Caleb smiled and changed the subject. «You ever shave a man?»
«Lot of times.»
«Good. Bring my razor to the pool in about ten minutes,» he said. Abruptly, Caleb turned away, wondering why it irritated him that Willow had shaved men before when it worked to his convenience now. «I put a real edge on the blade, so be careful of your fingers.»
«And your face?» she suggested innocently.
Caleb smiled in spite of his irritation. He looked back over his shoulder at the girl standing in the meadow wearing little more than long hair and a thin cotton blanket.
«If you don’t cut me,» he said, «I’ll brush your hair dry for you.»
Before Willow could answer, Caleb turned again, walking swiftly toward the trees. She stared at his retreating back, her thoughts scattering at the idea of shaving a naked man in a warm pool.
That wasn’t what hemeant, Willowassuredherself. Wasit?
She went toward camp, stopping long enough to turn over the clothes that were drying in the meadow. She had to shoo Trey away from her Levis — the tall gelding apparently was intrigued by the scent of freshly washed clothes. Willow felt the same way herself. Whether denim or wool or flannel, the cloth smelled of sunshine and meadow and a hint of lavender. She inhaled deeply, loving the mixture of fragrances.
By the time Willow got to camp, found the folding razor, and crossed the meadow again, more than ten minutes had passed. She hurried barefoot through the forest, watching for stones beneath the thick carpet of pine needles. When she saw the pool glimmering through the trees, she stopped.
Caleb was still in the water.
«Caleb?» she called. «Are you ready?»
«Sure. Come to the far side of the pool.»
With slowing steps, Willow approached the pool. Caleb was sitting at the opposite side of the pool, where a ledge formed an uneven kind of bench. Just behind him, the runoff from the hidden hot spring cascaded into the pool, sending water seething and swirling up to his breastbone.
«Don’t you want to get out?» she asked.
«I wouldn’t mind, but you would probably blush to your heels,» Caleb said calmly.
«Oh.» Willow’s breath caught. «Should I go away until you can put the blanket back on?» she asked quickly.
«Don’t bother. The water covers more of me than the blanket did.»
Willow tried to speak but her voice had dried up. She took a slow breath. «Caleb?»
«Hmm?»
«I’ve never been around a…» Her voice died as she remembered she was supposed to be a married woman. If she told Caleb she had never been close to a naked man, he would wonder what kind of a marriage she had. «That is, it’s been a long time since I…»
«Shaved a man?» Caleb finished for her. «Don’t worry, honey. I’ll hold real still.»
Uncertainly, Willow stood at the edge of the pool and nibbled on her lower lip. Caleb waited, seeing her ambivalence in the way she held her body. She was poised to flee, yet she was watching him with an expression close to yearning.
Wary little trout. She senses me coming closer and closer and knows she should swim away. But she likes the feel of my hands on her body too well.
God, so do I.
What did that bastard Reno do to make her so skittish of a man?
«Quit torturing your lip, honey,» Caleb said finally. «I didn’t mean to crowd you. Just leave the razor. I’ll shave myself. It won’t be the first time.»
«But there’s no mirror.»
«I’ll find a quiet piece of water.»
«My — my hands are shaking,» Willow said, wanting to explain why she wasn’t going to shave him.
«I can see that. Go on back to camp. I’ll be along in a few minutes.»
She drew a deep breath, but couldn’t bring herself to leave. She wanted to stay too much. Lifting the blanket, looking only at her feet, she waded across the tepid creek that flowed from the pool into the meadow. Under Caleb’s watchful eyes, she picked her way around the pool until she could place the folding razor within reach of his long arm. Telling herself she shouldn’t look, but unable to keep from a single swift glance, she realized that Caleb was right. The water covered more of him that the blanket had.
Most of the time.
But sometimes, for just an instant, the froth would swirl away and offer a tantalizing glimpse of the man beneath the seething silver water. Before Willow could realize what she had seen, the currents would shift again, concealing everything but Caleb’s wide shoulders rising above the pool.
Slowly, Willow settled by the edge of the water, rearranging the blanket so that she could sit without revealing more than her naked feet. After a moment of taut silence, Caleb reached for the soap he had brought and began lathering his wet beard. When he finished, he held his hand out for the razor. Willow put half of the folding blade in his hand, but held onto the other half.
«If you trust me not to cut you, I would like to shave you.»
Caleb closed his eyes, afraid that Willow would see the stark hunger in them. «I’d like that.»
«I don’t think I can reach you from here. Can you move closer to the edge?»
«Not without making you blush.» He hesitated before adding matter-of-factly, «There’s room for you to stand near me, if you don’t mind getting wet again. Your hair will cover whatever the water doesn’t.»
Willow looked at Caleb. His eyes were closed and his body was relaxed on the wide ledge, as though the hot water hadunravelled the constant vigilance that was so much a part of him. Reassured by his casual acceptance of the situation, she pulled her hair forward until it covered her breasts, took off the blanket, and set it beyond the reach of the dancing water. Carefully, she eased into the pool. She had bathed on the other side, where the pool deepened gradually. It got deep very quickly here.
Her foot slipped and she made a startled sound. Instantly, Caleb’s hands closed around her waist.
«Hang on,» he said. He lifted Willow and settled her sideways across his knees, shifted his grip, and held her out in front of him. «There’s another ledge of rock somewhere close to my feet. Find it?»
After a moment of fishing around with her toes, Willow nodded, looking everywhere but at Caleb. The instant of feeling his bare legs beneath her wet bottom had doubled her heartbeat.
«Can you stand?» he asked.
Willow tried, but the water was almost up to her breasts and quite turbulent, for she was in the direct flow of the cascade. After a few attempts, she managed to brace herself against the stone ledge and between Caleb’s knees.
«All right?» Caleb asked.
«I think so.»
He smiled slightly, settled back, and closed his eyes. «Make damn sure, honey. I only have one throat.»
Willow laughed and felt better. Caleb was so matter-of-fact about the situation that she felt foolish being nervous.
«Hold still now,» she cautioned.
As it had been during the battle with theComancheros, once Willow had a task for her hands, they stopped trembling. She shaved Caleb with quick, deft motions, washing the blade after each stroke. The lather vanished within seconds, torn apart by the currents that boiled softly throughout the pool.
Caleb sat motionless, but not from fear of being cut. He was afraid if he moved it would be to grab the trout that had so nearly come within his reach. The knowledge of his own nakedness and Willow’s body so close by aroused him violently. The gentleness of her hands caring for him was also arousing, but in a different way. It brought a feeling of being cherished that strengthened rather than weakened his self-control.
«Almost done,» Willow said, rinsing the razor. «You want to keep your mustache, don’t you?»
«Damn straight,» he said dryly.
«Good. I like the feel of it on my skin,» she said, concentrating on her work rather than her words. «There. That’s it. All clean.»