“It’s fine. There’s enough steam that we won’t be able to see each other.”
I almost slapped my hand over my mouth. Had I really just said that? Suggested that we get in the pool together? Naked?
Chapter Seven
“That sounds a bit dangerous.”
“Don’t worry about me, Cade. I know how to say no.”
A devastatingly sexy smile stretched across his face. “All right, then. You get in first.”
He turned his back.
Quickly, I stripped out of my clothes. My cuts still burned, so I took a few moments to envision them closing. My healing magic surged, and the wounds knit themselves fully back together.
I slipped into the water, groaning at the welcome heat that relaxed my muscles, then looked down. Yep, the steam and darkness concealed anything interesting.
I turned away from Cade. “You can get in.”
I heard a rustle of clothing, then a splash. Heat flooded me.
Okay, maybe this had been more the mead talking than me. Because suddenly, this was actually super intimate. I could imagine Cade so clearly, even though I hadn’t turned around.
But I had to turn around.
Right?
I did.
For a moment, I couldn’t see him. Then his head broke the surface of the water and he rose. His dark hair was slicked back from his face, and most of the blood was gone. Moonlight gleamed on his skin, and I swallowed hard.
Yep. This had been the mead’s idea. But I didn’t mind.
He pointed to my left. “There’s soap there, if you want it.”
“Um, yep.” I waded over to it, careful to keep only my shoulders visible above the water. I grabbed the soap and began to scrub up, occasionally glancing at Cade, who’d found his own bar of soap.
The trees surrounded us like sentries, the night birds chirping low. Moonlight glittered on the water and on the snow at the peaks of the mountains.
Heat grew inside me as the seconds ticked on. Finally, I was clean. I laid the bar of soap on the rock and turned to Cade. He was all the way over on the other side of the pool.
Suddenly, that was way too far.
I drifted toward him, my body buzzing. His lids dropped just slightly, a hot look that stole my breath.
Part of me thought that I’d just drift closer to get a better look at him. But the other part just kept drifting, until I was so close that I could touch him.
I couldn’t resist. I laid my hand on the slick muscles of his chest. Heat seared me.
He groaned low in his throat. “Bree.”
“Just a kiss.”
“Are you sure?”
I leaned up and kissed him, careful not to touch my body to his. If I did that, this would all be over. I’d lose any sense I had. But it didn’t matter that we only touched lips. I could feel every inch of him, like magic.
My head swam as we kissed, his lips moving expertly on mine. When his strong hands came up to grip my waist, I moaned. But he didn’t pull me toward him, keeping just enough room between us that the water could swirl. Hot images flashed in my mind—us together, doing everything there was to do.
Finally, I tore away, panting. I was too close to jumping on him, and now wasn’t the time. I wasn’t ready.
Panting, I looked up at him. The heat in his eyes burned me. “We should stop.”
He nodded, then stepped back.
I ached to watch him go, but now was not the time.
I turned so that he could climb out and gave him a few moments to get dressed.
“All clear,” he said. “I’ll meet you back at the longhouse.”
“All right.” I watched him walk down the path, then climbed out. The cool air shocked some sense into me, clearing my head.
Yeah, I’d made the right decision.
I scrubbed off with the towel, then dressed in the replica clothes. They felt just like mine, but sparked slightly with magic.
I gathered up the old clothes and towel and headed back down the path. When I reached the longhouse, it was quiet, the fire banked.
“Where’re the bedrooms?” I called out.
“There’s just the one.” Cade stepped out from behind the wicker wall to my left. Shadows cast his face in darkness.
“Big enough for two?” I asked.
“Barely.”
“That’s fine.” We’d slept together before. Though this would be different. This was after the time that we’d agreed to see where things would go between us. So that made this very different, indeed.
“I don’t mind bunking on the floor,” he said.
“No, it’s fine.” I blushed. “I’d kinda like it. A snuggle might be good.”
“Might be?” There was a smile in his voice.
“All right. It would be. Let’s go to bed.” Although heat burned low in my belly, I was too tired to take this any farther than sleep. Well, maybe not too tired. But almost too tired, and definitely too smart.
I joined him in the dark little room and shucked off my boots, socks, and jeans, then joined him in the bed. I snuggled up to his warmth, sighing at the extreme sense of rightness I felt.
This was so good.
“What did you mean about being in a dungeon when you were a kid?” The words popped out of my mouth before I’d even registered them in my brain.
He stiffened slightly, then relaxed. “I said that?”
“Yeah, in the dungeon in Svartálfar. You were clearly really bothered by it. Way more bothered than you are when you fight giant monsters single-handedly.”
He squeezed me close. “I prefer the monsters, to be honest.”
“Who put you in the dungeon?”
“My family.”
I gasped, rearing back and looking up at him. “Why?”
“They were afraid of my magic. We lived in a compound in rural Scotland. Near Inverness, just inside the Cairngorms. It was a group of supernaturals who didn’t want to be supernaturals.”
“Those exist?”
“Not in great numbers.” His voice was grim. “It was like any cult, really. And the beginning of my life was fine. They didn’t realize how strong my magic was. My mother thought I was just a shifter like her. Then they realized what I really am.”
“So they didn’t name you Belatucadros, then?”
“No. That name was given on my ninth birthday, when a seer clarified who I really am. About that time, the rest of my powers came in. My wolf grew, my speed increased. I found the shield in a field, waiting for me. I could throw it, and it would return.”
“Then what?”
“Then they threw me in the dungeon. I was too strong. I think they harbored some fantasy about bringing someone in to take my magic.”
“No!” That was terrible—I’d felt that. The Norns had shown me what it was like. “That’s the worst thing they could do to you. Like tearing your soul out.”
“In their eyes, I was already the worst thing.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “This is terrible. Did you escape?”
“I did. When I was thirteen, I was strong enough to tear the prison apart with my bare hands. I left that night, and never went back.”
“You haven’t seen your family since then?”
“Never. There’s nothing for me there but pain and misery.”
My heart ached, feeling like it was splintering in my chest. I hugged him close, trying to push warmth and caring into him. “I’m glad you left.”
“It was the only thing I could do.”