Page 81

She had subconsciously expected something bad to happen afterward. That was what she was used to.

But Nero was nothing like the people she was used to.

She turned around and embraced him. And then she realized he was still wearing clothes. She pulled back to look at him, amused. “Your—your clothes are all wet.”

He hummed wordless agreement.

She realized she hadn’t made him come yet. She’d been so preoccupied with her own body that she’d almost forgotten about his. She reached for his cock again, and found him softer than she’d expected.

He caught her hand. “No, it’s all right. I already…”

Zara blushed. “Oh.” Just from touching her?

He glanced away awkwardly. “I should… go get changed,” he said, reluctantly stepping away from her. His hand lingered on hers. “I’ll find you some clean clothes.” He waited until she nodded before he climbed out of the pool and left the room, leaving a trail of magic water behind him.

Zara sank back into the pool, feeling more relaxed than she’d felt in weeks.

Chapter 26

Nero brought Zara a new set of clothes he’d borrowed from Crow. And because he thought Zara wouldn’t mind, he didn’t look away as she climbed out of the pool and dressed.

Her bruises had all faded. But even in their faded state, they filled him with anger. The intensity of the feeling was surprising.

He was going to kill Theron.

No one deserved the kind of attacks she’d received, but there was something very wrong about the sight of bruises on her skin. She was too good for them, too powerful. Seeing her tethered in the center of the village was like seeing a dragon trapped in a cage.

He shouldn’t have left her alone in the village for so long. He should have gone back to check on her right after he’d brought Vaara home.

Zara bent to sort through the clothing, water dripping from her hair and down her back. The rest of her body was even paler than her face. She had not seen the sun often in her life. Nero’s eyes trailed upward as she stood, following the curves and angles of her body. She was beautiful—tall and strong and rounded exactly the right amount, as if she’d been sculpted that way by the gods. He hadn’t really noticed it when they’d first met, because it had been hidden under a Paladin’s cloak, but there was no part of her that wasn’t stunning.

It occurred to him that she was out of his league. He wondered, not for the first time, what had drawn someone like her to someone like him.

His gaze shifted to her backside as she pulled on Crow’s leggings. Crow was only a little smaller than Zara, and they were close enough in size that they could have shared outfits, but Crow liked her clothes to be form fitting, so on Zara they were… tight.

She turned to face him, and he sobered when he saw her expression. There was a dull, haunted look in her eyes that had not left her since they’d escaped the village together. Something in her had broken. This was her first time out of Kuda Varai and she’d been rejected by her own people in a dramatic, horrible fashion. Everyone in that village had just stood by and let this happen to her, even the innkeepers she’d been friendly with. If she’d had any hope that humans would be kinder to her than the Varai were, those hopes had been dashed.

Another wave of anger washed through him. He had the urge to go to her and hold her again—but they weren’t swept up in a convenient haze of lust anymore, and he wasn’t certain she wanted to be held by him outside of that context.

By the time they left the pool room, night was approaching, and some of the others had started to wake. It just so happened that a few of the others were present when he led Zara into the main cavern again. All conversation stopped when they entered, and everyone looked up and stared.

“What’s this?”one of them demanded. His disapproval was obvious.

“A visitor,”Nero said shortly. He waited to see if anyone would argue. No one did.

There was no leader among their group, but Nero might have carried over a bit of his sense of ownership of the group from when he’d had the bar. Most of the people here had been his regulars. They were accustomed to him doing as he pleased, even when it was different from what the rest of them would have done—which it frequently was.

He took Zara’s arm and steered her toward the exit. He could already hear the others quietly discussing them before they’d even left.

“I do not want to cause any problems,” Zara said, giving him a nervous glance.

“You’ve not caused any.”

He brought her out into the caldera, where the daylight was fading. He liked this time of day, when it was still light enough to feel like he was part of the day-walking world, but dark enough that the sunlight no longer burned his eyes.

Some of the others were already there. Crow was tending the fire pit some distance away, in the center of the space.

He heard Inaya’s giggle before he saw her. Then he felt the point of a dagger poking the back of his knee.