Bitter Spirits (Roaring Twenties #1)(59)

She obeyed without thinking, toeing off her Mary Janes at the heels, leaning on a gold-fauceted vanity for balance. Her hand touched metal. A small round tin stamped with the words MERRY WIDOWS and a quantity: 3. It took her a moment to realize what was inside.

She wrinkled her nose, half embarrassed, half offended. “I’m not disease ridden.”

“Neither am I. What’s the matter?”

“It makes me feel cheap.”

“I don’t know why. They aren’t just for disease. I’m not exactly the best candidate for fatherhood at the moment. What precautions have you previously taken?”

“I guess I got lucky,” she admitted. “It was only the two times.”

“I suppose if your lovers were incompetent enough to fail you in other ways, it should come as no surprise that they didn’t care enough to see to this, either.”

She’d never thought of it that way, but it made her feel both grateful and ashamed at the same time. Her brain searched for a witty retort, but she was too frazzled to fight.

“One thing at a time, okay?” He slid the tin out of her reach, kicked her shoes aside, and began toweling off her hair. “You look like a homeless beggar,” he said with amusement in his voice.

“I feel like one.” She was relieved to change subjects.

He tossed the damp towel on the tiled floor and picked up another, then stopped to look at her. “I know you’re not going to be happy about this, but there’s really no way around it, so this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to take off your wet clothes, and I’m going to look at the scars on your hips.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning under her breath.

Winter pushed back her damp bangs with one swooping, warm palm and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I scare children on the street.” His fingers reached for the hem of her striped top. “If you are black and blue and grossly disfigured, I will not even blink.”

She raised her arms as he pulled her top over her head. “It’s not that bad,” she mumbled.

“Has your skin turned green and putrid?” he said in a teasing voice as he slipped his hands around her back to unfasten her bandeau brassiere.

“No.”

“Does it look like you’ve been run over by a lawn mower?”

“No.”

Winter paused to look at her as cool air breezed across her bare breasts. The front of his towel expanded, temporarily distracting her from his fingers, which were unbuttoning and sliding off her skirt. When she stood in nothing but stockings and lacy-edged silk tap pants, her anxiety ramped back up. She stared at the wall as he tugged her stockings down.

“Aida,” he commanded as he stood. “Look at my face.”

The bright light from the bathroom vanity made his good pupil constrict to a fine black point—a drastic contrast to his dilated eye. He pressed a kiss between her brows and slowly rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “It’s only me.”

“I know,” she replied as her muscles began relaxing under his petting hands. “That’s what makes it worse.”

“Why?”

“Because—” She lost her train of thought when his hands moved from her arms to her waist. Before she could protest, warm palms slipped beneath the waist of her tap pants and ran down her hips.

“I can barely feel them.” A moment later, silk slid down her legs, and there was nothing she could do but endure his inspection. Dense patches of toughened, bumpy skin started at the outer curve of her lower hips and spread down, mid-thigh, each patch about the size of her hand. The freckles both hid the scars and made them more noticeable in places.

“This is what you’re worried about?” he said, running the pads of his fingers over her scars. “How long have you had them?”

She let out a long breath. “Since I began working nightclubs. They’ve gotten thicker over the last year. And I know you can see them, so don’t tell me you can’t.”

“Yes, I can see them,” he said softly.

“I’ve tried to use the lancet on other places, but this is the easiest to hide onstage.”

He studied the other hip and brushed his knuckles over a tender spot. “It’s red here.”

“That was from two nights ago, my last show. I try to switch sides every show.”

“Probably wise.” His hand ran up the scars, over the upper curve of her hip, up her ribs. Then he cupped her breasts, catching her off guard. “Now, are we done with this ridiculousness?”

“Yes,” she said, feeling as if she’d cleared some small hurdle or received a passing grade on a test. And when he traced circles around her nipples with his thumbs, she gasped for breath and forgot about the scars altogether.

“Good.” The erection tenting his towel brushed against her stomach. “See what you do to me?” he whispered roughly against her hair. “Even the sound of your voice makes me hard. Your smile . . . your laugh. You smell so damn good. Christ, Aida—you turn me into a babbling fool.”

“Winter.” Her forehead fell against the damp hair on his chest. He was always so warm.

“I want you, cheetah. Every inch, scars and all. I want all of you.”

His words emboldened her. The corner of towel tucked into his waist looked as though it wouldn’t take much effort to come loose. She took hold of that corner and tugged.