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Fiercehad to agree with this.HelikedDeepandLocka lot—they had a lot of good tips on how to deal with a human bride. (ThoughifHolddidn’t let them have a normalClaimingPeriod,Fiercedidn’t see how he and his brother would evergetCeliaas their bride.)
“Letme show you the bathing chamber,” he said to her now, trying to make peace. “Canyou swim?Ifnot, you might want to stay out of the bathing pool.Itgets deep in the middle and you’re tiny.”
Shelifted her chin.
“Ican swim…alittle.Anyway, show me.I’mdead on my feet—I’vebeen up since five this morning andIjust want to rest.”
“Ofcourse, my lady.Pleaselet us know if you need anything,”Holdsaid courteously. “I’llput the clothingKatsent you in your room whileFierceshows you the bathing chamber.”
“Thankyou.”Celiagave theLightTwina dazzling smile that nearly tookFierce’sbreath away.BytheGoddess—did she realize how beautiful she was?Somehowhe doubted it.Thatass of a fiancé certainly never told her!
ThenCelialooked up atFierceand the smile left her face.
“Allright—show me the bathroom,” she said shortly. “I’mexhausted.”
“Sure.”Fiercenodded, trying not to show that her attitude nettled him. “Thisway.”
Andwith a jerk of his head, he headed for the bathing chamber—or the “fresher” as mostKindredcalled it.
Iftheir new bride wanted to keep her distance from him and save her smiles forHold, that was fine with him, he told himself.He’dnever been jealous of his brother and he wasn’t going to start now.
9
CELIA
Can’tbelievePeteracted like that!Whatiswrongwith those people?Whodoesn’t know how to check on a turkey and take it out of the oven on time?
Celialooked at the diamond ring in her hand and then placed it carefully on the wooden bench beside the stack of towels.Shewould be careful not to lose it, but she didn’t feel like wearing it right now.
She’dhad fights with her fiancé before—most notably when he’d flushed her birth control down the toilet—but none quite like this.Whywas that?
Maybebecause in the past, you always backed down and apologized,whispered a little voice in her head.Tonightyou refused to back down andPetershowed his true colors.
Celiatried to push the little voice away but couldn’t quite manage it, maybe because she knew it spoke the truth.She’dnever felt quite good enough forPeter—possibly because of her background and lack of upbringing.She’dalways had to struggle with feelings of low self-worth because growing up, it seemed that nobody wanted her.
Well, they certainly want you now!whispered the little voice.Butthe image that filled her head wasn’t ofPeterand his family—it wasHoldandFiercethat hovered in her mind’s eye.Itoccurred to her that she’d never found out fromKathowexactlytwo such huge warriors could fit with a human woman sexually.Shesaw another image—the three of them together withCeliain the middle as they touched and teased her…
Sheshook her head.Whatwaswrongwith her tonight?FightingwithPeterand his mother and telling him they were taking a break.Andthen fantasizing about the two huge warriors who had erroneously come toClaimher as their bride…
Haveto stop thinking this way,she told herself.Probablyshe’d just been comparing theThanksgivingdinner on theMotherShipand the people she had met here withPeterand his family and that’s why they’d had a fight.Therewas no denying thatKatand her friends were more relatable and much nicer than her prospective in-laws.Plus, she was exhausted from having such an eventful day.Whatshe needed was just to get clean and then get right to bed.
Celiaeyed the bathing pool longingly.Itwas a vast oval filled with steaming water, set directly into the floor.Infact, she wondered how in the world nobody stumbled into it on their way to use the bathroom at night.Itwas way bigger than a hot tub—big enough to swim in,ifyou could swim.
Despitegrowing up inFlorida,Celiawasn’ta very good swimmer.Itwasn’t like she’d had a normal childhood where she got to go to the pool and the beach like other kids.Onceor twice one of her foster parents had taken her and a big group of the other foster kids to theYMCAto splash around in the pool, butCeliahad always been stuck in the shallow end.
Learningto swim as an adult was one of her goals, but she hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet.Beforeshe’d metPeter, she was hustling day and night just to make a living.Andafter meeting him, she’d been too busy decorating his various properties and then shortly after, planning their wedding, to make time for swimming lessons.
Still, the bathing pool lookedextremelytempting.Maybeif she just hung on to the side of the pool she could get in,Celiatold herself.Itseemed like every muscle in her body was aching from the long day she’d just been through—a long soak in the huge hot tub would besorefreshing.
Asshe slipped out of the red wrap dress and black flats she’d been wearing since five that morning, she couldn’t help rememberingFierce’sdeep, growling voice as he pointed it out to her.
“That’swhere we’d all be bathing together during ourBathingWeek—ifwe were having a normalClaimingPeriod,” he’d said.
“Er,BathingWeek?”Celiahad asked.SherememberedKatsaying something about different weeks in theClaimingPeriodtoo.
Buthe’d only shaken his head.
“Nevermind.Justbe careful—likeIsaid, it gets deep in the middle.”
