AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She bursts out laughing. “Honey, if you’re about to let me down gently, rest assured that it’s not necessary. You’re cute, but I’ll live.”
There’s no reason for my pride to get stung over that. I’m the one doing the rejecting. Then again, it just feels like I’m utterly replaceable.
“You.”
I blink up to find Maura standing over our table, an unreadable expression on her face. She jerks her thumb at Nadia. “Get lost.”
Nadia hesitates two full beats. When she rises, it’s as if she chose to do it rather than followed Maura’s command. It’s a neat trick. I watch her walk away from us, a sway in her hips, for longer than I should. Maybe I’m a coward. I don’t want to look at Maura, don’t want to have the same conversation again. I don’t know how many times and different ways she can tell me she doesn’t want me.
“Come on.” She holds out her hand.
I find myself reaching for it and jerk my hand back. “No.”
“Juliette.” She sinks a thread of heat into my name that has me clenching my thighs together. “I am sweaty and sticky and in desperate need of a bath. Daichi won’t be finished for another hour or so. You can sit here and pout, or you can come up to the room I just rented and bathe. It’s your choice.”
“Now you’re just playing dirty.”
“Yep.” She grins, quick and fierce. Her smile makes my stomach flip, and I slip my hand into hers without having any intention of doing it. She squeezes my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Let’s get you clean.”
11
MAURA
Seeing Juliette with another woman made several things clear to me all at the same time. No matter what else is true, I hate seeing Juliette with other people. She might not be meant for me, but she feels like mine. She always will.
I tried to do the right thing; I tried to put her on a carriage back home where she’s meant to be a pampered princess whose every desire is seen to. I tried. If she’s so determined to abandon her life, to the point that she’ll leave our entire realm behind…leave me behind…
She was never going to go home.
The realization sweeps over me, as dangerous as a hurricane. The only thing keeping me from making her mine forever was that last shred of nobility inside me that no one else ever acknowledged…except Juliette. To the point where it felt like that nobility was hers, and hers alone.
Except she doesn’t want my nobility. Maybe she never did.
As I lead her up the stairs, her palm warm against mine, my selfishness takes over. If I give Juliette half a chance, she’ll be hopping into the first portal she finds without a second thought. She’s so determined to move forward that she’s not thinking about the potential consequences. And right now, she sees me as something adjacent to an enemy, someone who is standing in her way.
She won’t believe me if I tell her I’ve changed my mind, and rightfully so. There’s nothing stopping me from lying to her. I could whisper exactly what she wants to hear into the pretty curve of her ear, and then when we return to our realm, I could resume my original plan to see her home.
I have no intention of doing so, but she doesn’t know that.
I’ll just have to show her.
The room the witch directed me to use is much nicer than I expected. It’s bright and airy, courtesy of the round windows stationed high on the wall. They make the space feel bigger, while also offering plenty of privacy. The walls are painted a rich teal that brings to mind some of the southern seas that I enjoy sailing. Places where the wind is balmy on your skin and the sea is as warm as bathwater.
I would like to take Juliette there someday.
She pulls her hand from mine as I close the door behind me. “Well, that’s one big bathtub.”
I follow her gaze and raise my brows as I see that it is, in fact, a giant bathtub. I don’t use the term orgy-sized lightly, but there’s no other way to describe it. It’s shaped approximately the same as other claw-footed bathtubs I’ve seen in the past, but it’s easily wide enough for four people to stretch out comfortably. It’s also filled with lightly steaming water, as promised.
A mosaic tile pattern covers the floor, a spiraling flurry of blues and greens and silver that should be overwhelming but instead adds to the calming feeling of the room. There’s a drain in the center of the space, hidden just below the bathtub. I have to wonder if this room was built around the massive tub or if magic is behind its presence here. It doesn’t matter; I’m here with a different aim.
