Read Online Bewitched in Budapest (Xcite Romance) by Justine Elyot - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Justine Elyot
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living area to a small bathroom. ‘I never bring a woman back here before.’
‘Really? Never?’
‘Uh huh. It was my mother’s. I feel like she will not approve, you know.’
‘Didn’t she want you to have girlfriends?’
‘Oh yes. But not girls like the ones I see.’
‘Oh, right. She’s not alive?’
‘No, she die three years ago. Same year I divorce, that’s a great year for me.’
‘Oh, you poor thing.’ I put a hand on his back, which was bent to turn on the bath taps.
‘I came to live here, said to myself, I will not fall in love no more. Just, what you said, shag. Have fun. No danger.’
‘I see we have different approaches to curing a broken heart. Mine, shagging nobody. Yours, shagging everyone in sight.’
He stared into the plunging steaming tap water for a while, then turned his face to me and shrugged.
‘My way, nobody gets hurt,’ I pointed out.
‘You get hurt. You get lonely.’
‘I don’t matter.’
‘Ruby.’ He reached for my waterlogged top and began peeling it up my stomach and arms. ‘You don’t say things like that. I don’t permit.’
‘You don’t permit?’ I widened my eyes in challenge.
‘Not in my house. In my house, you are kind to yourself.’
The top passed wetly over my face and landed in a heap in the corner. I clutched my arms to my ribs and shivered.
A crack of thunder made the bathroom shelf rattle.
I jettisoned the skirt and stood, damp and naked, ready to help János with his impossibly awkward jeans. In the end he had to sit on the side of the tub while I heaved them down his clinging legs and over his feet. Once they were gone, he clamped his legs together either side of me, trapping me inside the bend of his knee, pulling me forward until the angle was right for him to lean and kiss me.
‘This was the first time,’ he said softly, reaching out to turn off the tap. ‘Not the last time. Come on.’
He let himself slide, rather gracefully, into the water, pulling me by the arm so I landed with a colossal splash that formed puddles on the tiled floor.
I lay back, nestled between his thighs, head resting on his shoulder, looking up at the ornate light fitting and the tangle of old-fashioned pipes on the wall, feeling blissfully warm and contented and wanted. It was a moment to capture and keep.
Then there was a flash outside the tiny high-set window and the light went off with a tinking sound.
‘Ah shit!’
‘Power cut!’
‘Lucky we get the bath full first, right?’
Although it was close to midday, the iron grey storm clouds hanging low in the sky gave the impression of dusk and little light filtered through the tiny window.
‘Wait.’ János stood, dripping, and got out of the bath, returning swiftly with candles and matches. Soon a flickering glow covered the tiny room, and János rejoined me, pleased with the effect.
‘You like candles? Is romantic, yes?’
‘Very.’ I rearranged my legs around his and half-pivoted, wanting to kiss him. He was reaching for the shampoo bottle, though, intent on massaging my rain-ruined scalp and hair.
‘Here,’ he said, and his hand descended on the top of my head. Strong fingers distributed the shampoo through my tangled hair, awakening gorgeous sensation that trickled from my scalp downwards, making me sigh.
‘Mmm, you should be a hairdresser. That feels so nice.’ Blobs of lather slid down my neck and back.
‘I open a salon maybe? But I cannot cut. I maybe open salon for hair wash only. You think people pay for that?’
I chuckled. ‘Maybe not. Oooh. Do it forever. It’s so, so nice.’
His thumbs drew deep circles on the back of my neck until I thought it might fall backwards, no longer capable of supporting itself. Somewhere around the base of my spine, something was hardening, pushing to assert itself against my pliant flesh.
He finished rendering me into putty and began rinsing the suds out of my hair, the water streaming down me while I lay against his chest. For a
‘Really? Never?’
‘Uh huh. It was my mother’s. I feel like she will not approve, you know.’
‘Didn’t she want you to have girlfriends?’
‘Oh yes. But not girls like the ones I see.’
‘Oh, right. She’s not alive?’
‘No, she die three years ago. Same year I divorce, that’s a great year for me.’
‘Oh, you poor thing.’ I put a hand on his back, which was bent to turn on the bath taps.
‘I came to live here, said to myself, I will not fall in love no more. Just, what you said, shag. Have fun. No danger.’
‘I see we have different approaches to curing a broken heart. Mine, shagging nobody. Yours, shagging everyone in sight.’
He stared into the plunging steaming tap water for a while, then turned his face to me and shrugged.
‘My way, nobody gets hurt,’ I pointed out.
‘You get hurt. You get lonely.’
‘I don’t matter.’
‘Ruby.’ He reached for my waterlogged top and began peeling it up my stomach and arms. ‘You don’t say things like that. I don’t permit.’
‘You don’t permit?’ I widened my eyes in challenge.
‘Not in my house. In my house, you are kind to yourself.’
The top passed wetly over my face and landed in a heap in the corner. I clutched my arms to my ribs and shivered.
A crack of thunder made the bathroom shelf rattle.
I jettisoned the skirt and stood, damp and naked, ready to help János with his impossibly awkward jeans. In the end he had to sit on the side of the tub while I heaved them down his clinging legs and over his feet. Once they were gone, he clamped his legs together either side of me, trapping me inside the bend of his knee, pulling me forward until the angle was right for him to lean and kiss me.
‘This was the first time,’ he said softly, reaching out to turn off the tap. ‘Not the last time. Come on.’
He let himself slide, rather gracefully, into the water, pulling me by the arm so I landed with a colossal splash that formed puddles on the tiled floor.
I lay back, nestled between his thighs, head resting on his shoulder, looking up at the ornate light fitting and the tangle of old-fashioned pipes on the wall, feeling blissfully warm and contented and wanted. It was a moment to capture and keep.
Then there was a flash outside the tiny high-set window and the light went off with a tinking sound.
‘Ah shit!’
‘Power cut!’
‘Lucky we get the bath full first, right?’
Although it was close to midday, the iron grey storm clouds hanging low in the sky gave the impression of dusk and little light filtered through the tiny window.
‘Wait.’ János stood, dripping, and got out of the bath, returning swiftly with candles and matches. Soon a flickering glow covered the tiny room, and János rejoined me, pleased with the effect.
‘You like candles? Is romantic, yes?’
‘Very.’ I rearranged my legs around his and half-pivoted, wanting to kiss him. He was reaching for the shampoo bottle, though, intent on massaging my rain-ruined scalp and hair.
‘Here,’ he said, and his hand descended on the top of my head. Strong fingers distributed the shampoo through my tangled hair, awakening gorgeous sensation that trickled from my scalp downwards, making me sigh.
‘Mmm, you should be a hairdresser. That feels so nice.’ Blobs of lather slid down my neck and back.
‘I open a salon maybe? But I cannot cut. I maybe open salon for hair wash only. You think people pay for that?’
I chuckled. ‘Maybe not. Oooh. Do it forever. It’s so, so nice.’
His thumbs drew deep circles on the back of my neck until I thought it might fall backwards, no longer capable of supporting itself. Somewhere around the base of my spine, something was hardening, pushing to assert itself against my pliant flesh.
He finished rendering me into putty and began rinsing the suds out of my hair, the water streaming down me while I lay against his chest. For a
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