A Bath

I love a bath. After a stressful day, soaking in hot water with some amazing smelling bath salts or bubbly soap... or both is heaven. Feeling my muscles relax, the knots in my back loosen, the ache in my feet ebb away. That's what I found myself experiencing one evening. I was secretly paying attention to my breasts partially peeking up from the surface of the milky bath water. I resisted the urge to touch my nipples. I stayed very still and watched them go from being taunt, sensitive to the gentle ripples of the bath water breaking against them to slowly softening. I closed my eyes as the chaotic noises in my head faded and I felt my breathing grow slower and deeper.

I woke up because my dream abruptly ended. When my eyes adjusted to the now darkened room, I saw him sitting at the foot of the tub very still... looking at me. Instinct kicked in before rational thought as I gasped - my legs quickly closed tight and my hands flew to cover my breasts, splashing a little of the now cold bath water onto the floor. He averted his gaze and held his hands up at me, "Sorry! Didn't mean to creep!"

Rational thought overtook instinct and I relaxed my hands and legs, "No, no. You just caught me by surprise. Never had an audience before." I provided a reassuring smile. He smiled back, keeping his eyes firmly on my face, "You looked so peaceful. Didn't want to wake you up. But also didn't want you to drown, you know..."

I raised an eyebrow in response.

He winked.

I pressed my lips together tightly suppressing a grin,

"Well, I am not horribly shriveled up, so I didn't fall asleep for too long, I think."

"No." He responded automatically, still looking at me.

I dropped my gaze and realized that the bubbles were long gone but the bath water was still milky translucent. It retained my modesty minimally. My right leg was crossed over my left leaving my thigh and knee above the surface of the water. My hands had been covering my breasts a moment ago but they had relaxed and settled on my abdomen under the water. My shoulders were resting against the edge of the tub leaving my breasts only partially submerged, the milky water surface outlining their shape. My nipples were hard as the water had gone cold... and probably because he was looking. I felt my hands close into fists as I resisted the urge to cover my breasts again.

"I resisted the urge to take a picture," he said after a pause.

"You wanted to take a picture", I looked at him and blinked, "Of me? Like this?" I pointed at the water with my eyes.

"I was tempted to. You looked extremely peaceful and quite..." he closed his eyes in a pause and sighed, "sensual." He completed.

"But you didn't." Trying very hard not to laugh.

"I decided watching you could already be sufficiently creepy."

"It is and it would indeed be very scary and way more creepy if I wasn't recently leg-shackled into a marriage with you", I nodded.

"Leg-shackled?" He frowned.

"Happily", I replied appeasingly.

"Can I say sorry?"

"For marrying me or watching me sleep naked in a bath?" I quizzed.

His face lit up and I felt my lips stretch into a smile to match his.

"I am sorry", he said dropping his gaze and getting up to leave.

"Do you still want to take that picture?" I asked. I felt my heartbeat pick up. He turned back and returned to his seat on the far end of the tub.

"Er... the idea of a nude portrait of my sleeping wife is very compelling, especially with the composition of the scene being so lovely - the darkened room, the bath water reflecting the street lights..."

"So, no?"

"Well, you waking up disturbed the charm of the image..."

"Ouch. I can close my eyes and pretend to sleep?" I suggested.

"Hmm, won't be the same - wait, are you serious?" He said getting up in anticipation.

"I am if you are still interested."

"I'll take it on film," he said quickly sitting back down on the edge on the tub closer to me and leaning in, "that way you can burn it if you change your mind, no digital copies." His explanatory words rushing from his lips in a hurry, "Not that I'd be careless with a digital copy or something. I'd delete it instantly of course -"

I cut his overflowing concern for my propriety short, "I wouldn't still be lying in front of you naked if I didn't trust you, just take the damn picture before I completely shrivel up!"

"I'll be right back, you relax and pretend to sleep" He left to fetch a camera. I smiled and closed my eyes. I could not have been in a more antithetical state than the one he was hoping to capture. My muscles were tensed, my breathing sharp. I was hyperaware of how sensitive my breasts felt and there was a deep ache between my legs. Relax, I instructed myself. A deep breath shuddered through me. It's the cold, I told myself, just the cold. The thought of touching myself almost made me moan. I heard footsteps approaching the bathroom and squeezed my eyes and legs shut.

"Please relax."

I nodded in response.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to anymore..."

I shook my head, eyes still closed, "No, it's alright. Go ahead."

"Then please relax." He almost whispered.

I took another deep breath and let my head relax against the tub, unclenched my jaw, uncurled my toes. I could feel his gaze on my skin.

I heard a shutter click at a distance and then a moment later a soft voice whispered against my ear, "Relax. Please. Just one more." He let out a long sigh and I felt a rush of air against my chest, raising goosebumps. A second later I felt his breath on my chest again, from left to right and back, more gradual and sustained. I could feel the ripples it created on the surface of the water against my skin. He was blowing on my breasts? The thought made my belly clench and the ache between my legs deepened. My right hand, comfortably resting on my belly until now, flexed and reached down towards the ache. I instinctively arched my back a little and opened my mouth slightly to exhale. I heard another click of the shutter, much closer this time.

"Thank you", I heard him move away. I opened my eyes to see him crouched next to the tub. "Let us get you out of there. I'll go grab a robe." He stood up and walked away before I could tell him that I had a towel with me. I sat up and slowly stood in the middle of the tub securing my hair back as it had loosed out of its knot. I stepped into the shower to quickly rinse off careful not to touch my skin which felt incredibly sensitive and stepped in front of the mirror. I was very aroused but I didn't look it. I touched my throat and felt my thundering heartbeat. I patted myself dry and wrapped myself in the thick towel.

I heard a soft click of the door opening but he didn't enter. He poked in a hand holding out my night robe. I smiled to myself, shrugging off the towel and draped the soft, smooth robe around my shoulders. I exited the bathroom to find him sitting on the bed.

"Aren't you going to develop the pictures?" I asked standing at the end of the bed.

"I will", he said looking up at me as I approached him.

"Let's go then?"

"You want to come along?" His eyes widened.

"Why not?"

"I, uh, wasn't expecting an audience when I did..."

"It's almost poetic then", I laughed.

I trailed behind him as we made our way down to his basement light room. His right hand stretching back to hold mine and I desperately wanted to press it to my lips. He held the door to the light room open for me to enter and flipped a light on as he closed the door behind him. The room was instantly bathed in red. His hand settled on my back as he nudged me towards the far end of the room. I propped myself on top of the work table besides the pans that held the development baths and watched him go about the process methodically. He would pass me a smile as we waited between the steps, occasionally providing bits of information - just a couple of minutes in this solution, then a little while in that solution, now we'll wait for the film to dry. I loved to watch him absorbed in work and it distracted me from my heart pounding away in my chest.

"Let's go enlarge the image and print", he said suddenly sounding quite nervous.

"Nervous?" I asked.

"Wildly. You?" He said.

"Not at all", I lied.

"Alright then. Be right back."

He came back with two sheets of photography paper, "Do you want to develop the print?" He asked pointing to the three pans of solution sitting besides me.

I had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't want me looking at his face as the picture emerged.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Positive", he replied helping me down from my perch and locating me squarely in front of the pans, between the table and himself. I couldn't fathom my heart speeding up any more than it already had but it did as he bend down to level his lips with my ear and softly breathed the instructions against it. I heard him stop breathing as the paper instantly began to darken as I smoothly slid it in the first solution. I followed up with the 2 remaining baths and repeated the process for the second picture. I turned my head back to seek confirmation of successful execution. His eyes stayed fixed on the print.

"Shall I hang them up to dry?" I asked unnecessarily.

He nodded, still looking at them, not making eye contact.

And we waited. I hadn't even registered the images in my brain. I looked at him and he looked at the pictures.

"Did they not turn out the way you wanted?" I asked eager to break the silence.

"What? No -", he blinked and broke his gaze from the drying photographs and looked at me, "No, they are... great."

"Okay", I said slowly.

"Good quality prints."

"Good", I replied. We sat in silence for a really long time, I had a nervous knot in my stomach and my chest felt heavy.

"You look..." He began saying. Then stopped and took the partially dry prints down from the hooks, "Look at this one", he said holding up the first picture - a wider shot that captured almost the whole bath tub, the wall and the window. I saw myself with eyes closed, one knee and thigh propped up above the water and the water pooling at my throat outlining my bare breasts. The water was still and reflected the lit window perfectly.

"It's incredibly lovely. Almost exactly as I found you before you woke up."

"Almost." I replied.

"Almost." He restated, dropping the photo in my hands, "And then there's this closer shot." He said handing me the second picture, 'It's...something else entirely."

I silently thanked the red light in the room for hiding my blush. He continued.

"You moved up a little. I blew across the water to not have it so still. Didn't want you so exposed up close. And it made the reflections shimmer beautifully."

He kept his eyes locked on the picture. I took a moment to look at it carefully. He stepped a little closer to have a better view and I instinctively leaned back, my bottom touching the edge of the table. "Your lips are parted, your eyes look like they are rolled back a little under your lids, your neck is a little more stretched, your shoulders look more tense, your breasts are... well I resisted touching them for the sake of the shot. I am a professional after all."

I raised an eyebrow in response, "Of course. I am sure you blow across the bare chest of all your clients."

He smiled, winking and proceeded to lightly trace the curve of the water line hugging the swell of my breasts, not quite touching the still wet paper. I heard my breathing quicken as he continued on, "I can even make out faint goosebumps on your skin. Not at all peaceful like the first shot. It looks almost as if you were..." He trailed off as he looked up at me. And I closed my eyes unable to return his gaze. He waited in silence but I heard his breath quicken to match mine.

"Were you?" He finally asked.

"Was I what?" I opened my eyes but kept them firmly away from his.

"Turned on", he replied without hesitation.

I held myself still.

"No?" He sounded disappointed.

"Technically I still am", I replied watching his eyes widen and his lips part as he moved closer, pressing me against the table edge.

"You are?" He breathed slowly trying to steady himself.

"You just described a picture of my aroused naked form in clinical details. You don't think that would turn me on?" I asked.

He swallowed and said, "So you were... In the shot."

"I am almost touching myself under the water", I breathed.

He swore under his breath and stepped closer, lifting me up to seat me back on the table. He leaned back to look at my face, his hands still on my hips as he took a deep breath, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Are you kidding? This is literally the most erotic experience I've ever had. Why would I interrupt it?"

"So I could have joined you?" He stated the obvious while squeezing my thighs.

"Oh, you could have. But I enjoyed your passive participation this entire time. I don't have my husband taking intimate pictures of me everyday, do I?" I bit my lower lip to avoid smiling.

He dropped his gaze to my lips and just as he was about to kiss me, I said, "Careful, they are still wet!" swiftly removing the pictures from my lap.

He rested his forehead against mine and let out a frustrated laugh, "I bet so are you." I barely gasped before he covered my mouth with his, kissing me hungrily. He broke the kiss an eternity later. I threw my head back to catch my breath and he rested his head on my chest, his breath coming out in pants over my breasts as he lightly brushed his lips against them. If he touched my nipples, I would scream. I heard him say, "Now that I am very much actively participating, do you want to go back upstairs or is making love on my work table part of your fantasy?"

I dropped the robe letting it pool around my waist and said, "What do you think?"