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God, he was a beautiful man.
He walked over to the tub and looked at me, his hand resting on his hip. “Uh, you mentioned wanting to bathe with me while I was in my lycan form. Is that still the case?”
I beamed and nodded emphatically. “Of course! No point taking a bath in here and wasting the opportunity to be close like that,” I said. “Why would I have changed my mind?”
“Things got a little heated just now. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t feeling gun-shy about it, I guess.”
I shook my head and patted the seat next to me. “Let me just fix up your back, and then you can shift whenever you feel comfortable enough to do it, okay?”
He nodded and smiled, coming around to step into the tub. I was fully prepared to start acting like his nurse, but before I could, he pulled me into a tight hug. He buried his head in my hair, taking a deep breath and sighing.
“I appreciate you so much, Marley,” he said softly. “It’s so wild that you don’t think of yourself as a catch for me. You’re beautiful, and you have an even more beautiful heart. And that’s saying something.”
My heart threatened to burst out of my chest, and I wrapped my arms around him. “It’s easy to be sweet to you and Noah. You both make it easy, honestly. I’m so lucky to have you.”
He drew back and pressed his lips to my forehead. “All right. With that out of my system...” He turned his back to me, revealing two sets of angry scratches on his back.
I cringed. “Jeez, it’s really bad. I really didn’t think I scratched that hard.”
“It’s going to look worse with the water,” Cole said. “It’ll look like it’s bleeding a lot more than it is.”
I cupped water in my hands and poured it over the wounds, only to find that the scratches beneath had already healed. The only thing to contend with was a bit of leftover blood.
“Oh,” I said. “You’re already healed.”
“I thought I might be, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to let you play nursemaid. You could still clean me up if you like, though.”
I chuckled. “I suppose that’s only fair. Eye for an eye and all that.”
“Speaking of which, I owe you some new clothes,” he said with a laugh.
“Wow, such remorse,” I teased. “You sound real broken up about ruining my panties and shirt.”
“Allow a man his sinful pleasures,” he quipped.
“Did that do it for you, then?” I asked.
“Did that do it for me?” he said, peeking over his shoulder at me. “Jesus Christ, Marley, what do you think?”
I pressed my lips together, feeling a little embarrassed. “Yes?”
“A fucking resounding yes. Frankly, the entire experience was a damned dream come true,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong; I was still holding back. But even that part of things felt exciting in its own way. A little bit of denial, a bit of self-control, while feeling like I was getting away with something...”
He trailed off as I finished getting the last bit of blood off his back. He turned, his brow tensing a little. “Hold on. That didn’t sound right—the way I said that.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I understood what you meant.”
“I wanna clarify, anyway. Marley, when I say getting away with something, I don’t mean that I fantasize about having my way with you or taking advantage of you. But when it comes to being in a relationship with a human woman, it’s often expected that you don’t indulge in those parts of things, you know? You keep it together to avoid catastrophic disasters or scaring off your partner.”
I nodded, not needing him to explain but appreciating that he felt the need to do so. “I know, Cole,” I said, reaching up to cup his face. “Lucky for us, we’re so attuned to each other that we don’t have to be fearful of something like that happening. Hell, we’ve been feeling each other’s emotions. I’m sure it feels like a relief.”
The breath he exhaled sounded like he was releasing everything that had been coiled inside him. “Right,” he said. “It does. It feels good to be myself with you, whatever that looks like at the time. Whether that’s hunting you down like they did in the old days or bathing with you in my shifter form, it just feels good not to have to hide anything from you.”
I nodded and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m glad, because I don’t want you to have to keep anything from me. Especially regarding who you are, both as a man and as a shifter. So whatever happens, give me a chance to accept all of you before you assume I can’t handle it, okay?”
“I will,” he said, rubbing his nose against mine. “I promise.”
We bathed each other with the luxurious soaps offered in the house. I’d brought my own toiletries, but found I didn’t need to use any of them—the Silver Moon pack had provided everything. All their products smelled so good and felt wonderful. By the time we were scrubbed and clean, both of us had soft, nice-smelling skin.
