Page 61 of The Hunter

Lacey narrowed her eyes at him as the cool water enveloped her feet and calves. “Do you bathe females often?”

“No. Only you. Only ever you.”

Her heart gave a little buh-bump, and she couldn’t help the all-too-pleased grin that spread across her lips.

Telok looked down at her mouth. “Good female.”

Holy shit, did he just good girl me? Because I smiled?

If she had been wearing panties, they would’ve been soaked. As it was, she could already feel the wet heat of her slick between her thighs.

He carried Lacey deeper into the stream and lowered her. When her feet touched the rocky bottom, the surface was up to her breasts, and the slow current teased her nipples. While the water wasn’t cold, it was far cooler than the hot, humid jungle air that had tormented her for days.

Lacey sank down until the water rose over her shoulders. “Mmm, this feels amazing.”

Telok shifted to stand behind her. His clawed fingers, capable of such savagery, carefully undid her braid. Her instinct was to protest, to insist that she was more than capable of doing it herself, but she resisted. The water felt so nice, as did his touch…

Why deny myself a little bit of pampering?

Apart from the fact that she was naked—and somehow both embarrassed and turned on—what was the harm? Heck, the vrix were naked all the time, right?

He flattened a hand on her back and guided her to tip her head back, plunging her hair into the water. He held her like that, totally steady and secure, as he worked out some of the tangles in her hair and ensured it all got wet. When he had her straighten again, he used lather from her soap to wash her hair.

Telok’s fingers were like magic. Gentle but firm, they worked the soap down to her scalp and massaged it in. She closed her eyes.

With the sounds of water flowing around them and leaves rustling in the breeze above, this truly was paradise. A place where only Lacey and Telok existed for a little while.

The corners of her lips curled into a contented smile. This had no right feeling so good. Even the grazing of his claws was euphoric, sending delightful tingles through her body that were at once pleasurable and relaxing.

Unbidden, a content moan escaped from her throat.

Her eyes shot open, and her cheeks heated immediately, but that warmth changed when Telok let out a soft, pleased trill. Another silly grin threatened to stretch across her lips as he continued.

When he finished and tipped her back to rinse her hair, Lacey almost pouted. She didn’t want his divine touch to stop. But she knew they couldn’t lounge here all day while he massaged her scalp.

Taking her by her waist with his lower hands, he guided her toward shallower water. Lacey’s heart sped as the water level fell; he halted when it was around her hips. She’d been so caught up in the way he’d washed her hair that she’d completely forgotten what would follow.

His hands all over her body. Intimately.

Lacey shivered as water trickled down her skin. Just like that, she felt terribly exposed again, yet she somehow kept her arms down while he stepped in front of her and faced her.

Telok’s gaze roamed over her slowly, shamelessly. In the back of Lacey’s mind, a smug little voice listed all the flaws, scars, and blemishes he was undoubtedly noting, and she found herself fighting the strengthening urge to wrap her arms around herself and sit down so the water could obscure her body.

His eyes stopped on her belly. Extending a hand, he brushed the small silvery marks on her stomach, the tips of his claws whispering over the skin. “What are these?”

“They’re called stretch marks. It’s what happens to human skin when it gets stretched out. It leaves scars.”

Telok paused his hand and made an unhappy buzz. “Your skin was…stretched?” He flattened his palm over the marks, fingers splayed, mandibles sagging. “Why? How?”

“You’ve seen how soft and flexible human skin is. I… I used to be much larger than I am now. Fuller. Um…fatter. My stomach was bigger, my thighs thicker. That extra weight stretched out my skin, and when I lost it, that skin didn’t go back to how it was before.”

“Did it hurt?”

“No, it didn’t.”

His hand dipped, and he lightly traced a finger along the crude, puckered scar running across her lower belly, making her flinch. “And this?”

“That… That did hurt. Not initially, because I was under anesthesia, but when I woke up… It was excruciating.”