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“I suspect your winged double is somehow your power running off instinct and base needs. The same instincts your Anarian upbringing suppressed.”
Rune’s words sickened her. She wasn’t like that crazed bitch. Everything about her felt foreign and wrong. Faye’s gaze met Rune’s. He didn’t seem overly upset by his treatment. Did all dark-blooded women act this way?
Faye muttered, “She thinks she owns you.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Ownership is how a dark-blooded female shows affection to their male.”
Faye laid her head on his arm. “I don’t want to own you.” Rune stiffened. “No I don’t…” Faye hugged his arm tighter. “Your customs are strange to me.”
He pulled her hair loose now that she was calmer and said, “They are customs you should have been raised in.”
Faye remained silent. She didn’t want to be raised in a dark court. She wanted a partner, not a possession to be commanded when the urge struck her and shelved when she was bored with it.
“Are you in any pain?” He asked.
“You’re the one injured,” Faye muttered. She leaned away to glance at his chest over her shoulder and asked, “Why is this still here when you healed up after I knocked you into the wall?”
“I have been preoccupied and need blood.”
She hurt him, the least she could do was offer him the blood he needed to heal. “You… can take it from me.”
He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I appreciate the offer, but bites are sexual. You are still adjusting, and I would be taking advantage of the situation.”
A wine bottle appeared next to the silver tray. Rune poured the dark red liquid into a glass.
“Is that blood?”
“Yes, it is called crimson wine,” Rune said before he drained the glass and poured a second.
Rune reached behind him and opened the faucet. Steaming water was poured into the tub. He ran his hand through her hair, and Faye couldn’t help but remember how he touched her last night. It felt like he cared, and it was more than a ritual between them.
Faye smiled to herself. It was more than a ritual for Voshki. He called her his queen. He cherished her. And because he did, she gave him everything, took his bite while she screamed for him. Faye froze.
Everyone was in the study when she was—
Faye flushed. “Did they hear me last night?”
Rune chuckled.
“I’m serious.”
“It is customary to shield the room when performing such duties.”
Chapter fifty-two
FayesatwithRune,silently taking comfort in his embrace. She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of water flowing behind her. His fingertips slid gently over her back as she rested against him.
He reached to shut the faucet off, and said, “A moment while I get your bath ready.”
Faye sat up as he stood, going to his white marble counter. A dark wooden box appeared. Rune opened it and gathered a few thin vials of clear liquid and two pouches made of sheer white material.
Faye sat on the edge of the tub, absently gliding her fingers over the water’s surface, letting the steam warm her. Rune poured the vials into her bath, and Faye leaned closer. Earthy smells reminded her of her walks in the forest bordering her home after a storm. The two oversized perforated pouches were added last, floating half submerged in the steaming water.
“Would you like me to stay and wash your hair?” He asked quietly, stroking her hair tentatively before caressing the back of her neck.
Did she? Faye stared at her bath water as a bag floated towards her. She made pouches like these along with other ointments for her village. Healing the sick and injured took longer without magic, but Faye did what she could to help.
She reached for it, curious which herbs would be in them. Faye squeezed it, disturbing its contents, and paused. She didn’t recognize any of them. Her questions stilled as the water began to cloud until it turned milky white.
