Her Irish brogue warmed the words, but when she looked me over, I noticed her eyes caught on my naked throat. She looked away before I could catch her gaze.
“This way.” Leon gestured, and I followed him. The servants’ area seemed to be a long hallway that ran along the side, turning only when we hit the edge of the house. Aside from the kitchen, I saw an open pantry, a laundry, locker rooms, bathrooms, and finally, a closed door.
Leon stopped just outside and gestured to the door. “The showers are through there. When you’re done, Rhys should be here. If they’re not, feel free to wait in the resting room.”
He indicated the door across from the showers.
“Thanks.” I drew out the word.
“Or would you prefer I stay?” His blue eyes reminded me of Cade’s, but Cade’s had been easy to read. Cade saw me as an employee, a person he could pay to do a job, even if that job was to sit around and make him look good. This man was impossible.
“No, I’m fine. I haven’t needed help bathing since I was in diapers.”
He bowed again, the same deference he had shown to Cade. “I’m glad Prince Bartlett has found someone he’s ready to bond with. I was beginning to worry that…” He shook his head, lips tightening. “I believe you will be good for him.”
“Thanks,” I said again.
He turned away, heading back down the carpeted hallway. I opened the door to the showers. There were rows of them, enough for ten or fifteen people at once. Luxurious white towels were stacked neatly on a bench at the entryway, and next to the bench, there was an open hamper with dirty clothes and used towels in it.
My clothes were a mess of dried alcohol from the bar fight and what looked and smelled like vomit.ThatI didn’t remember, although I had woken in the back of the bar from complete unconsciousness.
I tugged off the shirt, tossing it into the hamper. Before I took off my pants, I went through the pockets. No phone. That had been the first thing I had gotten rid of after I found out Declan had put a bounty on my head.
I wasn’t surprised that the Tweedles had removed my wallet. Luckily, the only thing in it was the cash I had scrounged up before going to ground. My credit cards, my money in the bank had been untouchable since it would have been a great way to find out where I was. I’d had about two hundred dollars in cash in my apartment, and that hadn’t gotten me further than Pineridge.
After making sure there wasn’t anything in the pants that would give me away, I threw those in as well, mystery bloodstains, broken glass, dirt, and all.
Then I was naked in front of the mirror, and I could see the real damage. Bruises covered my chest, a long gash crossed my shoulder, and I turned to see it end on my back. Some bruises were fading. Not all of it was from the Tweedles.
Four weeks on the run was a lot of time to run into a lot of trouble. Luckily, the weeks on the road hadn’t made me lose any muscle mass. I could still fight. I could still defend myself.
Then again, that was exactly what my parents had thought when they came to House Bartlett eleven years ago.
Turning away from the mirror, I chose the shower in the corner of the room, giving me a good eyeline to the door but a wall at my back. The soap dispensers were built into the wall, and clean washcloths were in a crevice next to the showerhead. Grabbing one, I pumped it full of soap, the thick liquid turning to suds almost as soon as it touched the water.
I started on my face, scrubbing my forehead and cheeks, feeling the sting of the soap where it met partially closed cuts.
The warm water sluicing down my body came away dirty, and I scrubbed harder. Moving to my neck, I lingered, working until I was sure it was clean. When I moved the cloth to my arm, I got a new handful of soap, carefully working to cleanse the cut on my shoulder.
I’d cleaned it when I first got it, but even werewolf healing would take a day or two to close something so deep. It felt warm to the touch, slightly inflamed. Moving down my chest and legs, I tried to work quickly.
Being naked in this room left me exposed. Every part of me was looking for weapons and exits, imagining how I could get out of any situation. Cade’s warning was still loud in my ear. The next couple of days would be critical, and if someone made a move, it would be now. Was Cade as well prepared as I was? Blinking, I shook my head. I needed to be worried about myself. Cade was a paycheck, nothing else.
I ducked my head under the spray. The water came down perfectly warm, the spray made of thick drops with a high water pressure. It was nothing like the dribble of water that had choked its way out of the showerhead at the hotel I had stayed in… what was it? Three days ago? Four?
When I felt clean, down to the spaces between my toes, I turned off the water. Just as I was heading to the fluffy towels, the shower door banged open. A werewolf stood in the doorway.
He was big. As large as an alpha, and the way his eyes narrowed on me immediately meant he could smell exactly what I was. His lips pulled back in a growl.
I kept myself still, waiting for the attack. After a long beat, I let myself relax slightly. Based on his reaction, I wasn’t expected. This was no assassin sent to take me out before I could solidify my bond with Cade.
Shirtless, the wolf’s pants pulled up his thighs but undone at the top, and I could practically see the dusting of wolf hair on his arms fading as his human side reasserted itself. His bare feet told me exactly what he had been doing: hunting.
The lack of a pack told me it had been by himself. The hunt was a primal thing, and I could tell from the traces of blood at his mouth it had been successful. But his adrenaline was going. I could hear his elevated heartbeat from where I was, his wolf urges still hot and ready for a kill.
“Who are you?” His voice echoed against the glossy white tiles.
I shifted my stance. This had been one of the scenarios I had imagined: a single attacker, from the front, water still slicking the tiles.
