Chapter 77

I started to tremble. What had I said? What had I done? Had I pushed my luck too far with her? I thought this would be a fun bit of role-play for us. Apparently not.

"You're not my whore," McKayla said, tremors in her voice. "Never a whore. You're my love."

She took my hand and led me to the bathroom. "Let's get you out of this."

Ever so gently, she began to undress me. The clothes fell away and soon we were both naked.

McKayla pushed me into the shower and the warm water cascaded over us. It washed away the make-up, the sweat. My hair, which had been teased out, fell. I noticed something different about McKayla as we washed one another.

This wasn't our first shower together. But this one was different. Her touch was lingering. Her hands were always on me, and not just because she was playing with my butt like she usually did. It was like she didn't want to let me go.

I stood there in her arms for a long time. Our skin became wrinkled and still we remained together. I washed her and she washed me. McKayla always liked for me to play with her hair and that night was no exception. I massaged her scalp and pulled her hair as I lathered it up with shampoo.

She was tense, not overly so, probably from a long day. The shower relaxed her and once we were out of excuses to be under the water, we got out and dried off.

Neither of us bothered to blow-dry our hair. Instead we put it up in towels while patting each other down. I went out into the bedroom, lit a dozen candles and then placed them on the dresser, the nightstands and other spaces around the room.

McKayla came out of the bathroom, her breasts holding up a towel. Her hair was down and mostly dry. She usually wore it straight, but it's naturally curly. I pulled my hair out of the towel and let it fall, patting it a few times to sop up the last of the water.

McKayla came over to me. She pushed me back on to the bed and I pulled her down on top of me. Our towels were tossed to the side. Her skin was so soft.

My fingertips brushed up and down her back, making her purr.

"I love being naked with you, Paige," McKayla said in her sultry voice.

We were both exposed and vulnerable for each other. Not just without clothes, but there we were, just the two of us. Everything was washed away, both literally and figuratively. I looked up at her, the candlelight flickering in her deep brown eyes.

Her hand cupped my face and we kissed again. Her breasts were pressed against mine. Her nipples were erect.

"I want you to make love to me," I told her. "I want to be yours."

"You already are," she replied, her eyes flashing with something that looked like sadness. "It's just..."

Her voice trailed off. I didn't expect her to continue. A couple of times of the past few months, she had seemed like she wanted to tell me something, but she always backed off. I didn't push her. I knew she was afraid of commitment and I knew that this was hard for her.

Not only was she in a relationship, but she was in a relationship with a girl who was carrying someone else's child. In staying with me, she was committing herself not only to me, but to my child. Each morning when I woke up, I felt blessed to find her still in bed with me.

So this time was nothing new and I only pulled her down to kiss me again.

"I don't ever want to be without you," I said, and I meant every word. McKayla seemed built to hold me. And I had never been more content than when I was with her.

The sad look flashed in her eyes again, but it passed. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said. "I love you."