Page 21 of Beau

CHAPTER 5

Knowing Beau was just as uncomfortable in his wet boots and clothes as she was, Aurelie hurried into the bathroom, carrying the clothes the man had loaned her.

She lifted them to her nose and inhaled. They smelled like Beau. A woodsy scent she wouldn’t soon forget.

After turning on the shower and adjusting the temperature, Aurelie kicked off her boots and peeled the damp socks off her feet. Her toes were cold and pruned from being wet for so long. She couldn’t complain. Her toes might be wrinkled, but she was alive. She had been struggling to find her footing and could have drowned had Beau not jumped into the alligator-infested bayou to pull her out.

Her heart swelled in her chest. What he’d done was pretty damn heroic. She smiled. If she called him a hero to his face, he would probably disagree and say he’d done what any man would have done.

Aurelie wasn’t that sure. Many of the men she knew wouldn’t jump into a dark swamp full of alligators to save their mothers, much less a stranger.

She stripped out of the jacket, shirt and trousers she’d worn as Amelia Earhart and shucked her bra and panties. Leaving the costume on the tile floor, she carried the undergarments into the shower with her. The sooner she hand-washed them, the sooner they’d dry so she could wear them the next day.

Her nipples tingled under the shower’s pelting spray. She always left the house in appropriate undergarments. Her mother had drilled it into her to make a habit of wearing a good bra and panties in case she was in an accident, and the paramedics had to cut off her clothes.

Aurelie always thought that would be terribly embarrassing. But if it meant the difference between life and death, keeping or losing a limb, she prayed they’d cut off the clothes whether her bra and panties were pretty or not.

If her bra and panties didn’t dry by morning, could she go commando?

The idea of going without undergarments was new...and surprisingly titillating.

She gripped the bar of soap, worked up a lather in her hands and ran them over her skin, starting with her face, then working her way down her neck, over her shoulders and across her breasts. As her fingers skimmed her nipples, her breath caught in her throat. An image of Beau’s big hands grazing the sensitive tips made her core heat, molten hot.

Sliding her soapy hand lower, she cupped her sex and dipped a finger into her channel.

Oh, yeah. Not only was she hot in the middle of the day, but she was also dreaming lusty dreams about a man who had no intention of charging in to satisfy her sudden urge.

She could call out to him and offer to let him shower at the same time as she did, thus saving water and accomplishing the task twice as fast.

Aurelie was shocked by herself even considering showering with the stranger. She’d never showered with a man.

While no virgin, she hadn’t done much sexual exploration. The men she’d slept with had been in a hurry to get to their orgasms. Not one had been too concerned about satisfying her needs. The only real orgasms she’d had were the ones she’d elicited during her own forays into self-satisfaction. That’s right...masturbation. Sometimes, with BOB, her battery-operated boyfriend.

She wondered if Beau was the kind of guy who would go straight for his enjoyment or if he would put in the necessary effort to please her. Would he get impatient? Would she have to fake an orgasm, or would Beau get her there?

What was she thinking? It wasn’t like they were going to go there. He’d saved her life and felt responsible for her. That didn’t mean he was responsible for her orgasms.

Aurelie set the soap in the soap dish, squirted shampoo into her hand and washed the bayou water out of her hair. She rinsed all the soap from her hair and body, turned off the water and grabbed a towel.

After drying off, she pulled on the boxer briefs, liking the way they hugged her hips. Knowing Beau had worn them made her sex tingle and heat swirl low in her belly.

She had to get over her improper thoughts, or she’d have difficulty looking him square in the eye. He might read her mind and be appalled at the sexual content that included him.

When she pulled the T-shirt over her head and let it fall over her naked breasts, a moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.

“Are you all right in there?” Beau called out.

“I’m fine,” she answered, her voice high-pitched, strained by her attempt to sound normal when she was having anything but normal feelings for the man on the other side of the door.

“Get a grip,” she muttered softly.

“What did you say?” Beau asked, his voice barely muffled by the wood-paneled door.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just talking to myself.”

Aurelie stepped into Beau’s gym shorts, pulled them up over the boxer briefs, wrapped her hair in a towel and pulled the door open. “It’s all yours.”

Beau stood in the middle of the room, his chest and feet bare, holding a pair of shorts, a comb and a brush.