The Power of Weakness

Chapter 17

Once the stupor wore off a bit, she turned onto her side so they were face to face. Without thinking, she entwined her legs in his and put her hand on his cheek. Opening her eyes for the first time since he'd picked her up in the living room, she looked at his slack face. There was so much she wanted to say, but didn't know how. Before she could put thoughts together, Sebastian's demeanor changed. His breaths were no longer slow and deep, muscles no longer visibly relaxed. 

He spoke in low volume, but casually rather than intimately. "We can't just stay like this, at least not when I didn't wear a condom." He patted her arm. "There are a couple of things to do before we can sleep." Abruptly, he sat up. "First, let's get you cleaned up." The mattress and sheets shifted as he pulled on the fabric under them. He used the white silk they were laying on to gently wipe her, then himself. "Do you think you can stand now?"

Not quite caught up to the change in energy in the room, Ari closed her eyes and nodded. Sliding a hand under her back, he helped her sit up then climbed out of the bed and stood beside it. He pulled on the edge of the silk mat, bringing her and the cloth to the edge of the mattress and helped her to her feet.

"This is going to be the messy part." He continued to clean her with the silk, using gentle pressure as he swiped the silk fabric between her legs. "Are you okay? You might be sore or tender for a while." He spoke to her almost as though he was a neutral third party instead of someone who had just shared the most intimate act with her.

"I am a little." Her legs still felt a bit unsteady. She bit her lip and hesitated before she asked, "Did I bleed a lot?" Dear god, please tell me I didn't. She kept her eyes closed and didn't look for herself.

"I don't think so, there doesn't appear to be a lot on the cloth."

"That's good." She exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I really didn't know what to expect and I couldn't ask anyone." It came out sounding like a question.

"Why not?" Still with the neutral tone.

She covered her face with one hand and turned red behind it.

"Silly girl, you've been initiated, now you can talk about it freely." He supported her as they walked to the bathroom. "If you don't have women you can talk to, you can ask me." Her co-workers seem to discuss sex fairly openly though. He recalled the comments he'd overheard them making about Mateo.

She leaned her head forward so that her hair fell beside her face.

"These things I know about how to take care of you, I didn't just make up. I asked for advice."

Mortified, she dropped her hand and stopped in her tracks. "From Trevor?"

"Why would I ask Trevor?" No longer sounding like a disinterested third party, the emotion that sprang up was annoyance.

"He got birth control prescriptions and you said he takes care of all the details of your life and anticipates your needs..." She trailed off as they continued to the bathroom.

"Right, well Trevor is definitely not going to be involved in our intimate life to that level. I asked other women." He was not happy that either of them were talking about other people at this moment in time.

"Oh." She didn't dare ask who the other women were, she didn't think she could take it.

He turned on the shower then went back for their discarded robes. Without him beside her, Aribella's shoulders rounded and she wrapped her arms around her torso. She bent the knee of one leg and crossed it over the other. She didn't like standing there, naked, waiting for him and the discomfort made it seem like she was there several minutes when it had been less than one.