Chapter 4 – A Close Shave

After their prolonged shower, they both had realized with some dismay that it really was time for them to at least start to get ready for work if they wanted time to eat dinner first.  Slowly, they had dried each other off, taking time every once in a while for a lingering kiss.  Reluctantly they had forced themselves apart and started to prepare for their shift.

Sara walked back into the bathroom after dressing to blow-dry her hair and apply her makeup and came upon Nick standing in front of the sink looking quite tasty.  Wearing only his jeans that had been left undone thus revealing his boxers underneath, he had already gelled his hair and was now shaving, having wiped a clear spot on the fogged mirror with his hand so he could see himself.  He glanced over his shoulder and grinned through the lathered shaving cream that still covered half his face and neck, catching her staring.

"See something you like ma'am?" he asked, his soft drawl rolling off his tongue.  He rinsed his razor in the sink and tapped it on the porcelain edge to shake off the excess water.

"You betcha," she replied stepping forward and sliding her hands around his bare waist.  She planted a kiss between his shoulder blades and propped her chin on his shoulder to look at his reflection.

For some reason she would never know, watching Nick shave was an incredible turn on.  Granted nearly everything the man did was a turn on, from putting on his socks to signing his name on a case report, but this was one thing that really took the cake as far as she was concerned.

She stared absorbedly as the blade slowly grazed down his cheek making a faint scraping sound as it went that sent a sizzle of heat to her belly.

"Sara?"

She blinked and saw him regarding her curiously in the mirror.  "Yeah?" she said a bit too loudly.

"You okay doll?" he asked, his head cocked slightly.  A look somewhere between concern and amusement crossed his handsome features.

"Yeah," she said again, quieter this time.  He nodded after a moment and raised the blade again but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.  "Let me?"

He turned in her embrace and studied her face, his crooked grin playing at his lips.  Wordlessly he handed her the razor, his fingers caressing hers.  Tentatively she placed her left hand on the back of his neck to hold his head steady and reached up with the shaver in the other.

"Um, downwards right?" she asked, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Uh huh," he said quietly, surprised to discover that he was delighted by her desire to do this.  "One motion, top to bottom." 

Slowly she picked up where he had left off, applying light pressure as she dragged the blade down his cheek.  "That okay?" she asked, catching his eyes once again while she rinsed the shaving cream off the razor in the warm water in the sink.

"That's fine," he said, his voice sounding husky to his own ears.

Nick found he was unable to take his eyes off hers and felt his heartbeat's pace increase as he watched her intently.  Returning her focus to her task again, she was lightly furrowing her brow in concentration and her teeth were worrying her delectable lower lip.  He felt all the blood in his brain starting to rush south and it took everything he had to keep from grabbing her and crushing her mouth with his. 

He was so engrossed that he hardly even noticed when the blade nicked his skin but let out a small startled grunt when it began to sting.  Sara's eyes widened when a little trickle of blood started to flow from the tiny cut.

"Oh shit!  Goddamn it!" she exclaimed worriedly, grabbing a hand-towel to gently dab his jaw.  "Nick, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Sar," he said with a kind chuckle, covering her hand with his and easing the towel away.  "Happens all the time, it'll stop.  Don't worry, keep going."

"You sure?" She looked skeptical, her big brown eyes searching his.  "Maybe you should be doing this."

"No, no it's alright," he reassured her, lightly holding her arm that he had returned to its position on his neck.  "You're doing a good job, really."

She sighed nervously, still not totally convinced but managed to finish his cheek and chin without further incident, and Nick insisted that she only scratched his upper lip when it began to bleed a bit too.  One sideburn ended up being a bit shorter than the other, but he had quickly fixed that.  Now he raised his chin so she could do his neck. 

"Oh, I don't know about this part," she said feeling very apprehensive.  The sultry vixen image she'd had of herself shaving him, no doubt brought on from seeing far too many Gillette commercials, was now long gone and replaced by a not-so-pleasant and slightly stressing picture of her severing his jugular.  "There are major arteries in there."

"Sar, it's alright," he said, hoping he didn't sound like he was only trying to convince himself.  He swallowed hard.  "Just be gentle."

"You're not helping."

"Sorry."

Carefully she brought the razor up from the shaving cream's edge at the base of his throat to the underside of his chin in one clean stroke.  Nick let out the breath he was holding and she leveled her gaze at him.  Swishing the blade in the water she came back again.

"Hey, you know, I think I'm getting the hang of this," she started then Nick sharply hissed air in through his teeth and winced.  A new thin line of red blood appeared, a sharp contrast against the white lather.

"Okay, that's it!  I give up, I'm done!" she declared, dropping the razor and holding her hands up in surrender.  "I'm sorry I put you through that, but trust me, you can rest assured that it will never happen ever again."

"Don't worry about it Sara, I know you didn't do it on purpose," he soothed, examining his latest wound out in the mirror then picking up the razor to finish the job.  "I mean, it was pretty hot," he added with a wink.

A tentative smile twitched the corners of her mouth.  "Really? You thought so?"

"Yeah.  You just need to practice a little... when was the last time you shaved your legs?"  He sent a teasing grin at her shocked reflection.

"Nick!" she yelled indignantly, a furious blush hitting her cheeks.  She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.  "I'll have you know, I haven't exactly had a lot of free time since you started showing up in my bed, and-" she lifted one leg and pulled up her pant leg.  "They're not even that bad!"

"Whatever you say, Spiky," he chuckled.

She huffed and landed a firm smack square on his ass making him jump... and cut himself again. 

"Ouch!"  Slowly he turned and shot her a glare.  Eyebrows raised he silently lifted a hand and pointed at the open door.

Sara made a hasty retreat from the bathroom, a string of expletives that would have made even a sailor blush, following her out.

Nick shook his head and checked out the cut on his neck then poked his head out around the doorframe. 

"Damn it woman, you are a shaving menace!" he called after her, and laughed at the exasperated ominous growl that came from down the hall.