Kas blew off excess energy, literally, by using his magic to rip open the doors to the balcony and sending a powerful whirlwind off into the rising night. Then he downed a second shot of liquor and stalked to his bed. It wasn’t worth the effort. The palace’s team would capture Rihan andNekash in no time. Rolling his neck, little crackles came along with Kas’s release of pent-up tension.
He retrieved the box from the secret compartment in his bedside table and headed straight into the washroom, aiming for the staircase that would deliver him to his love. But as he pushed open the bathing chamber door with his hand rather than his magic, he caught a whiff of himself and learned a bath was in order.
Kas was lowering himself into the steaming basin when the hidden panel swung open, smacking into the wall with a bang. “Oh!Oh!”
Startled, he slipped onto his arse.
Nesrina stood there in nothing but a thin shift, every curve visible as candlelight filtered through the flowing linen. She’d seen him. And now she was staring through the water at his...
He smirked at her, hisekina,his love.
“I know your secret.”
He eyed her, perplexed. There were two things he was keeping from her: one he planned to bring up promptly, because it wasn’t a secret, just an oversight; and the other he planned to keep hidden until she wore his ring on her finger.
Nes waltzed over to stand beside the tub. She jabbed a finger in his face. “I know your secret,Thanin.”
Oh, shit.Kas gripped the sides of the bath and began to push himself up when her palms came down on his shoulders.
“No you don’t. I’m coming in.”
His mouth hung slack as she slipped her straps over her shoulders, and her shift floated to the floor. Kas slid back against the end of the basin so she’d have space to join. Waves settled as she eased in, facing him, her short legs tucked in between his.
She still wanted to talk, he knew. But gods, this was an exquisitely tortuous situation with her sitting across from him, nude. Her pert breasts bobbed below the surface, and below that... He forced himself to meet her eyes. “Are you terribly angry with me?”
Nesrina glowered and pursed her lips before smacking her palms down with a splash.
Kas followed the lines of her arms into the water. “Get your hands out of there.”
“Why?”
“You have wounds. Up.” He lifted her wrists and set her hands on the edges of the tub.
“I feel very exposed.”
“You climbed in with me.”
She shrugged. “I’m not angry.”
“About being exposed or . . . Thanin?”
“Either—both.”
He exhaled, unbelievably relieved and pleasantly surprised.
“I’m abitmad you hid it from me.Yet another thing,” she grumbled halfheartedly.
Kas’s hand found her ankle and gave her a squeeze. “Nes, I’m so sorry.”
“I wish you’d trusted me with your secret.”
“I do! I was going to tell you, once—”
“Ah.” She held her finger to his lips. “Let me finish.”
He suppressed a smile.
“I was a bit mad that you hid it from me, but I believe I understand why you have to keep your political life and writing separate. It’s to do the most good.”
