She met my gaze, and I nodded silently. No one knew better than I did what banishment to hell was like. The fact that she’d had to do that to her own flesh and blood just to save herself…
It was an agony she never should’ve been forced to endure.
“Haley, I’m so sorry. You—”
She pressed her fingers to my lips and shook her head. “Don’t say anything. I don’t want to get into it now—not yet. I still haven’t even fully processed what happened in the Bay. Right after that battle—after we sent my mother off—I had to leave my sisters to answer Melantha’s call. The blood on my boots and daggers wasn’t even dry yet.” She ran her thumb over her wrist, tracing the words of her tattoo.This too shall pass.It seemed to steady her. “I’ll tell you about it,” she said. “All of it. I want to. Just… just not tonight. Tonight, I just need you to know that as scary as it was to relive my near-drowning, I’m not terrified ofyou, Jax. I never could be. Not now.”
When I spoke again, my voice was dark and low. A warning. “Maybe you should be.”
“Probably.” She grinned, her eyes lighting up. “But I think we both know it’s too late for that. I mean, it’s kind of hard to be terrified of a demon when he’s super sexy, naked in the bathtub, and you know the sound he makes when he comes.”
Without warning, she slipped both hands beneath the water, trailing her fingers down my cock, which had been rock hard for her since she walked in. She fisted me and squeezed. Stroked, hot and slippery in the water.
“Fuck, angel,” I growled, and she tightened her grip.
Every time the woman touched me, I lost my damn mind.
“Question about the drowning thing…” I ground out, barely able to keep my voice even. “Are you afraid of water now? Of being submerged? Anything like that?”
“No, that’s the weird thing. Ilovebeing in the water. I’m—”
I grabbed her and hauled her into the tub, cutting off her squeal with a deep, hungry kiss as the water sloshed over the sides, puddling on the floor around us.
“Jax!” she gasped, breaking away to admonish me. “Your injuries!”
“The strangest thing, angel. Suddenly, I feel like a new man.” I kissed her again. “Guess you really do have the healing touch.”
She pulled back and kneeled between my legs, bracing herself with her hands on the edge of the tub. The position gave me a perfect view of her breasts, her nipples outlined by the dark silk chemise that clung to her. I brought my mouth to her breast and bit, teasing and sucking her through the wet silk.
A soft moan, the slide of her fingers into my hair, the warmth of her skin as I ran my hands along her arms… If demons believed in heaven, I’d swear I was already there.
And maybe I could’ve stayed. Maybe I should’ve stayed, kissing her soft and slow, teasing her, making her whisper my name like a prayer.
But the silk in my mouth… it wasn’t hers. And once that realization slithered into my mind, I couldn’t let it go.
“What are you wearing?” I asked, pulling back.
“This? Found it in my fancy-ass wardrobe closet.” She laughed. “Apparently, Keradoc took my demands to heart. Elian said some servants came to deliver a bunch of stuff while I was in the other shower.”
“And you thought you’d give it a go, did you?”
“It’s real silk. I’m not turningthatdown.”
“That’s not silk, angel. It’s made from the petals of the Black Slipper—an extremely rare flower that grows in the Razorback Mountains.” I rubbed the edge between my finger and thumb. The material was so finely woven, I could barely feel it.
If I could put a price tag on this flimsy garment in American terms, it would be in the six-figure range.
Keradoc was toying with her. Trying to lull her into trusting him. Liking him.
I’d seen the way he’d looked at her in the war room. Seen the bulge in his pants as she’d given him a piece of her mind, and I’d held my tongue.
But now, the idea of the warlord dressing her up like his own personal paper doll sent me into a fit of frenzied anger so hot, I was surprised the bathwater didn’t boil up around me.
“He’s trying to impress you,” I ground out.
“Give mesomecredit, Jax,” she said, frowning. “If Keradoc wants to impress me, he’s going to have to work alittleharder than silky pajamas.”
“If that’s how you truly feel, then you won’t mind if I tear them off.”
