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I manage to get all my armor and my clothes off while holding Isavelle against me, but I can’t manage her clothes while she’s huddled into me. They’ll get wet, but I’ll wrap her naked in my cloak for the flight back to Lenhale.
With my drowsy Omega in my arms, I walk into the steaming hot pool and sink into the water. Isavelle moans in relief as the soothing water envelops her, and some of the hurt in my heart lightens.
From now on, no one is going to be cruel to my woman. She’ll know only happiness.
“What happened to your feet,sha’len?” I murmur in her ear, gently rubbing her arches beneath the water.
Isavelle’s cheek is resting against my chest. “The boots I stole didn’t fit, and I walked and walked in them. They gave me blisters. I left them in Mistress Hawthorne’s cottage, and I’ve been barefoot ever since.”
Slowly, her red and swollen feet begin to look less swollen and sore. I gently stroke water over her bruised and bloody lip with the pad of my thumb. Then I lean down and lick it. An Alpha’s saliva is meant to heal his Omega, and she wouldn’t let me kiss her earlier.
When she feels the brush of my tongue, she laughs softly and cuddles even closer against me. My heart swells, and I gather her closer. It’s not the only thing that’s swelling. I can feel my knot start to grow and ache beneath the water.
My hand skims over her bare skin where the shirt has slipped from her shoulder. “Who is responsible for all these bruises?”
Isavelle winces and buries her face in my chest. “The High Priest. He never hit me himself, but he made the other priests do it.”
Anger mounts in my chest, but I make myself remain calm so it doesn’t invade my scent and upset my mate. “Have I killed him yet?”
“Maybe you have, but he wasn’t there tonight.”
“What about at the funeral where you were nearly sacrificed?”
Isavelle nods. “He was there. He tried to grab hold of me when you all landed on your dragons, but I ran the other way.”
I feel my eyes narrow. I think I remember the man she’s talking about. He wore a cowl, and I could see little of his face except that he had a dark beard with silver in it.
“You were clever to run. You ran right to me,sha’len, because you knew your mate would protect you.”
Tears fill her eyes and roll down her cheeks, silvering them in the moonlight. “I’ve been all alone and so afraid. I didn’t know who I could trust.”
I cradle her in my arms and press a kiss to her brow. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
We lay in the steaming water for some time while stars twinkle overhead and the moon carves a path through the heavens.
“I’ve never seen this place before,” Isavelle says, gazing at the rising steam.
“This is a favorite place of mine. The water is soothing and heals your injuries. Are you feeling better?”
Isavelle whispers, “So much better.”
We should leave soon, but before we do, I should get her out of these wet clothes. As I tug at the first button, she blinks and frowns, and raises her head. The effects of my scent seem to be wearing off.
“Are you naked?” She looks down at herself and sees that I’m undoing her shirt. “Wait, what are you doing?”
Isavelle pulls herself out of my grasp and starts to stand up in the thigh-deep water. Well, waist deep on her. Then she realizes her shirt is plastered to her body and turned see-through, and ducks down into the water again.
“How dare you try to undress me? What’s going on?” she splutters.
I suppose it’s only natural for my starved and injured Omega to become confused and upset by everything that’s been happening.
“You can’t get out of the water in wet clothes. I’ll give you my cloak to wrap yourself in. It’s bigger than you are and very warm.” I reach for her, but she jerks away from me.
“I’ll just wear wet clothes.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll take off your clothes and put my cloak on. You’re so weakened that wet clothes will make you ill.”
Isavelle glances to the side of the pool where my cloak lays, and she seems to see the sense in that. “I’ll take my own clothes off. Turn around, please.”
