Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“Hurry up and relax.”

Sighing, she allowed herself a smile at that. “You never know when the world’s going to end.”

“So let’s get comfortable while we can.”

Turning onto her back, she looked up at the ceiling and brushed her dark hair from her face. “You can’t keep coming out here Xander.”

“They don’t need me today. Besides, I’m off to the Philippines tomorrow. This is my lay over.”

“You should be with them.”

“They want to relax with their families. What am I going to do? Barge in on Fred and Wesley making out and offer to change the baby? I’m like a ninth wheel or something.”

Pulling herself from the bed, she let the sheets drop from herself. Stretching her arms towards the sky, she leaned back until her head was almost touching the bed again. That was an interesting view, he thought. Watching her naked form walk to the bathroom, he leaned against the headboard and allowed himself a small smile.

Seeing that she had left the door open, he took that as an invitation. Lifting himself from the bed, he followed her through the open door. She was adjusting the water temperature for a bath.

“I thought you were a shower person.”

“Baths relax me.”

“That’s a big tub for small woman.”

Turning to face him, she scowled but there was no malice in her face. He was too endearing to deserve anything but kindness from her. “I’m not that small. And you should join me.”

Leaning his naked frame against the door jam, he watched her pull her hair into a twist and secure it at the back of her head. “We should join a nudist colony.”

The look on her face was confusion mixed with a ‘what’s wrong with you’ kind of stare, Xander thought. Laughing, he removed the black eye patch that he wasn’t supposed to get wet. What looked like a flesh covered bandage was underneath it, but the bandage was permanent. He had opted to have a skin graft cover the entire area than have a creepy looking glass eye rolling around in his head. It looked almost as if he had never had an eye.

Cordy never seemed to mind his disfigurement. She hardly ever stared, and if she did, it was never in a way that made him uncomfortable. She had seen horror, and someone with no eye was some of the least stirring things she had witnessed in her life. Turning to him, she lifted her arm and touched the area where his eye once had been. Her fingers lightly traced the scar that outlined the area.

Pulling her hand back slowly, she leaned back against the sink in the modest bathroom. It took him less than a second to reach her and lift her to him. With the sounds of the water pouring into the tub in the background, he took her against the sink, her legs wrapped around his waist as he held her from underneath. It was hard to describe what her acceptance of him made him feel, but the physical evidence of his feelings, he felt, were enough to convey his feelings.

After the tub had almost overflowed and the water had drained to an acceptable level, they sat opposite each other, the silence in the room comfortable and welcomed. It was nice not to have to talk, Xander thought. They were both content to let silence fill the room.

He touched the scar on her abdomen with his toes. Smiling, she suppressed a laugh and leaned her head back. She remembered what had caused that scar and instead of wincing, she let the memories pass in her mind without reaction. Their history, instead of making her wary, made her more eager to confide in him. It had been easy to catch up, to get to know each other again.

“How long will you be gone?” Her own toes traced the muscles in his arms and chest. Definitely more muscular than he had been ten years ago, she was pleasantly surprised at the physical reactions she had to his body. He was battle hardened, a warrior in his own right, and his body reflected that he had done manual labor and put in time in a dojo.

Smiling, he shifted a little as her smooth foot rested on his pectoral muscle. “A few days. Longer than that if there’s a problem. I should be back by Monday.”

“Will you come here on your way back to L.A.?” The question was more of a statement. She knew that he never passed up an opportunity for them to be together.

“Of course I will.” Content to see her between trips, he knew that of he pressed her for more she would withdraw from him. Slow and easy, he told himself. There was no rush.

She bit her lower lip and looked at him through lowered eyes, a wanton look on her face. He laughed at her expression and splashed water at her. “You’re insatiable.”

“I just want you to have something to look forward to in five days.”

“It might be longer than that.”

“I can wait.”

Closing his eye, he felt the water shift as she moved. She was kneeling in between his knees now, rubbing her wet hands across his shoulders. The pressure of her hands slowly increased until she was massaging the deep muscles of his shoulders and neck. A low groan escaped his lips as he felt his body release the tension that he carried in his back.

“Why are you still single?”

“Most men don’t like women who can beat them up.”

“You can beat me up anytime,” he replied.

She did actually laugh at that. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer when you get back.”

Relaxing under her hands, he leaned forward just enough to capture her lips with his. Releasing her from the kiss a few moments later, he smiled at her. He didn’t say anything. Words would ruin the moment, he thought. Telling her how much he cared for her would scare her away. Saying something flippant would kill the mood. So he stayed silent. Learning to control his tongue throughout the years had been to his benefit, he thought.

Looking at the man in front of her, she wondered if she had ever stopped having feelings for him. They had been an unlikely couple when they were younger. She had moved on through hatred of him after his betrayal of her, but she knew the follies of adolescent couldn’t be held against him now. It seemed like a lifetime ago, she thought.

Leaning close to him, she put her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. Perhaps, she thought, he was what she had been searching for. A warrior, a heartbeat, a good and caring soul, and an attractive body to wrap it all up in. Every good quality of every man she had ever been attracted to and none of the bad. She was thankful he lacked the naivety and childlike charm of Groo. Xander had youthful charm, but it was tempered with life experience.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she breathed in his smell and smiled. This was nice. She could get use to this. Maybe, she thought, being alive wasn’t going to be so bad after all.