cup and knead her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples to stiff peaks. She closed her eyes and let her head loll back, reveling in the delicious sensations—warm water, strong muscles dusted with soft hair, satin skin beneath her palms, strong hands that gripped her hips and urged her forward.
“Hold on now.” She wiggled away. “Bath sex isn’t really as fun as it seems. Besides, we’re gonna need more room.”
