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There was a soft knock on the door. “Ma petite, may I come in?”

I glanced down at myself. The bubbles were still holding. I drew a pile of them a little closer to my chest and said, “Come in.” It took a lot of effort not to hunch down in the water. I sat up straight, trusting in the bubbles. Besides, I would not huddle. So I was naked in a tub of bubble bath. So what. No one can embarrass you unless you let them.

Jean-Claude came in with two thick, red towels. He closed the door behind him with a small smile. “We wouldn’t want to let the hot air out.”

I narrowed my eyes but said, “I guess not.”

“Where do you want the towels? Here?” He started to lay them on the vanity.

“I can’t reach them there,” I said.

“Here?” He laid them on top of the stool. He stood there, staring down at me, still wearing nothing but the black jeans. His feet were startlingly pale against the black carpet.

“Still too far away.”

He sat down on the edge of the tub, placing the towels on the floor. He stared down at me as if he could will the bubbles away. “Is this close enough?”

“Maybe a little too close,” I said.

He trailed fingertips over the bubbles at the edge of the tub. “Do you feel better now, ma petite?”

“I said no sexual innuendo, remember.”

“As I remember, you said no sexual innuendo until after you were clean.” He smiled at me. “You’re clean.”

I sighed. “Trust you to be literal.”

He trailed his fingers in the water. He turned his shoulder enough that I could see the whip scars on his back. They were slick and white, and I suddenly had an urge to trace them with my fingers.

He turned back to face me. He wiped his wet fingers across his chest, trailing shining lines of moisture across the flat slickness of the burn scar, down along his belly. His fingers played with the line of dark hair that vanished into his pants.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

“What is the matter, ma petite?” I felt him leaning over me. “Are you faint?”

I opened my eyes. He had leaned his entire upper body across the tub, right arm on the far rim, the left near my shoulder. His hip was so far over the water that if I’d touched his chest, he’d have fallen in.

“I don’t faint,” I said.

His face leaned down over mine. “So glad to hear it.” He kissed me lightly, a brush of lips, but even that small movement made my stomach jerk.

I gasped and pushed him away. He fell into the tub, going completely under, only his feet sticking out. He landed on my naked body, and I screamed.

He came up for air, his long, black hair streaming around his face, across his shoulders. He looked as surprised as I’d ever seen him. He crawled off me, mainly because I was shoving at him. He struggled to his feet. Water streamed down his body. He stared down at me. I was huddled against the side, staring up at him, pissed.

He shook his head and laughed. The sound filled the room, played along my skin like a hand. “I have been a lady’s man for nearly three hundred years, Anita. Why is it only with you that I am awkward?”

“Maybe it’s a hint,” I said.

“Perhaps.”

I stared up at him. He stood there, knee deep in bubble bath. He was soaking wet and should have been ridiculous, but he wasn’t. He was beautiful.

“How can you be so damn beautiful when I know what you are?”

He knelt in the water. The bubbles covered his waist, so he looked naked. Water trailed down his chest in fine beads. I wanted to run my hands over him. I wanted to lick the water off his skin. I drew my legs to my chest and locked my arms around them, not trusting myself.

He moved towards me. The water sloshed and curled around my naked body. He stayed kneeling, so close that his jeans brushed my huddled legs. The feel of him in the water, that close, made me hide my face against my knees. The pounding of my heart gave me away. I knew he could taste my need on the air.

“Tell me to go, ma petite, and I will go.” I felt him lean over me, his face just above my wet hair.

Slowly, I raised my face.

He placed a hand on the