Seven

Chapter 76

"Yes. Yes I'll come in if you want me to." I accept, scared she may change her mind. But she doesn't, instead she gives me one of her very tiny Mona Lisa smiles and gets out the car.

My heart hammers unevenly as I follow Lilianna through the entrance of her building and up the stairs. I have no idea why she's invited me up. I don't think even she knows why herself. Surely anyone in their right mind would be running the other way after what I told her. If Lilianna had told me she had killed someone I... Well I probably wouldn't run away. The comparison isn't a very good one, it would take more then that to scare me off of her. I mean I love the girl, I doubt there is anything that could cause me to run. Not anymore.

Lilianna shrugs off her large coat and places her fathers beaten up diary on the dining table as I close her apartment door. When I turn back around to her she's standing right in front of me, her close proximity taking me slightly by surprise. She doesn't say anything, her kind eyes look between mine before I feel one of her small hands take to one of my own.

She leads gently and I follow without question. Lilianna pulls me to the small bathroom of her apartment. Confused, I observe in silence as she drops my hand to lean over the old looking claw foot bathtub situated to the far wall. The metal piping groans as she turns the hot water on, plugging the tub so the water collects quickly at the bottom. With the bath running Lily turns back to me, eyes glancing up once at my face before she slowly and hesitantly reaches for my top. I don't protest as she begins cautiously unbuttoning my black shirt avoiding my watchful eyes as she does. I'm unsure what her intentions are but when all the buttons are open Lily pushes the fabric from my shoulders and down my arms.

Is this bath intended for me?

Next her attention goes to the buckle of my belt, her knuckles graze the skin under my bellybutton as she unclasps it, causing a jolt of overwrought through me. With the buckle undone she easily unbuttons my jeans, then lowers my zipper causing the jeans to loosen on my hips. With little effort they fall down my legs and Lily drops to a squat to pull them from around my feet.

"Shoes." She softly demands and I use a heel to toe motion to rid my feet of my shoes quickly for her. Lily helps pull my socks off before guiding me to step out of my jeans. She rises to stand tall in front of me again, having placed my clothes and shoes to the side in a small, neat pile on the floor. When her hands confidently hold the waistband of my briefs to rid me of my last item of clothing I wrap my fingers around her wrists to stop her. She looks up at me with flushed cheeks, her mouth open slightly as she breathes.

Lilianna pauses her hold on my boxers, staying completely still as my hands drift slowly from her wrists, up her arms to the collar of the t-shirt she's wearing. I watch her face for any sign of negation but she just stares back up at me, her eyes asking me what her mouth won't. I drag my fingertips over the slightly clammy skin of her neck, the steam from the running hot water causing a few stray blonde hairs to stick to the side of her neck. Her skin is so soft as I dip my fingers just under the collar, causing her eyes to flutter slightly at my touch.

"Can I?" I ask in a whisper no louder then the water spilling from the gold faucet. Seeming to know exactly what I'm asking Lilianna nods and lifts up her arms. My hands take the bottom of her t-shirt and peel it off of her, dropping the material in the pile with my own on the floor. I'm caught off guard to see her naked chest, surprised at her lack of underwear but I don't question it. Instead my hands move to rid her of her skirt next, it falls to her feet and she steps out of it quickly, leaving her in only a pair of simple grey underpants. There's something oddly attentive in undressing someone this way. It's slow, intimate - not necessarily sexual but somehow compassionate. Lilianna's hands take my boxers again and we simultaneously remove each other's last remaining item of clothing between us.