Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“No.” He kisses my forehead and tightens his arms around me. “It’s normal. The cuddling part, that is.”
“Look, pal, if you want a normal cuddler, you’ll have to find yourself a different girl.”
“I like this one.” He relaxes against the pillows, just holding me tightly against him as if he does it all the damn time.
Honestly, it’s not so bad. I like listening to his heartbeat, and I kind of love the way his fingertips dance up and down my spine.
I’ve never been touched so much in my life, and it’s not horrible.
“Are we done yet?”
He laughs and releases me before he rolls out, and I shift just enough so I can watch him disappear into the en suite bathroom. I hear the water in the tub turn on and smile in anticipation.
I’ve coveted that tub since the day it arrived for installation. It’s pounded copper, and so big that I’m pretty sure the Olympic team could happily win gold in that tub.
I plan to relax in it until my bones are jelly.
So, I climb out of bed, tie my hair up so it doesn’t get wet, and then pad into the bathroom in time to see Apollo light a candle. Two more, which are already lit, sit on the vanity.
“Candles?”
“And wine,” he confirms. “There’s a note from Luna, suggesting you take advantage of these while you soak.”
“God, I love her,” I declare and reach in to test the water, which is perfect. There’s also a packet of lavender bath salts, and I add a handful of those to the steaming water before I climb in, rest my back against the end of it, and take a long, deep, satisfied breath. “Holy shit, I just died and went to heaven. Don’t try to resuscitate me. I’m happier here.”
He chuckles, and then the next thing I know, he’s stepped into the tub with me and sits at the other end, pulling my feet into his lap.
“Hey, get your own tub. In fact, you have one just next door.”
“It’s fancy, but it doesn’t have a gorgeous woman in it.” I crack my eyes open to find him smiling at me. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Wine?”
He offers me the glass, and I accept it, take a sip, and then pass it back to him. He sips, too, and it seems this is the week for sharing wine with the Winchester siblings.
“Close your eyes,” he urges.
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” I lean my head back and close my eyes while Apollo begins to rub the arch of my right foot. The perfect pressure of his thumb rubbing along the arch of my foot sends me straight into absolute and utter happiness. “You have good hands.”
“They’re kind of beat up. Comes with the job.”
“Mine too. I have man hands with all the callouses and scars.”
“You don’t have man hands.” His voice is soft and soothing, and his thumb never stops doing delicious things to that foot. “You have working hands, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that.”
I don’t reply, and he doesn’t seem to need one. I’m so relaxed. Every muscle has just let go, and it feels as if I’m weightless, completely stress free and happy.
I’m happy.
I’m not typically unhappy, but I don’t know if it’s ever actually occurred to me before that I’m satisfied the way it does right now.
I guess excellent sex and a killer bathtub will do that to a girl.
Apollo switches feet, and I let out a soft sigh.
“You can stop doing that in about three hundred years.”
“Deal.”
Cracking my eye open again, I take him in. He’s much taller than me, so he’s farther out of the water, and I can see that he’s covered in goose bumps.
“You’re cold.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re cold,” I repeat and scoot back a bit. “Dip down farther. There’s plenty of room.”
He complies and then sighs. “Yeah, that’s better.”
“Silly man, you don’t have to be cold just to make me comfortable.”
“Your comfort is the only thing that matters to me.”
Not sure what to say to that, I close my eyes again and enjoy the feel of his fingers rubbing their way up to my ankles.
“Have you always been so…sweet?” I ask, unable to stop myself. “Or is this just for tonight because of the sex thing?”
“You decided a long time ago that I was the villain in your story, and that wasn’t true.”
“It was kind of true.” I sigh with happiness as his hands reach my calf. “I mean, you were mean to me.”
“Once,” he clarifies. “And you’re so damn stubborn that you held a grudge about it for twenty years instead of just talking to me about it.”
“I’m not a good talker.”
“Clearly,” he says. “Do you want me to call the guys I was with that day and tell them that I do, in fact, like your hair and they can go suck it?”