Slide seductively into spring with this excerpt from my short story Fly Baby. Read the whole story gratis here, and find out more about Lucy and Valentine in Taking it Off.
Lucy pushes open the door to the wet room. Fragrant steam rises to meet her, twisting through the air to settle in welcome across her skin. The shower is a long booth, the glass fogged so she can only see the shape of him, but the slope of his shoulders, the glimpse of thigh she catches, is enough to quicken her pulse.
Tearing her gaze away, she puts the towels down on the sink. His leather carry-all is open on the floor, a change of clothes spilling out of it. She grins when she sees that he’s packed the T-shirt she bought him on her last visit to Amsterdam. She wonders if he’s caught on yet that she chose it because it was a little too tight across his tattooed biceps.
She inhales sharply, weeks of desire catching up with her all at once.
“I’ll be finished in ten minutes, love,” he calls. The rumble of his voice is muffled by the falling water, but she can still pick out the rough edges he gets when he’s operating on too-little sleep.
Her nipples harden even more. Poor Valentine, she thinks. He’ll have to wait until I’m through with him before he’ll get any rest. She doesn’t feel sorry for him at all.
She acknowledges him with a grunt that relaxes his shoulders and starts his whistling again. He’s still not looking in her direction, but exhibitionist that he is he seems quite happy to be on display. Through the glass she watches his hands scrub through his short hair, lathering shampoo. Those biceps bulge. It’s the last straw that has her shedding her clothing onto the floor as fast as she can.
A shared shower in a busy international airport. It’s a terrible idea, but Lucy’s used to making this kind of thing work for her. She’s so wet already, tingling between her thighs, that the alternative—waiting outside like a good girl—isn’t an option.
Grinning, she knocks again, this time on the glass.
Valentine spins around, body a blur of shape and motion. He scrubs the fog away and squints out at her.
Oh, it’s worth it. It’s worth everything to see that look on his face, comical surprise sliding into intensely sexual welcome.
“I hear you ordered a massage?” There’s a quiver she can’t quite control in her voice. His eyes flick down, all the way down, and his tongue works moisture off his plump lower lip.
Without taking his eyes off her, Valentine bumps the heel of his hand against the door fastening. The glass swings out of the frame, releasing even more steam into the room. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps watching her like she’s the only thing he’s ever wanted to see.
Between the humid air and her eager pussy, Lucy feels drenched before she’s got truly wet. He’s bulked up over the summer and muscles flex underneath his tanned skin. Water cascades over his broad shoulders and down his chest. He’s always been beautiful—even from first sight, slouched down in a changing room wearing worn jeans, scuffed trainers and an expression so bored—then hopeful—it had taken everything she had not to burst out laughing. As it happened, she’d not been able to resist the opportunity to see that hopeful expression turn into something hungrier. By the time he’d been demanding more, she’d been so ready to give it.
And now’s he’s naked, wet, and so familiar, even with this newer, stronger body that she hasn’t yet had a chance to explore. Even better, he’s still looking at her with that same hunger. He excites her in a way that no man’s ever managed to sustain before. She used to fret—automatically, the product of previous relationships—that one day they’d both lose interest, but with Valentine the glory of it is that there’s nothing to worry about. No fear, her tattoo reads, and with him, there isn’t.
Valentine moves backwards, making room for her. “I didn’t think this place did the sort of massages I’m thinking about…”
Lucy pushes inside the shower, right up into his space. The jets of heated water feel lovely against her flight-achey muscles, but she’s more interested in the shock that reverberates through her when she finally gets her hands on him. His big body tenses, his shoulders turning to iron underneath her rubbing palms. She plasters herself to his chest, fitting herself beneath his arms.
“Consider this a special perk for the sexy tourist,” she says. “Welcome to Hong Kong.”
- From Fly Baby by Rachel Randall. All rights reserved.