When You Arrive, I Will Honour You
Step through the door...
The conductor’s whistle was just an echo in the distance.
Nikki’s pulse was still ragged from the train ride when the hotel elevator hushed open on the seventeenth floor. Matthew’s hand rested lightly at the small of her back, reminding her he was there, steady. Outside, International Women’s Day banners fluttered in the March wind, but inside this corridor the air felt thick with privacy. Room 1703 waited: cool blue lamps, a king-sized bed dressed in crisp white, and a bouquet of red roses he must have arranged while she was in transit. He had never bought her flowers before; the surprise made her cheeks warm.
Before luggage had even thudded to the carpet, Matthew cupped her jaw and kissed her slow… an inhale rather than a devour. “Today’s yours,” he murmured. “All of it.” His thumb swept the ghost of travel-tiredness from beneath her eye. Then he motioned toward the bathroom.
The shower was generous, rainforest-style. Warm water spilled over Nikki’s shoulders as Matthew unpinned her hair, his fingers combing through dark strands with something close to reverence. He shampooed her scalp in slow circles, shoulders close enough for her to feel the heat of his chest. Each rinse sent rivulets tracing the lines of her spine; each glide of his palm said I see you, I’m grateful for you. Kneeling, he soaped her calves and pressed a slow kiss to the hollow behind each knee, a silent thank-you for every step she’d walked beside him since their pact in the mountains years ago.
She emerged wrapped in a thick towel smelling of eucalyptus. Matthew knelt again, this time at the foot of the bed, laying a plush bath sheet on the floor. Nikki settled into the edge of the mattress, letting the towel bunch at her waist. He lifted one foot into his lap and began to work scented oil into her arches. Thumbs firm, deliberate. The low groan she gave had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with feeling profoundly tended-to. Small, exquisite cracks echoed as he pressed along each toe joint, releasing the ache of travel.
When her feet were tingling and loose, he kissed the inside of her ankle, then higher, tugging her forward until she reclined. The towel slipped; cool air kissed her breasts. Matthew’s lips followed the soft skin of her inner thigh, pausing mere inches from the heat of her.
He looked up, a question unspoken.
Nikki’s answer?
