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“What?”
“Nothing.” He clears his throat and begins lifting my useless body out of the water. I don’t bother fighting him off. I know I won’t win, yet I can’t even care that he is seeing me completely nude after I promised him he never would.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t rub it in my face. He sets me gently on my feet long enough for him to grab a large, fluffy towel. He squeezes my hair with it until it is no longer dripping. And then he grabs another towel and wipes away every single drop of water from my body.
I swallow thickly at the gentleness of his hands. I can’t remember a time anyone has been so careful with me. Even Tia and Kaelin were not so soft. His thick, dark red brows pull together as he sees more of my body. He probably has many questions about the hundreds of scars marring my flesh.
“Maybe one day I will tell you about them.” I surprise myself by even offering that kind of information. But I don’t let it show on my face.
“Whenever you are ready, I will be there to listen,” he says just as softly as he dries my legs. He doesn’t even look up at me when he says it.
And then it hits me: I have just as many questions about him. Not just questions to find weaknesses to exploit, but questions because I am genuinely curious about him. What kind of male does he tend to be when no one else is around? He is even different around Tia and Kaelin. It is like there are three different versions of himself, and I, for some unknown reason, crave to know why.
But I don’t ask a single one. Not while he finishes drying me, not while he holds one of his large shirts open for me to slip into, or while he slowly buttons it up. I don’t say a single word while he brushes through every knot in my hair and then tucks me tightly into bed.
I stay staring at the wall under the thick comforter while he bathes, blows out every candle, and slips under the blankets to hold me tightly in his arms. It isn’t until his soft snores brush against my neck that I finally find my voice.
“What are you?” And with the question floating freely into the night, I shut my eyes and allow the shadows to pull me into a deep slumber.
The woman smells fantastic, and the weight of her in my arms is like balm to my soul. I never thought I would crave it, but I can already tell that I am addicted. I don’t even want to open my eyes. Moving seems like a monumental task I can’t be bothered with today.
Unfortunately, I have to. I have meetings and research that demands my attention. But this creature…I want to research her, delve into her mind, and learn her secrets. She believes she has them well-guarded, but I see them lurking under the surface. She is so close to telling me, even hinting at it last night. But I won’t push her before she is ready.
“Little Thief,” I groan as her ass grinds into my cock when she stretches in her sleep.
As much as I hate she stumbled across the hidden passage, I was even more thrilled watching her climb into my bed wearing nothing more than my shirt. My imagination went crazy with ideas about what I could do to her and what she could do to me, in turn. This, though…this sweet torture was not one of the scenarios.
“Hmmm,” she moans, her voice husky with sleep.
My hand has a mind of its own as it snakes under the sheets and finds her bare thigh. My shirt has ridden up, giving me access to trace the scars that crisscross her pale skin. I want answers to who caused them, but I know I won’t get them, so I don’t bother asking. Instead, my nose finds the delicious spot right below her ear, and I inhale deeply, trying to embed her scent into my senses permanently.
“I could devour you if you let me,” I groan as my cock stirs to life with her little movements and moans. She isn’t even fully aware of what she is doing. It is the only reason I don’t have her under me and buried to the hilt.
“Keep dreaming, Prince,” she seethes.
But she doesn’t move. She doesn’t pull away. And that has hope blooming in my chest. For some unknown reason, since the night she snuck into my room at the inn, I have been drawn to her like an insect to a flame: stupid, naïve, and unable to turn away from the brilliant beauty despite the inevitability of being destroyed by it.
“I need to prepare for the day.” I trail small kisses along the curve of her neck to her shoulder, not able to help myself. I want to do so much more, but she is allowing this. I will take what I can get.
“I am not stopping you. If I were strong enough, I would push you out of the bed completely. And if I had a dagger…”
“Finish it,” I groan. “Finish that damn sentence.” I pull her more firmly into me, unable to help myself.
She turns in my arms, paralyzing me with the fire burning in her bright blue eyes. My lungs fail me as her small finger trails across my throat and down to pause over my heart.
“If I had a dagger…I would plunge it into your beating heart and watch the light fade from your eyes.” Her smile is sweet, and for a split second, it almost looks like she has fangs. But that can’t be. I chop it up to wishful thinking and smile back, pulling her thigh over my hip to trap her against me.
“I wish you would try, Little Thief. A good hate fuck is the perfect way to start my morning.” Her gaze hardens, and her nails dig into my shoulders as she grabs them. I lean into her and get so close to her ear my lips brush against it as I speak. “Keep doing that, and I will cancel all of my plans for the day in order to keep you in this bed until you forget how to do anything other than scream my name.”
Her eyes widen, and she quickly pulls her hands away from my body. She even tries to pull her thigh away from my hip, but she can’t escape me. To make my point clear, I grab her ass and thrust against her.
“You disgust me,” she says, baring her teeth.
“You will get over it.” I quickly kiss her on the forehead and jump from the bed before she has time to process what happened. If I can keep her on her toes, then I can keep surprising her until she falls for me like I have her. She won’t even know what hit her until it is too late.
Grabbing my glasses off the nightstand, I pass the window and stop at the view before me. The first snow is upon us. Tia probably already knows since she is always awake before the sun, which means she already has things in motion to help the Reckless and Forsaken.
Maybe…maybe I can cancel my meetings for the day. I bet if I give Nyx a tour of the castle, it may help her feel safe enough to let her guard down. Yes, that is an excellent idea. As a bonus, I get to spend more time with her.
