AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A laugh escapes me, and the tension eases in my shoulders. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good. Now, if you’re going to help me, then it’s only fair that I get to help you bathe in return. Deal?”
I nod, and he sits back down in the tub. Who is this man?
9
Scarlet
Thedimmagelighton the wall casts a soft glow across the bathroom, its reflection dancing on the warm water inside the clawfoot tub. I can barely make out the ocean outside the window, but it doesn’t matter; my attention isn’t there. Not tonight.
Most nights, I sit in the tub, looking out at the dark-capped waves rolling in and out of the bay, dreaming of what lies beyond the line where the world ends. Now, I couldn’t care less what’s out that window. My mind is focused on the naked stranger in my tub. Sebastian’s form relaxes into the bath, his wounded shoulder half-submerged.
“Let’s get some candles going, shall we?” I say, trying to sound casual. I think that might’ve been a losing battle to start with.
It’s impossible to keep the shake out of my voice. Not when he’s… exposed. He doesn’t seem shy about it in the slightest, yet the first time I was naked in front of a man I trembled until my eyeballs rattled. It took weeks of seeing Zelix to get over the nerves, and I’m getting an odd sense of Déjà vu.
I strike a match and light a few candles around the room, their crackling flames licking off the wooden wicks, casting shadows that seem to move with every breath. Grabbing a jar off the table, I scoop the bath salts and drop them into the water. The scent of lavender and eucalyptus fills the air. That scent… something about it makes me feel lighter. It calms me from the inside out.
Delivering the second scoop, my arm bumps into Sebastian’s hand. It’s been resting on the edge of the tub since he’s gotten in, but I hadn’t intended to touch him… just leaned too far, I guess. It doesn’t stop him from twirling his fingers through a strand of my hair, though. Sebastian watches his ringed fingers like it’s the last thing he’ll ever see.
“Does your shoulder hurt?” I ask, trying to stay busy so my mind doesn’t drift. Eyeing the raw wound on the side of his upper arm—where the serpent man’s talons tore through the flesh—I notice the venom tracks have faded significantly. It still looks painful, even though it’s healed some.
“It’ll be fine,” Sebastian says nonchalantly, muscles tensing slightly. “I heal quickly, and the venom’s effects are gone. It’s just a matter of time before the wound closes up.”
I sigh, letting out the air in my lungs. He drops my hair and moves his arm inside the tub as if he’s worried I’ll do something to it.
“You don’t have to pretend around me. If it hurts, I can help.” Considering the fact I turned down the blood oath and he tried to hear me out and understand, the least I can do is help where I can. I’m not a healer, but I know my way around the medical arts enough to know how to close a wound.
Sebastian’s eyes soften, and he studies me for a moment before nodding.
“Would you like something for it?”
“Like what?” he asks, a crease forming between his brows.
“I can go get something for the pain from the apothecary.” I start to lift from the stool, but he puts his hand over mine and water drips between my fingers.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Alright. I probably have sutures in here somewhere.” He lets me up this time and I scurry about the room, searching drawers for the kit I left in here… somewhere. Two drawers later, I find it and work on threading the needle.
“Why would you have sutures?”
His question stops me cold. “Well, some call it clumsy. I call it a curse. I fell.”
He snorts and I spare a glance at him over my shoulder, getting an eyeful of his scrutiny.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about since we met, it’s that you’re graceful. You nearly float when you move. Someone like that isn’t clumsy. Would you like to try again?”
Tucking my chin to my chest, I roll the needle between my fingers and turn to rest my backside against the dresser edge. “Well, if you must know, I was trying to climb out a way through my window. The lattice that covers the sides of this tower isn’t friendly.”
“Sneaking out, huh?”
“More like trying to escape.” Stepping closer to the tub, I sit on the stool, getting as close as I can so I can gently clean the wound.
“You were running away…” It’s a comment for himself more than for me.
“Trying to, yes. Except I’m terrified of heights and the lattice doesn’t go all the way around the tower. The only way off it would’ve been to go in the water and I can’t swim, so I climbed back up. Had my room been in the other tower, you might not have met me.”
