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  It’s okay, baby,” he said softly. “I can be patient—you’re worth waiting for.”

  Kate felt a flutter in her stomach at his deep, quiet words. For the first time since she’d met the big Kindred, she felt a strange certainty about him. This man loves me. How or why he had come to feel so much for her, she didn’t know but she was certain of it and for a moment her heart ached because she couldn’t return the emotion.

  Can’t or won’t? whispered that voice in her head. Why are you so afraid, Kate? Why can’t you trust?

  It was a question she’d been asking herself all her life. Had she somehow answered it and overcome her issues in the three years she and Rone had been together? Kate wished she could remember but her past was still shrouded—maybe never to be revealed.

  What needs to be revealed is your skin—you need to let go of that bundle of clothes, get naked and get in the shower, she told herself practically. And now that she knew the big Kindred couldn’t see her, she found it much easier to do that.

  “Okay,” she told him, putting her bundle of clothes on top of the counter by the sink. “I’m ready.”

  “Well, I’m not.” He shifted a little. “I mean, I need to get the rest of my clothes off before I get in.”

  “Oh, you do? I mean…of course you do.” Kate cleared her throat. “I was, uh, wondering earlier if the pool goop got into your, uh, britches.”

  “So that’s why you were looking at me earlier.” He laughed softly. “I wondered about that. But yes, unfortunately, it did. So…do you mind?” He stood there waiting and Kate realized he was asking her permission to strip.

  “Oh. Of course, please—go ahead,” she said, trying to be polite.

  “Thanks.” Without further ceremony, Rone unfastened his black leather trousers and shucked them down along with the black underbriefs he’d been wearing.

  Kate sucked in a breath at the sight of him naked. He’d been right when he said the goop had gotten everywhere—it didn’t coat the bottom half of him as thoroughly as the top half but streaks of black still ran down the flat planes of his belly and the long length of his muscular thighs. Some of it had also gotten on his crotch, she couldn’t help noticing. Most noticeably, there were streaks of black running down his very impressive shaft.

  At least he’s not hard, she thought, feeling uncomfortable all over again. But if he’s this big soft, I’d hate to see what happens when he does get hard!

  “Kate?” he asked and she realized he was just standing there, waiting.

  “Uh—yes?” Her voice came out in a squeak and she had to try again. “Yes?” she asked.

  “Could you lead me into the shower?” he asked, holding out a hand. “I really can’t see a damn thing.”

  “Oh—sure.” She took him by the hand and led him into the shower stall, which was a large one, enclosed with glass walls and a frosted glass door. As she closed it behind her, Kate lifted her chin.

  Well—here we go. No turning back now!

  Chapter Sixteen

  It felt strange to be in the shower, naked with the big Kindred but once the warm water hit her skin, Kate found herself relaxing, at least a little. The heated spray against her skin was soothing, even if it didn’t do anything to remove the slime. She wondered if Rone was enjoying it too but when she looked at him, he was just standing there, obviously waiting for her to make the first move.

  The first move—oh my God, I have to do something. We can’t just stand here all night not getting anything done and he’s clearly too much of a gentleman to start it himself.

  The thought made her feel nervous all over again and she cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably.

  “Kate?” Rone’s voice was soft, as though he was trying not to frighten her. “How exactly do you want to do this? Do you want to wash me first or let me wash you?”

  “Um…” God, she really couldn’t deal with this… Then her eye was caught by a bright blue bath puff hanging from a hook on the shower’s tiled back wall. It looked almost exactly like the one she had back home at Mimi’s apartment.

  Oh, thank goodness! She felt a rush of relief. She could just use the puff between her hand and his skin and have him do the same. That should work, right? Because it was still going to be her hand doing the scrubbing and the Madam of Shadows had said no hand but hers would get him clean and vice versa.

  “Kate?” he asked again. “You are still in here, right?”

  “Oh, right—sorry.” She gave a nervous little laugh. “I was just…thinking. Anyway, I think I’ll do you first, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not a bit, baby.” He spread his arms as if presenting himself to her. “Do what you want, however you want to do it.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  Reaching up, Kate snagged the bright blue bath puff from its hook. There was a bottle of body wash on a little ledge beside it and she saw with surprise, it was the same kind she used at home.

  “This is weird,” she said as she squirted a generous dollop of the floral-smelling body wash onto the puff.

  “Actually, we wash each other in the bathing pool all the time—or we did, anyway.” Rone sounded wistful.

  “No, I meant, this bubble-apartment thing they’ve got us in.” Kate grabbed one of his hands and began to scrub his long, muscular arm industriously with the puff.

  “What about it?” Rone asked. He stood perfectly still, submitting to her scrubbing.

  “It’s set up a lot like the apartment I had in college,” Kate said. “I mean, it looks almost exactly like it except for this bathroom which is way nicer. But they even have a bath puff just like the one I left back home. And my favorite brand of body wash.” She shook her head. “That shouldn’t be possible. This place is light years from Earth and I’d bet anything no one else from Earth has been here. How did they know exactly how to set up a place that would make someone from my planet feel at home?”

  “I suppose Commander Sylvan could have given them specifications.” Rone sounded thoughtful. “After all, I know the Kindred Mother ship is set up to make the Earth brides feel more comfortable so he would know exactly what to tell them.”

  “I could see that with the furniture and the bathing and cooking facilities.” Kate frowned as she spoke, still scrubbing hard. Nothing was coming off so far but she was sure it was just a matter of time. Rone was a big guy—it was going to take some serious elbow grease to get him all clean. “But right down to my favorite brand of body wash? It’s just weird,” she said.

  “Maybe they pulled this setup from your mind,” Rone suggested. “Maybe they scanned us in some way.”

  “Then why not have some things from your home world too?” Kate asked. “I mean, unless there is something here like that? It all looks like Earth stuff to me.”

  “It is.” Rone frowned. “Maybe it has something to do with that damn pool. Maybe it read you in some way while it was trying to drown you.”

  “Ugh!” Kate shivered. “Now there’s a pleasant idea.”

  “Sorry, just speculating. Uh…” He shifted uncomfortably. “Are you almost done with that arm, Kate? The skin is beginning to feel kind of raw.”

  Kate stopped scrubbing and looked down at his right arm, which she had been working on with the puff for several minutes now. To her dismay, it was clear she hadn’t gotten even the tiniest bit of slime off of him. His arm was still coated from wrist to shoulder in the black stuff.

  “It’s not working, is it? The scrubbing implement,” Rone said in a low voice.

  “The puff,” Kate corrected him. “And no.” She sighed. “No, it’s not—not a bit.”

  “Again, I think we’re dealing with a very literal command,” he said. “Didn’t Madam Shadow say that no hand but your lover’s would get the slime off?”

  “Yes, something like that,” Kate mumbled.

  “So I’m sorry—I think we’re going to have to use our hands.”

  “You’re probably right.” Well, there went the comfortable distance sh