Free Water and Fire by Demelza Carlton

I was going to do with it but determined to at least attempt
to respond in kind. "Irish luck," I murmured, one hand reaching for
him as the other closed on the softened soap. I was so intent on
stroking Aidan to his increasing pleasure that I dropped the bloody
bar into the bathtub.
    "Bugger," I muttered, bending
over to pick up the soap.

31
     
    In my clumsiness, I almost
slipped again, saved only by bumping into Aidan's body. His hands
at my hips steadied me as I reached for the bar again.
    "Bel…do you want me to…" he
began, but didn't finish.
    "It's all right, I think I have
it," I interrupted brightly, straightening with soap in hand. I
worked to lather it to foam as fast as I could, turning to take my
chances with his Irish luck.
    No longer a grass tree on fire,
now he resembled a sentinel stone, surrounded by frothy sea-foam
from waves breaking at its base. A rock warmed by sun and the water
that washed him. I paused to admire my soapy handiwork, but he
shrank before my eyes.
    "Fuck!" he swore. "Sorry, Bel,
that's the last of the hot water." He squeezed past me, wincing as
he rinsed his body in the now near-freezing water, before turning
the taps off.
    Aidan stepped out of the shower
and reached for the towels, tossing one to me. The fabric felt
warm, as if heated. I looked at him in surprise.
    He laughed. "Heated towel rail.
Otherwise they wouldn't dry in this weather. Now, if you want to
turn shrinkage into swelling again, a little stroking should fix
me, what with your warm hands and all…" He moved in closer for
another kiss. I felt him stiffen slightly in the close contact. He
evidently felt it, too. "See? You work wonders, Bel."
    I smiled, unsure what to say.
My stomach betrayed me with a gurgle. I was hungry for several
things at once.
    Aidan laughed again, responding
with a lighter kiss. "I should make you some breakfast first. I
wouldn't want a wonderful woman like you going hungry." He hung his
towel back over the heated rail and walked naked out of the
bathroom. The muscles in his bottom shifted with each step,
revealing a tantalising tuft of red hair between his cheeks.
    I hastily did the same with my
towel so I could follow. After the steamy atmosphere in the
bathroom, the chill of the kitchen struck me more forcefully than
the cold water. I felt my breasts tighten as if they, too, were
shrinking away from the cold. I reached for the nearest item of
clothing – Aidan's coat, draped over one of the dining chairs – and
slipped it on, holding it closed with my crossed arms.
    Aidan stared at me, as he
donned some clothing, too – a flowery apron that covered his front
but left his bottom bare. "How about I fry you up some eggs for
breakfast?" he asked with a wicked smile. He bent over to remove a
frypan from a low cupboard and I found myself staring at his bum
and what dangled so temptingly beneath.
    "Should I help?" I asked
doubtfully, as he strode around the kitchen, pulling out implements
and ingredients.
    "I can make you breakfast, Bel.
You relax." Aidan smiled.
    I sank into a dining chair,
pulling my knees up to my chest to keep more of me warm inside
Aidan's coat. I was so intent on Aidan's nether regions that I
didn't realise his eyes were fixed on me, too. I smiled,
embarrassed but rueful.
    Aidan shook his head. "I still
can't believe you're sitting in my kitchen, wearing nothing but my
coat, letting me make breakfast for you. I feel like I'll blink and
you'll disappear."
    "Me either," I admitted.
    He flipped eggs onto plates,
salting them liberally before passing me some cutlery and an egged
plate.
    I swallowed the eggs as quickly
as I could, barely tasting them, until my stomach was sated. I
craved a different sort of satisfaction and my eyes strayed to the
likely source of it, so the finger he slipped inside me beneath the
table took me by stunned surprise. I straightened and tightened as
Aidan slid his finger out again, with more difficulty than it had
entered. "Still so wet, I see," he