Free Still by Ann Mayburn Page B

physical reminder of how she’d saved his life.
    Before he could change his mind he turned on his heel and left the butterfly room. His feet were already bare so when he opened the door to her bedroom his footsteps were hushed. She appeared to still be asleep so he went into the bathroom.
    Warm sunlight spilled over the marble floor, bringing out the veins of bronze and peach in the creamy stone’s surface. Her enormous bathtub took up the far wall of the bathroom and he grabbed a couple towels before heading over there. Shit, he’d seen smaller hotel Jacuzzis. Along the side on a small built-in shelf there was a variety of different soaps. He grabbed a bottle of some orange stuff and turned on the water. Opening the cap he took a hesitant sniff and was pleased to find it smelled like vanilla and peaches.
    After pouring the bubble bath into the slowly filling tub he noticed some buttons on the side of the wall. One button turned on lights in the water, and another started the jets. The third button made a TV rise up from the other edge of the tub. It would be nice to sit in a hot bath with a cold beer and watch football. Even better if Michelle was cuddled against his chest watching the game with him. Damn, he could get used to this place.
    Unsure what to do now, he refolded the towels and fidgeted, testing the water now and again. When the tub was finally full he turned the water off and glanced towards the bedroom door. Sapphire stood there with an unreadable look in her eyes. She still wore the t-shirt she’d slept in and her white cotton panties, which made her smooth, slender legs look a mile long.
    His mouth went dry and he swallowed hard. “I-uh, ran your bath.”
    “I see.”
    When she didn’t say anything else he stood and gestured to the water. “Let me know if you need anything.”
    “Sit down.”
    Raising his eyebrows he did as she asked, sitting on the wide tile edge around the tub, and tried not to groan out loud as she crossed the room. Even in bright sunlight she was flawless, all creamy skin and golden hair. When she stopped before him he reached out to touch her, but she shook her head. “No, Callahan, touching me is a privilege you haven’t earned yet. Now close your eyes, and don’t peek. I’m trusting you not to.”
    Damn, if she’d ordered him to close his eyes he might have been able to sneak a look, but when she said she was trusting him all the fight went out of him. Cloth slipped over skin, barely audible over the fizz of the bubbles.
    Her delicate hand touched his shoulder and he almost looked but caught himself. She shifted and he imagined her slipping her underwear off, naked and inches away from him. Fuck, he wanted to look, wanted to see if the curls guarding her sex were the same color as the hair on her head, wanted to see if she was as wet for him as he was hard for her. His cock ached but he didn’t dare move to adjust himself.
    A moment later her touch left his shoulder and water sloshed as she slid into the tub.
    “You can open your eyes now.”
    To his dismay the bubbles fully covered her, leaving nothing but her head exposed. She grinned at him and he smiled back, thankful for a break in the tension between them. “Do you want me to leave?”
    “No. I want to talk with you. I’m assuming that since you’re here you wish to become my submissive for a month’s time?”
    “Yeah. I-uh, yeah. I guess. But that stuff we talked about last night still applies. I don’t want you treating me like your bitch in front of other people.”
    “Eloquent as always, Callahan.” She pointed to the sink. “Open the first drawer and you’ll find my hairbrush. Bring it to me.”
    He did as she asked, conscious of her eyes on him, teasing his skin almost like a physical touch. When he returned with her hairbrush the heat in her gaze seared him. He went to hand her the hairbrush but she shook her head. “No, I want you to do it. Put a towel down on the floor and kneel behind