Page 48 of Infamous

‘That’s becauseyou’reodd.’

Rose wrinkled her nose at Eddie and then retreated back to her end of the bath. Eddie sat feeling out of sorts and foolish, convinced she had somehow said the wrong thing.

‘Hold on,’ she said. ‘Close your eyes.’

‘Why?’ said Rose, closing them immediately.

‘I am taking my leave of you. I’m plenty warm.’

Eddie clambered out of the bath, water sluicing from her and splashing Rose, who kept her eyes firmly closed but looked put out; she went to fetch one of the enormous towels that had been draped over the screen and wrapped it around herself, now feeling pleasantly boiled.

‘Don’t leave,’ Rose said suddenly. Her eyes were open now, her expression strangely determined.

‘I’m not leaving,’ Eddie said, sitting down on the chair by Rose’s head.

‘Good,’ Rose said, the tension falling away.

It was beautiful to watch: the loosening of her shoulders, the slackening of her mouth, the way the lines smoothed out around her eyes. Her hair was falling in dark, wet sheets and her cheeks were blooming rosy pink and Eddie was completely enthralled.Surely no person could ever actually look this soft, thiswarm? Nobody could be this radiant without heavily applied artistic licence.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Rose said.

She was gazing steadily back at Eddie with a sort of heavy-lidded focus, acute and indistinct all at once. Her mouth was still slightly open. For no reason she could fathom, Eddie wanted to sink her teeth into Rose’s lip. The thought flickered, and then caught and ignited.

‘I don’t know,’ Eddie lied.

‘Liar,’ said Rose.

‘Because you’re such a mind-reader.’

‘I am when it comes to you.’

‘Why even ask, then? If you already know what I’m thinking.’

Rose gave a minuscule, one-shouldered shrug.

‘I’m only wondering if you’ll be bold enough to follow through.’

‘All right, then,’ said Eddie, her decision made at once.

She cupped Rose’s chin gently in her palm, leaned over the side of the bath and kissed her. Rose’s lips parted at once with a tiny exhalation that could have been relief or surprise; she reached out with both hands to pull Eddie to her, but in doing so almost slipped and risked drowning for a second time that day. Eddie had to take hold of her properly, to pull Rose into her arms and grip her tight, the side of the tub digging painfully into her stomach as she did. She didn’t care. Rose’s mouth was just as soft as she remembered, but kissing her felt different entirely, incendiary and urgent; she leaned into the feeling, trying to pull her closer and kiss her harder, desperately hungry for something she couldn’t quite name. Rose was breathing in little gossamer gasps that Eddie thought might just be the end of her.

They were, she noticed, getting rather carried away; she couldn’t get enough of how responsive Rose was being – the catches in her breath, the blistering feeling of hot, wet skin under her palms. If those kisses in her garden had faintly stirred something, these kisses were jolting it wide awake – she was suddenly very aware of just how naked Rose was; the fact that Eddie could run a hand down her neck and into the silken dips of her collarbones, making Rose shudder and press herself desperately into Eddie’s hands. She was just considering kissing the extremely dangerous curve where the corner of Rose’s jaw gave way to her throat when she came halfway to her senses and pulled abruptly away instead.

‘Wait. Um .?.?. Wait, just a .?.?. What are we doing?’

‘Er .?.?.’ Rose said, gloriously out of breath, her pupils blown as wide as saucers. ‘We’re kissing.’

‘Right. But .?.?. historically, this has been an entirely educational exercise, has it not?’

Rose bit her lip in consternation. Eddie got the impression that her face was being completely honest, rendered incapable of artifice by post-drowning, bath-steamed euphoria.

‘Is that whatyouthink this is?’

Eddie smiled at her, pushing her damp hair away from her face.

‘I think .?.?. I think that our minds may have been parboiled. Come on, let’s get you dry.’

Rose looked a little flustered, but allowed Eddie to bring her a towel and help her out of the water. Eddie was just wrapping it around her, her gaze fixed firmly on the floor, when Rose stepped forwards and kissed her again, chasing her mouth and gently sliding her arms around Eddie until her hands met and interlocked at the nape of Eddie’s neck.