What a gentleman, she thought, as he offered her a rest in the jacuzzi, while he could a light evening snack for them both. She entered the bathroom to find he had left her a matching kimino on the back of the door, this time in pink and apple green, embroidered with apple blossoms and wasps.

She sank down into the warm, enveloping comfort of the water, and turned on the small spray jets that were sending gentle bursts of massaging heat and water onto her thighs. Eyes closed, hair coiled into a pile of soft, raven honey on her head, she listened to the stirring overtones of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op 61.

By the bath was a small candle, flickering. Magenta felt more and more relaxed..