Chapter 8: Steam

The day before Christmas had the whole house in a fervor. Noin and Sally tried their hands in the kitchen and made quite a mess of things. Noin had no talent for the culinary arts, and while the doctor had an eye for detail, it turned out that she had no eye for beauty. The cookies she made were either under- or over-cooked, and it took Catherine's experienced hand to finally straighten things out. She gave the elder women jobs and took quite competently over. Trowa told Quatre, when they passed by, that it was Catherine's experience cooking for the whole circus troop. Quatre only smiled, nodded, and snuck a cookie away before they moved on.

Upstairs, Relena was reading a book, lying on her stomach on her bed. It was a horribly implausible romance about a young woman wanting to kill her brother's murderer, and then falling in love with him.

Relena sighed and rolled over, tucking her teddy bear behind her head and staring up. She closed her eyes and imagined Heero holding her. Her body became warm and she tilted her head back, imagining his lips on hers, his arms around her. Her back arched a bit and her head went further back.

And then she remembered the door was open and she sat up abruptly, forcing her hot cheeks to cool and praying no one had seen her.

She glanced quickly toward the door and her heart almost stopped.

Heero.

Her cheeks flamed again and she turned her back on him, looking amazingly intent on picking at her comforter. She hugged her teddy bear so hard, her arms hurt.

When she looked again, he was gone. Relena breathed a little easier, and eased her grip on the teddy bear. She hoped fervently that he hadn't seen anything . . . but the look in his eyes when she'd seen him . . .

She shivered with a mixture of fear and . . . something else. He'd been staring at her with something dark in his eyes, something deep and hungry. Something . . . heretofore unknown or unheeded.

She glanced at the doorway again and sighed. It was still empty.

Well, she should clean up before the eggnog and such. Christmas Eve was the night that they usually sat up late and swapped stories, laughing and joking together around the tree, with the lights off and the twinkling tree casting a magical glow over everything.

Relena shut the bathroom door behind her and shucked off her clothing, turning on the hot water in the tub. The room warmed as the tub filled and Relena looked at her naked form in the mirror. Scrutinizing her breasts, she sighed and muttered in disgust: "Too small," then turned to adjust the temperature of the water as the mirror finished fogging up.

How was she supposed to compare with more beautiful, well-endowed women like Catherine? she thought as she climbed in the water. Her legs were too thin – they didn't have enough meat – and her breasts were barely even a B cup! Catherine was at least a B and a half. Maybe even a C! How could a barely B-cup girl get a guy like Heero – who didn't even notice girls unless he was forced to – to pay attention to her. Or kiss her!

Although . . . he did kiss her once . . . Relena touched her lips and remembered the wrapping room. Trailing her hand down her throat, over her breasts and to her stomach, she remembered Heero's hands on her shoulders on the beach. She thought about what it would be like if his hands had continued, and if they had trailed over the rest of her.

Half an hour later, she soaped up a loofa and scrubbed her arms and legs, getting the back of her neck and behind her ears with a washcloth.

There was hope, she had decided. Heero had kissed her, so might be attracted to her. It was more probable he was attracted than just putting on a show for his mother, because she doubted he would be able to fake attraction that well. And it still didn't explain the scene at the beach.

Relena got a determined glint in her eye. Yes, he was interested, at least.

She got out of the bath and toweled off, wrapping a towel around herself and slipping the fake wedding band back on its proper finger.

The water was draining as she stepped out of the bathroom, and the shock she might have felt wasn't there as she observed Heero sitting on her bed, flipping through her romance novel – particularly the part she'd bookmarked, which was the raciest scene thus far. If she had been less relaxed from her bath, the tension would have flooded back. But she only made sure the door was closed and went over to her dresser, Heero watching her the whole while. He watched as she walked over, and he watched as she knelt, the towel tightening over her rear.

Relena pulled out some underwear, jeans, and a nice Christmas-y shirt, and stood back up. But when she stood, she bumped right into Heero and dropped her bra at his feet. He was looking down at her with that same look from earlier – the hungry look, his breath coming quickly. He bent and picked up her bra. Relena blushed and reached for it, murmuring a thanks, but his hand evaded her, and he dangled it above her head. Surprised, she stared at him, his dark eyes daring her, promising sweet and impish things.

Understanding the game, though still a little startled, Relena stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, reaching one hand up to snatch at the article of clothing, but though he kissed her back briefly, he broke it and kept the bra just out of her reach. She looked at him, assessing, and walked around him as he turned to follow her movement. She still held her clothes to her chest, but put them down on the bed so she could make a mad dash at his hand, but he just moved away again and kept it held far out away from her. Once she paused to breathe, panting, he gathered up the rest of her clothing and put it under the comforter, sitting on it and folding his arms.

Relena stared at him. Then she laughed a little, partly out of the breathless euphoria and ridiculousness of the situation. She leaned against the wall and just looked at him, appraising. But it was as she watched his eyes move from her own and trail down her throat, over the damp and intimately clinging material of the towel, his gaze lingering on all of her curves, that she finally realized what he wanted. Why he was playing this game.

She walked slowly over to the door and locked it, then turned to Heero, who seemed very interested in her actions. He looked at her lazily, intrigued.

And so she turned to him, looked straight into his eyes, and let the towel fall. Heero's eyes fell from hers as the towel hit the floor, and she could detect a distinct difference in his breathing. He stared at her for long, full moments, just looking and studying and memorizing. He wanted to remember all of her.

Relena walked to him, tilting his head back and leaning over to kiss him properly. Her whole body flushed with the feeling, and Heero placed his palm on her cheek – leaving his other hand firmly on the bed.

When she drew back, she could see that he was trembling. She smiled, tenderly, and kissed him again. When she drew back the second time, she whispered, "Give me my clothes, Heero."

Compliant now, he stood and moved behind her, his hands coming up to briefly touch her breasts and trail down to her hips before throwing himself violently away from her and moving to the other side of the room, to the window where he didn't have to look at her or smell her or feel her warmth.

She picked up her clothing, glanced at him one last time, and went into the bathroom to get dressed.

When she came out again, he was gone.