The command was quiet.No particular force behind it.And yet her feet moved before her mind had finished forming the objection.
She stopped an arm’s length away.Close enough to see the water still caught in his lashes and the faint flush across his neck.She frowned slightly.
His hand rose.His fingers found her jaw, his thumb tracing the line of her cheek with a gentleness entirely at odds with the size of his hands.
“I thought about you,” he said.“Every day.”
“Gullible,” she said.“My charms must be irresistible.”
His mouth curved.“Is it?”
“Your heart is not hard to act on, my Lord.”
“And you," he said, “are the least honest person I have ever met.”
Her chin lifted.“I beg your pardon?”
“You’re doing it now.”His thumb stilled on her cheek.“Looking at me like I’m something dangerous.Like if you stand still enough, the feeling will pass.”
Her heart did something deeply inconvenient.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“Azul.”
“My Lord.”
“Look at me.”
She was already looking at him.She had been looking at him since she walked in and found him in a bath like some sort of—it was irrelevant.She was looking at him and her face was perfectly composed and there was absolutely nothing to discuss.
“I am looking at you,” she said.
“No,” he said.“You’re watching me.Liar.”
His other hand found her waist.She was acutely aware of the robe hanging open at his chest.
She hated that she’d memorised his scent.
“You’re feverish,” she said.
His brow rose.“What?”
“Your colour is high.Your skin is warmer than it should be.”She reached up and pressed the back of her hand to his neck before he could object.The heat radiating off him was unmistakable.Too hot to be the bath water.“How long?”
“It’s nothing.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“A few days.”He caught her wrist as she pulled it back, not releasing it.“It’s nothing.Campaign fevers.I’ve had worse.”
“You should rest.”
“Azul.”His thumb pressed against her pulse point.She was nearly certain he could feel it jumping.“I haven’t seen you in nearly a month."
“Which is why you should tell me how long you’ve been feverish.”
“Three days.”He finally admitted it.“It comes and goes.Thane has been insufferable about it.”
