Page 66 of Down and Dirty

Much as she would like to disagree, he made a point. “Ne’er have I avoided hurt,” she said hesitantly, thinking as she spoke. “’Tis a coward who would do that.”

He shrugged, and afore he was able to mask it, she saw a gleam of victory in his mischievous blue eyes.

“You have tricked me with your web of words,” she accused.

“That depends on whether you’ve agreed to stay or not.”

“We have a saying in my land. ‘Beware of rogues with lustsome charms; they lure maids with their honey words.’”

“Honey,” he said, standing and pulling her into his arms, “we have a proverb here, too. ‘Beware, ladies, who withhold your honey; men will eat you in the end.’”

“I like my saying better than yours,” she said on a moan. He had his hands on her buttocks, pressing her into the cradle of his hips, and he was nibbling at her ear.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

She was not fooled by his false submission. “I have not yet agreed to stay,” she still insisted.

So said the fly to the spider, just before being caught. He, meaning the spider, put the final knot in her noose — uh, web — by offering her the ultimate temptation.

“How would you like to take a bubble bath?”

Even he had never tried THAT before…

Zach was a regular sex machine. Or at least he planned to be. Once he got off the frickin’ phone.

He had seven hours before he had to get Britta back to the base, and he grudgingly admitted that he would have to allow at least three hours for sleep. Otherwise, she would be dead on her feet in the grueling rotation of exercises this week.

With his cordless phone in hand, he checked his messages as he walked Britta up the stairs. Thank God for multitasking!

“Mayhap this is a bad idea. Mayhap I should return to the base and get some sleep. Mayhap—”

“No, no, no! This is a very good idea. It’ll make you relax and smell good and, did I tell you, bubble baths give soldiers stamina to fight on the field? Something about proteins or minerals or extra oxygen in the bubbles.” What a load of crap!

“They do?” She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. “Do you take bubble baths?”

“All the time.”

“Methinks all these orgasms are draining my body of strength, and I will be unable to keep up with WEALS for the next sennight.”

“Baby, this is the God’s honest truth,” he made a sign of the cross over his heart, “orgasms are good for the body. I can show you some books on the subject, once you learn to read. Too much sex is never a bad thing.”

“Well… ” She was still unconvinced.

Man, I must be losing my touch. He held the opened bottle of the Calgon bubble bath under Britta’s nose. His mother’s habit of leaving all her beauty products in her wake was finally bearing fruit for him.

“Lavender.” She sighed.

Well maybe lavender, not fruit, he joked with himself.

“Well, mayhap I can stay a little bit longer.”

He did a mental high five.

“Okay, honey, take off your clothes while I run the water in the tub and pour in the bubble crap… I mean, liquid. Once you get in, let the water go up to about an inch from the top.”

He glanced away as Britta eased her nude body into the old-fashioned, freestanding tub. If he looked, he’d be in there with her, and then he’d never complete a few urgent tasks before hitting the sack.

He got Britta settled in the tub overflowing with bubbles. He’d poured a half bottle of the Calgon in before reading the directions. She was half-asleep before he even left the bathroom, her neck resting on the back lip of the tub, her long hair hanging over the side.