Page 85

Then I will help you get home, I think to her.As soon as you help me.

She slowly turns her head and looks at me. Tears have made her eyes wet and she blinks them away, her posture stiffening, becoming royal and composed again.

“I thought you might like a bath,” I say, putting the barrel down, plus the sheets and soap. “If all goes well, I have dinner waiting for you upstairs. A whole damn fish all for you.”

Her eyes light up now. I knew the way to her heart was through her stomach.

“What do you say?” I ask. “How about you let me bathe you while you tell me what you think about my proposition?”

That shine in her eyes grows hard. “How about you free me?” she asks. The chain garbles her words but I still understand her and I always understand her tone.

“It would be foolish of me to do that when the first thing you’ll do is attack me. Perhaps I’m not as smart as those you’ve accompanied in royal circles, but I do know when a scene is doomed to repeat itself.”

She doesn’t say anything to that because she knows it would be a lie. But she does appear to relent a little. She gives me a slight nod.

I go over to her and pick her up so that she’s on her feet. She’s unsteady with her legs bound together and I figure at least I could loosen those for her. I bend down to untie them, keeping my focus on her face even though her breasts are largely in the way, until her legs are free.

“If you try and run you won’t get far,” I warn her. “I know you did earlier but the only reason I didn’t catch you is because the skeleton crew caught you first. Believe it or not I watched the whole thing, the way you hung from that net. You were never in any real danger, Maren, I was always right there.”

She gives me a look of disbelief. I don’t expect her to believe me, but the moment I saw she was trapped, I stayed hidden in the bushes and followed them all the way back to the ship, planning for when I’d climb aboard and rescue her and Sedge. Though I suppose I’m not much of a rescuer if I’m keeping her hostage still.

I quickly crouch and scoop her up into my arms and she lets out a gasp of surprise. I carry her over to the barrel and then with my hands taking a firm grip of her soft waist, I lower her into the tub.

She winces slightly as her shirt billows around her, the water splashing over the sides of the barrel until it’s just barely covering her breasts.

“I know it’s cold but at least it’s clean,” I tell her. “And it’s water. I figured that would be something you’re missing. Raise your arms.”

She stares at me for a moment with round, unsure eyes and I gesture for her to do it. She hesitates, then puts her arms straight up above her and I reach down to the hem of her shirt, pulling up over her chest and shoulders and head until the whole shirt is gathered at her wrists. I could take it off entirely but that would involve undoing her wrist restraints, and even though her hands and fingernails look normal at the moment, I don’t trust those claws near my heart.

There has to be some sort of metaphor in that.

Naturally she’s completely naked now and my attention goes to her gorgeous breasts, her nipples hard pink and breaking through the surface. I raise my gaze to meet her eyes and even with the chain in her mouth I can tell she’s smirking at me. Either she likes that I’m admiring her body, or she thinks this is typical of me. Perhaps both.

I clear my throat and adjust my cock in my breeches, hard as iron and begging for release, then I pick up the soap. I wet it in the water, sensually rubbing my thumb over the bar again and again, creating a lather, and she’s watching me do it with heat in her eyes. I know it reminds her of what my hands can do to her most delicate parts. Even submerged in water I can still smell her arousal.

With my gaze locked on her eyes I bring the soap up between her breasts, then glide it over her collarbones and shoulders, taking my time to wet her skin and wash her inch by inch. Her eyelids flutter closed.

“Have you had enough time to think about my proposition?” I ask her, my voice thick.

Her breath hitches while I slide the soap back down over her breasts, teasing her nipples with it, but she doesn’t say anything.

“I could do it right here,” I say to her, and just the thought of sinking my teeth into her neck causes lightning in my veins. “I’ll be as gentle as I’m being right now. You won’t even notice.”

I bring the soap down into the water, smoothing it over her skin, down, down, between her legs, my arm fully submerged. I rub the soap against her in the same rhythmic motion I was doing earlier and her legs start to quiver, her breath quickening.

A low moan sounds from her throat and I take the soap away, using it as leverage. She gives me a dirty look, to which I smile. “Answer the question and I’ll continue.”

She thinks about that for a moment, her brows knitting together. Then she shakes her head. “No,” she says.

Figures. “No, you don’t want me to feed from you?”

Her gaze tightens on mine. Yes, that’s exactly what she’s saying.

“Alright,” I say with a sigh. “If that’s the way you want to do this. Either I feed from you, or everyone does.”

She balks, the water splashing. “You’re cruel,” she manages to say angrily.

“I’m giving you a choice, Maren. Chooseme,” I implore. “Why can’t you trust me?”