I don't have a bathtub. I last had one seven years ago; the claw-footed porcelain cask was as big as the New York studio I shared with my boyfriend. It had to be sacrificed in the name of square feet and personal space. (We lined the tub with pillows so we'd have somewhere private to sit and bitch about each other on the phone.) I lament that tub every time I walk into my little Brooklyn baño and see my crappy plastic shower stall. I miss the tub more than I miss the boyfriend — and he was nice. I miss it not only because it would make my latest apartment nearly perfect, but because I love few things more than sinking into a steaming tub.
As this gallery by SarahThomas reminds us, "alone time" doesn't get much sexier than when you're naked and in a bath. When partially submerged in water, your body looks, feels, even smells better. It's the ideal scenario for thinking about the person with whom you'd like to share your body. In this case, we know whom Sarah, the bather, is thinking about: Thomas Karsten, a.k.a. the man holding the camera. (They're a German couple, and apparently Germans have a thing about stringing names together; hence, the caption). Although if you look closely at photo number six, you can see Karsten's toe, Sarah feels hyper-sensual regardless of his presence. For the bather and the voyeur, the sensation lingers long after the water drains. — Tobin Levy
