Page 100 of Paradigm

“Okay. Are you hungry?” Eline asked.

“No, I ate on the plane. If you want to get something, though, we can. I got a second wind, and I think I should probably try to stay up until it’s bedtime anyway to help me adjust.”

“Shower, and we’ll figure it out,” Eline said.

Arlowe gave her a quick kiss and moved into the bathroom, where she started the water and found a towel on the sink that, she guessed, was for her. She stripped, leaving her dirty clothes on the toilet lid to deal with later, and hopped inside the shower, where she found soap and shampoo waiting for her. Not wanting to leave Eline waiting long and also wanting to get back to her as quickly as possible, she hurried through her shower, and just as she was about to turn off the water, she heard something.

“Hey. Not looking… Just forgot if there was a towel in here for you.”

The shower door was glass and, therefore, see-through. Arlowe turned off the water and wiped the excess off her face before she looked at the door that was a few inches open in the other direction, facing away from her.

“There’s a towel. I’m good.”

“Okay. Yeah. Just checking.”

“Do you want to dry me off?” she asked and had to laugh when she heard Eline’s hand slip off the doorknob.

“Um… Sorry. What?” Eline asked.

“I’m standing here dripping wet. I thought you could maybe take care of that for me.”

“Arlowe…”

Arlowe swallowed and stepped out of the shower before she picked the towel off the sink and stood in front of the door, where she held the towel out for Eline to take.

“I told you that I was ready,” she said softly.

Eline’s hand reached for and took the towel, and Arlowe waited. Then, the door opened a little more, and Eline stood there, holding the towel tightly in one hand.

“You are?” Eline asked her, staring at the shower and not at all at her, which had Arlowe smirking.

“Look at me,” she said.

Eline met her eyes.

“I don’t want this because we’re trying to squeeze something in before either of us has to leave. I want this because I want you. I love you. I’m ready.”

“Oh, you’re…” Eline dropped the towel to the floor when she finally allowed herself to look down Arlowe’s body. “You’re so beautiful.”

Arlowe took a step toward her and said, “We can wait if you need to.”

“No. No more waiting,” Eline replied.

“Yeah?” Arlowe asked, hopeful.

Eline nodded as she continued to take her in.

“You like what you see there, Claasen?” she teased as a way to help with her nervousness.

“You’re still so…” Eline ran her fingertips over her still-wet skin between her breasts. “Just… mine.”

Arlowe took Eline’s hand that had been on her chest and brought it to her lips where she kissed each fingertip, one by one, as she stared into Eline’s eyes.

“Take a step back, babe.”

“No. I want to move toward you, not away from you.”

“And I’d like us to be in our bedroom, as you called it, not the bathroom.”