Page 185 of House Ignis

"The wolf?" I echoed, my heart in my throat. "Oh—gosh—I was running so fast I slammed into you.

Must've been scared of your shadows." I let my hands trail up his arms in a careless way, feeling the electricity of him watching every movement.

His eyes tracked my fingers, and the bond flooded hot and close. I licked my lips on instinct. He groaned low—an animal sound that made my skin tingle.

"Hmm, Darling," he murmured, voice rough.

He closed the distance in a heartbeat, palms at my waist. Before I could think, he picked me up, my legs instinctively winding around his hips.

"I've been waiting for you," he said, his wicked grin softening into something honest.

Everything else went blank. The journal, the red eyes in the dark—the world narrowed to the press of him, the beat of his heart under my ear, and the pull of his shadows that promised to swallow the fear.

We barely made it upstairs. My hands tangled in his hair as he carried me the rest of the way, my legs locked around his waist. At my door, he murmured a rune, the lock sighed open, and he kicked it shut behind us.

At the landing, he murmured a rune, the lock sighed, and he shoved the door closed with his foot. He pushed me back against the wood, chest to chest, then gave me that lopsided grin.

"I'm going to draw us a bath," he drawled, kissing the hollow of my neck.

I giggled, my heart still hammering. He gave my ass a final squeeze as he set me on my feet and padded toward the bathroom.

The second he was out of sight, I leaned against the door, my mind a chaotic storm.

The red eyes. Jax’s journal. The Veyari.

Every secret sat heavier than the last. And I was hiding all of them from him.

"Bubbles, darling?" Asher called from the bathroom, the sound of running water filling the space.

"Yes—always!" I replied, forcing my voice to stay steady. I took a deep breath, trying to push the fear into a box.

Not tonight. I couldn’t tell him tonight.

By the time I’d stripped off my clothes, steam was drifting from the bathroom.

I walked bare into the bathroom, my head still heavy with thoughts of the forest, but the sight that greeted me stopped me dead.

Asher was already in the tub, steam curling around him like a cloak. His head rested against the rim, throat bared, silver eyes fixed on me.

Gods—my thighs clenched, my pulse tripped. He looked carved from shadows and steam.

He chuckled, low and wicked, the sound sliding over my skin like a physical touch. Then he tilted his head, one eyebrow raised, mischief carved into his grin as his gaze dragged slowly down my body.

Gods. I might combust right there.

“Coming in, darling?”

Words failed me, so I nodded and slipped into the water. He caught my waist almost immediately, turning me toward him and pulling me onto his lap.

My thighs locked around his waist as a broken moan escaped me.

“Gods, I fucking missed you,” he groaned.

In one fluid motion, he pulled me down onto his aching length, filling me so suddenly a broken moan tore from my throat.

"Gods, I fucking missed you," he groaned, his voice raw with a hunger that matched my own.

His fingers dug into my thighs, holding me in place as I began to move. My breasts lifted with every roll of my hips, the water sloshing violently, bubbles spilling over the edge onto the floor.