Roger was standing next to the tub which was filled with bubbles. He had taken off all his clothes, except for a black pair of briefs. I watched your eyes to see the reaction, and I saw with pleasure that you were not disappointed. I could tell the first things you noticed were his strongly muscled legs. Swimming, his favorite exercise, had maintained their strength in ways that I knew you couldn't yet appreciate.
The next thing I saw you notice also pleased me. You scanned his broad shoulders and chest, then I saw your gaze stop on the hair that grew on his chest. It was almost entirely white. But then you noticed, the less thick, almost delicate hair on his stomach was nearly black. It was one of my favorite contrasts, and I found myself looking forward to the moment when you would find on his body yet another color hair. I almost blushed to realize what I was anticipating.
"Are you ready to slide into this delicious water?" Roger asked with a smile. I saw you realize that he expected you now to take off your robe, and I could tell you were a little scared. He could tell, also, and he smiled again. "Let me turn my back while Katie helps you," he said, and he walked to the window of the bathroom and looked out.
You and I were facing each other. I reached to untie the loose knot of your robe and as it released, I opened your robe, baring your body. I hesitated for a moment, to see if you would be too embarrassed to let me do that, and you did tense, but you didn't protest. I took a quick look at your body, noticing the marks of childbirth and of age. They were familiar marks, marks I, too, bore, and I felt a warm connection with how you must feel, standing naked in front of me.
"You are truly beautiful," I said, and I meant it. You smiled, knowing what I meant, and grateful for what we shared. I pushed the robe back off your shoulders, and as you turned, I slid it off your arms and moved to hang it on the hook behind the door. When I turned back, you had slid under the bubbles in the tub, and only your head and shoulders were still visible above the suds.
"Ready?" Roger asked with pleasure in his voice. He walked over to the tub and sat on the edge, his hips near your head. "Let me have the soap, OK?" He dipped his hand with the soap in the water, lathered up both hands, and reached gently to place his hands on your shoulders. I smiled to myself, knowing that his talented fingers were about to make you very happy.
Without words, he began to massage your shoulders. His fingers were gentle, but firm, and in less than thirty seconds, I could see you began to relax. His hands, I knew, had almost a magical quality to them. I sometimes thought his touch actually generated some kind of electric current, but I knew it was only his uncanny ability to express whatever he was feeling through his touch.
It was delightful to watch his hands at work. I often watched them in the car as he drove. It was almost possible, if I let myself go, to imagine my body as the steering wheel. That is how much I enjoyed what his hands were capable of doing. This, however, was the first time I'd ever seen his hands on the body of another woman. I took a deep breath and waited, wondering if I was really ready for this. It was the look on your face that convinced me I was.
The smile on your face was angelic. I don't know if you already felt safe with Roger, if my sitting there beside the tub made it all OK, or if his hands affected you the way they did me. All I knew was that you were happy with what he was doing.
After several minutes of massaging your shoulders and your neck, Roger put one hand behind your neck, the other one high on your chest, and then he pushed gently on your chest until you were leaning back against the end of the tub. He then began to run his fingers over and around the front of your neck, up to your chin, along the sides of your face, across your forehead, down along your cheeks, and around and around your face in random ways. I saw all the tension leave your features. I saw you relax fully. It was beautiful.
Roger was now using one hand to stroke your face, and the other hand rested lightly on your chest. The fingers on your chest were drawing little designs on your breastbone, so lightly that I wasn't even sure you noticed. Finally, he allowed his fingers to trace the center line of your body, down, down, down beneath the bubbles toward your tummy. I couldn't tell how far his hand traveled, but I expect his hand reached barely to your navel, then retraced his path to a spot between your breasts.
You opened your eyes, not startled, but curious. I saw Roger's eyes meet yours. I saw him wait, for your permission. You closed your eyes, your lips in a comfortable smile. Roger turned to look at me, and I gave him the same smile. The steam rose from the water in the tub. Roger turned back to you and moved both hands to your chest.
For a moment, he used the fingers on both hands to play along your breastbone, as if it were a delicate piano. Then, he reached across your body, and forming a semi-circle with his fingers, he outlined the far swell of your right breast. Parting his hands, his fingers followed the upper and lower contours, meeting again at the center of your chest. A brief hesitation, then he continued toward his side of your body, again outlining the top and bottom of your left breast, his fingers meeting on your left side.