A light in the flame

My head swung toward him. “This wasn’t something I asked for.”

“I know.” He didn’t look at me as he said, “There are soaps on the stool that you can use. And the towels are here.” He gestured to the rack against the wall. “The other door is locked. No one can enter from there. Take your time. I’ll be waiting in the bedchamber.”

Nyktos didn’t linger. He stepped out of the bathing chamber, closed the door behind him, and left me there, hands trembling slightly. I turned back to the tub, unsure what to make of this—of anything.

This was an act of kindness. I shouldn’t be surprised, because despite whatever issues we might have had with one another, Nyktos was a kind man. He was thoughtful. I knew that, but this unexpected act frayed me at the seams and made that crack in my chest feel even more unstable. I felt as if I were one breath from unraveling. And that was the last thing I needed.

Besides, I really did want a bath. There likely was a fine layer of dirt covering me, and the hasty cleanups had left me feeling a little gross.

Unsheathing the dagger, I placed it on the ledge and then shimmied out of the gown. My chest immediately appreciated the freedom. I winced as I shrugged off my undergarments, seeing pink indentations in the flesh of my breasts from where the seams of the bodice had been too tight. Leaving the clothing and undergarments in a somewhat neat ball, I touched the sudsy water. Hot. Perfect. I stepped into the water and then sank into it. There was only a faint sting from the cut on my waist as the heat seeped into my tense muscles and the knots all along my back. Strands of my hair spread out over the water as my shoulders slipped under the surface. I stretched my legs out and didn’t even reach the other side.

This tub was deliciously obscene.

Letting myself slide under the surface, I stayed there. I just existed, neither here nor there. I floated, holding my breath until my lungs burned and tiny bursts of light appeared behind my closed lids. Then I resurfaced, dragging in deep breaths of air as I blinked the water from my lashes.

Glancing at the closed door, I scooted across the floor of the tub, sending the bubbles into a frenzy and stirring up the scent of peppermint. I refused to think about the fact that Nyktos had thought to add that to the water since he didn’t strike me as the type to enjoy bubble baths.

Grabbing one of the bottles, I quickly scrubbed the soap through my hair while also ignoring the fact that he’d even thought to leave two pitchers of clean, warm water by the tub. I also didn’t think about how he’d washed my hair upon my arrival in the Shadowlands. Nor did I think about how he’d helped dry me off afterwards.

Once my hair was free of soap, I had no reason to linger, but the water was still wonderfully warm, and the size of the tub reminded me a little of my lake. My heart twisted as I pushed myself into the corner of the tub, letting my head rest against the ledge as I stared at the small window and the gray sky beyond.

What allowed me to relax wasn’t that the tub or room was different. I knew that. It was who waited just outside the door. I knew I was safe.

I didn’t mean for my eyes to drift shut or to be lulled into sleep. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but that was what I did.

The sound of my name and a featherlight touch to my brow woke me, much as it had the evening before. My eyes fluttered open.

Nyktos sat on the ledge of the tub, the hair I’d cut falling forward, grazing his cheek and the curve of his jaw. He’d do

The dagger remained where I’d left it, now beside his thigh.

“I think…” I cleared my throat. “I think I fell asleep.”

Nyktos said nothing for a long moment, and I glanced down to confirm what I already suspected. Most of the bubbles had evaporated, leaving only patches of weak foam scattered throughout the tub. I was acutely conscious that nearly all of me was visible to him. “The water must be cold by now.”

“A little.” I forced a swallow. “Can you really heat water with a touch?”

He nodded. “It’s not really magic. It’s eather responding to my will.”

That sounded like magic to me. “I bet that comes in handy.”

“It can.” A moment passed, and then he dipped a hand into the water.

My pulse skittered as a faint glow appeared around his fingers, muted by the suds. The water swirled gently, forming tiny whirlpools. A strange sensation hit me, a tingling along my stomach, legs—and between them. My breath caught as the water warmed—as I warmed.

“Better?” Nyktos asked.

“Yes,” I whispered as the tingling sensation eased. “That was…a unique experience.”

“Very,” he murmured, his bright-eyed gaze traveling over my face so intensely it felt like a physical touch. His stare lowered over the slope of my throat, lingering on the faint bruise left there, and then to where my shoulders broke the surface before moving lower still. The tips of my breasts tightened under his heavy stare, and the muscles low in my stomach followed suit. His gaze drifted farther, over my hand resting against my navel and then to the space between my parted thighs. Heat flooded my veins as a sharp, twisting pulse darted through me.

Nyktos’s gaze shot up. The aura behind his eyes was bright as wisps of eather seeped out.

My heart kicked against my ribs. “I think you’re the one doing the ogling now.”

Thick lashes lowered, shielding his eyes, but I felt his gaze. It had returned to where the tips of my breasts were just below the surface of the water. “You do know you don’t have to allow me to look upon such unmentionable places.”

“I know.”

One side of his lip curled up. “And yet you continue to allow it.”

The spark of irritation further flamed the fire in my blood. “I do. What do you think that means? That I’m trying to seduce you, Nyktos?”

His eyes rose to mine again. The strands of essence churned slowly. “Is that a serious question? Everything you do is seductive.”

“You are the one who said you would await me and then chose to enter the chamber where I was bathing,” I reminded him. “And yet you think I’m trying to seduce you?”

The knuckles of the hand on the rim of the tub turned white.

“How long did you sit there and look upon me while I was unaware?” I pushed away from the corner of the tub, sitting up. Water dipped below the swell of my breasts. “Better yet, how was I trying to seduce you when you came into my bedchamber uninvited and watched me pleasure myself? Then touched me?”

Every part of him went still. His chest. His features. The eather in his eyes.

I smirked. “Oh, I’m sorry. Was I not supposed to bring that up again? Forget that you watched me, wishing it was your fingers instead of mine inside me? Or were you wishing it was your cock?”

The air became electrified, filling with power as his eyes locked onto mine. That should’ve been a warning, but I was angry—with him for behaving as if his response to me was my fault, and with myself because that ache was there, throbbing and wanting.

“The thing is, Nyktos.” I rose, stirring what remained of the suds. Water coursed down my stomach, ru

“No.” Nyktos’s hands landed on my hips, stopping me. He stared up at me, his eyes swirling, burning spheres. “You are not excused.”

Chapter 19

There was a hitch in my throat and a highly idiotic shiver below my belly in response to the blade-edged sharpness of his tone. The unmistakable heat in his stare. The branding feel of his cool hands on my skin. “I didn’t ask if I was allowed,” I told him.