Page 80 of Tamed By Her Touch

Droplets of water still clung to his broad shoulders and ran in lazy little trails down his muscular chest and ridged abdomen before disappearing beneath the towel. Clair found herself watching one particularly adventurous drop make its way down the dark line of hair below his navel before she realized where she was looking and jerked her gaze hastily upward.

Unfortunately, Kaelus had noticed. His golden eyes narrowed but Clair ignored him.

“Well?” Maera prompted pleasantly. “You should hurry or the goosenburly will get cold.”

“Right. Of course.” Clair put down her detangling comb and looked at Kaelus. “Come on then, honey. Let’s get you dressed.”

“I am perfectly capable of dressing myself,” he growled.

Maera gasped and Clair closed her eyes briefly. Oh, for the love of God.

When she opened them again, Maera was looking at Kaelus with the same expression she might have worn if he had just announced his intention to kick a puppy.

“You would deny your goddess the pleasure of adorning her own husband?” she asked.

Kaelus looked completely baffled.

“Adorning me?”

“Of course.” Maera nodded. “A husband chooses garments which will please and flatter his goddess, and she does the same for him. Each is a reflection of the other. Surely you do not simply dress yourselves independently every morning?”

Kaelus and Clair exchanged a glance.

“Of course not,” Clair said quickly.

“At times,” Kaelus began at the exact same moment.

Clair elbowed him and he grunted and gave her a look.

“What my darling husband means,” she said brightly, “is that sometimes our work schedules are different, and we have to get ready at different times. But when we’re together…” She smiled up at him with every ounce of fake marital devotion she could muster. “Why, I just love dressing my big guy.”

Kaelus looked down at her. One black eyebrow rose and Clair widened her smile.

Do not contradict me, you big jerk! she thought at him.

Something in her expression must have gotten the message across because he merely grunted again.

“Very well,” he said.

“Wonderful!” Maera exclaimed. “Then please, go ahead.”

Clair stared at her and Maera smiled. Apparently, she really was going to watch. There really was no privacy on Titus Four.

Well, there was nothing she could do about it—they would just have to go through with her “dressing her husband.”

“Okay then.” Clair rubbed her palms together and turned toward the clothing Kaelus had laid out on a nearby bench. “Let’s see what we have here.”

There wasn’t much choice. Kaelus, unlike Clair, apparently packed with military efficiency. There were several pairs of dark trousers folded with mathematical precision, along with black and charcoal shirts, a few fitted tunics, and a few pairs of black underpants. She picked up a pair of the underpants.

“These.”

Kaelus nodded.

“Acceptable.”

“Oh, good. I’m so relieved I have your approval,” she said dryly. She was still irritated with him for the way things had ended between them the night before.

“You selected a pair identical to every other pair,” Kaelus pointed out.