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“Not a damn chance.”

She finished my hair up a few minutes later, and we slipped out of my room. Namir was still in the hallway, still wearing the same pair of pants, still messy and dirty.

I’d thought he was going to take a shower, not sit outside while the dirt continued soaking into his skin.

A sigh escaped me.

He really wasn’t going to wash up unless I went down to his room with him, was he?

That gave me only one choice, I supposed.

“We’ll meet you there in a few minutes,” I told Lavee, grabbing Namir’s arm and steering him toward his room as we reached the bottom of the stairs together. “The king needs to change, and deodorize.”

She snorted. “Yes ma’am.”

After a quick wink, she headed for the training room while Namir and I strode through the thick shadows at the entrance to his space. The shadows closed behind us, leaving us alone together.

“Are you telling me I stink, female?” The king’s voice was playful, and genuine.

“Yes.” I tossed him a scowl. “You shouldn’t have stayed in the forest for so long.”

“You shouldn’t have either.”

Our gazes were locked, both of us serious and slightly angry.

I finally looked away, tossing a hand toward the bathroom. “Wash up, so we can start training. Stars know I’m going to need it.”

He slipped away from me, wispy shadows rippling through the air after him as he headed into the bathroom.

There was no way he was actively making them do that, which meant he was probably a little out of control. Or if not out of control, then just…

Reacting?

Wild?

Tired?

I wasn’t sure what was going on with him honestly, but I had never seen his shadows moving without him directly using them before.

My gaze lingered after him.

Something was wrong with him, or for him.

We had disagreed, but that didn’t mean I wanted him hurting.

He was still my friend, and he was still my mate.

So I strode into the bathroom after him, just as he stepped inside the shower, completely naked. There was no door to his shower, just an opening and a fancy-looking slab of rock separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom.

My eyes tracked his ass; it was tight, and strong, and really fucking sexy.

I still hadn’t seen him naked, and the urge to do so hit me hard in that moment.

Pushing it away, I stepped up to the opening in the shower. Namir faced away from me, his gorgeous ass staring shamelessly at me.

I stretched my shadows toward him, filling the air lightly to let him know I was there.

His muscles relaxed when my shadows slid over his skin, his head tilting back as the water rained down on his face.