The Tutor

Chapter 34: All Through the Night

"Would you think I was crazy if I said I wanted to go for a soak in the pool?"

Nick pressed a kiss to her forehead. "No, not at all. I might even join you. Unless you wanted to go by yourself? Looking for a little alone time? Hm?" He looked at her carefully to assess her mood.

"No, please come with me," she answered, nodding for emphasis. "Though I should warn you, I wasn't going to wear my suit. You up for that?"

He grinned at her. "Just makes me want to get there quicker," he assured her.

She smiled back and they rose together, walking hand in hand to the pool, where steam rose from the water, making the air warm and moist.

Nick held Sumire's hand as she stepped into the pool, enjoying the fact that he could see her lithe body completely for the first time. She moved with grace and fluidity, every motion economical and compact, every muscle flexing as she displaced the hot water with her body.

She let out a sigh as the warmth enveloped her and took her usual place on the stone bench, winding her hair up on her head and clipping it in place. As usual, a few tendrils fell out and curled around her neck.

Sumire watched Nick step in next to her, admiring anew his taut abs and the slight bulge of his hamstrings. She found it amazing that just a little while ago she had been clasping that body to hers, that he had been inside her, that they had been joined, for all intents and purposes as one being.

"You've really changed," Nick noted as he settled in next to her.

"Really? How?" Sumire rose and sat in his lap facing him, straddling him, in a very intimate posture, draping her arms over his shoulders.

"Well, this, for one thing," Nick said, gesturing at her. "You could never, ever have sat like this, actually on me with your legs all spread like this, before, even if you'd been wearing a suit, which you most definitely are not."

"Oh." Sumire looked down, taking herself in before looking back up at Nick. "Is my, um, wanton and immodest pose in your lap bothering or offending you in some way?" She blinked at him, making him laugh.

"God, you're fun," he told her, pulling her close for a hug. "You can't imagine how happy I am that you're doing so well with all of this, you really can't imagine. When I think back to that night in LA, after those assholes attacked you, and you didn't even want me to see you when I was helping you take your sweater off, remember?"

He rubbed her shoulders before leaning forward to press a kiss on first one, then the other. "For you to be able to walk over here with me absolutely starkers like you did, and just step into the water, no worries about whether or not I'm going to see you or touch you? It just makes me so happy, so happy, that's all."

"Oh, Nick, thank you so much for being so patient with me," Sumire said. "Thank you for not being put off by how standoffish and bitchy I was, and for--for seeing something in me worth hanging around for."

"My pleasure."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, then Sumire rose and left, after planting a kiss on Nick's mouth and smiling at him after. He followed a few minutes later, and wasn't suprised to find that she'd dragged her futon from her room to his, lining it up closely next to his so there was no gap between the two.

She was already in her yukata, all tucked in, and the only part of her he could see was the very top of her head peeking out of the top of her comforter in the dim light of the lamp. The picture was very homey and welcoming, and Nick was suddenly exhausted and couldn't wait to crawl into his own futon.