The Reluctant Vampire(81)

Drina chuckled and turned to begin soaping herself again, saying nonchalantly, “I can do all sorts of things with my toes and feet.”

Harper released a little sigh and set the instruction sheet on the side of the sink, then slid to his knees beside the tub and reached for the soap. “Let me help soap you up.”

“No way.” She laughed, holding the soap out of his reach. “Back on the toilet, mister. You can help later, when I smell better.”

He sighed but did as instructed and simply watched silently as she soaped every inch of her skin, and then rinsed it away.

“I haven’t been able to smell for hours now,” Drina said on a sigh as she sniffed at her arm. “But I don’t think it worked.”

Harper caught her hand and pulled it to his nose for a sniff, then bit his lip and shook his head.

“Right,” she muttered, pulling the plug on the water and standing up as the tub began to drain. “So what’s the next step?”

“Wash with carbolic soap,” he read, and stood to search the bags on the counter for the item in question.

Drina glanced impatiently down at the half-drained water, and reached to turn on the shower. It didn’t make sense to wash the smell away and then sit in the smelly water full of stuff you just soaped off. She would shower this time.

“No fair,” Harper complained when she pulled the tub’s shower curtain closed after taking the soap he handed her.

Drina chuckled but simply continued with her plan, standing outside the spray of water to thoroughly soap herself up, and then moving under it to rinse herself.

“Now?” she asked a few moments later, jerking the curtain open enough to stick her hand out for inspection.

He sniffed and then shook his head apologetically. “Better, but . . .”

Drina sighed and turned off the shower. “Next?”

“Fill a bucket with equal parts water and vinegar and use a rag to wash yourself with the mixture. Scrub hard, but not to the point of pain,” Harper read, and then glanced around with a frown. “We don’t have a bucket.”

“Look under the sink,” she suggested.

He opened one of the cupboard doors and made a sound of triumph. “A cleaning bucket.”

“Good enough,” Drina decided, stepping out of the tub and using the ruined sheet to dry herself while Harper quickly rinsed the bucket, dumped a large bottle of vinegar in, then refilled the vinegar bottle with warm water and added that as well.

He reached under the sink again then, and sorted through a stack of washcloths before settling on the rattiest of the bunch, which wasn’t truly very ratty. He dropped it in the water and glanced to her. “Shall I—?”

“Sit,” she said firmly, urging him aside. Drina then began to clean herself with the pungent solution, first dunking her hair in the pail, wringing it out as thoroughly as she could, and then scrubbing at her face and working her way down. She was aware of Harper’s fascinated eyes watching every move and just couldn’t resist playing it up a bit, moving the cloth over her breasts more lovingly, and then setting her foot on the toilet seat between his thighs to wash one leg, leaving herself open to his view as she did.

Really, she hadn’t got sprayed on the legs and this wasn’t necessary at all, but Drina thought the smell was finally beginning to recede, she was feeling better, and really it was fun, she acknowledged to herself as she switched feet on the toilet seat, giving him the same open view from a different angle. This time she washed everything.

“I think it’s starting to work,” Harper growled, his hands reaching for her, and Drina immediately jumped back.

“Starting is good, but I want it gone,” she said firmly. “What’s next?”

Harper stared mournfully at the crux of her thighs for a moment, and then turned back to the sheet of instructions. “Pour the tomato juice all over your body and wash yourself with it as well, scrubbing again.” He glanced up. “It’s the last step. After that it’s wash with soap and water again, probably to remove the tomato juice.”

He set the sheet down and stood to move past her to the bags on the counter. “Get in the tub, and I’ll pour the juice over you.”

Drina stepped into the tub. She then bent to put the stopper back in to keep the fluid in the tub in case he missed a spot pouring it on her, like under her chin, or her ears or—good Lord—just anywhere the spray may have gotten.

“Head up, eyes closed,” Harper ordered, when she straightened and turned back.

Drina did as instructed and gasped as cool liquid poured over her head and face and splashed down over her, then blinked her eyes open in surprise when his hands were suddenly moving over her breasts.