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And an overwhelming sense of comfort.

At night, after Alder’s beast form crouched low enough for her to slide to the ground, he would transform back into himself and tend to her injury. They hardly spoke, especially with so many traveling companions, and she didn’t say another word about all he’d shared. And so the truth became a mounting fire between them, given hot coals every day they traveled, every day she climbed onto his back, every day he carried her forward upon his steady, powerful legs.

Seph hadn’t realize they’d reached Velentis until she opened her eyes and found herself lying on the massive bed in her bedchamber. Of course, it took her a moment to place where she was—especially since she’d never actually slept on that bed—but she eventually recognized the furnishings and the constant thrum of water. Embers glowed in the hearth, a lantern burned beside her bed, and her hair was damp. Not with sweat, but damp as if someone had washed it. Her clothes had also been replaced by a thin nightdress made of soft white linen, embroidered with golden enchantments all along the hem and long sleeves. The neck scooped wide and low over her unbound breasts, and the idea that someone had undressed and bathed her sent a wash of heat through her body.

Her bandage was gone too.

She sat up to get a better feel of it, then slid her hand over her shoulder and beneath the neckline. The muscles around the wound were still tender, but where the incision had been now only a bump of puckered skin existed.

Impossible,she thought.

Feeling the sudden itch to move, Seph pushed back her covers and slid out of bed. The floor was cool beneath her bare feet but not unpleasant. She padded to the window, and she was just gazing out of it, at the veils of falling water, when she heard her door open.

Seph glanced back as Alder stepped through. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of him.

He hadn’t noticed her yet, as if he’d expected her to still be sleeping. He’d changed his clothing as well, and was wearing dark and fitted breeches, tall black boots, and a long steel-gray tunic embroidered in emerald greens. The upper ties of his tunic were left casually undone, exposing a bit of his chest, and his black hair was a tousled mop of perfection.

The setting felt overwhelmingly intimate, especially in her nightdress, and Seph’s pulse raced.

Alder carried a flagon in one hand, and in the other, he carried two cups carved out of animal horns, and he used his elbow to close the door. He turned and took two steps toward the bed before realizing she wasn’t in it. His gaze slid to her standing at the window, and he stopped in his tracks.

Goddess divine, he was beautiful.

His eyes pierced her from across the room, seeming to take in all of her being in that once glance, and Seph’s cheeks burned hot.

“Well, your color’s improved, at least,” Alder said simply, as if he had no earthly idea the effect he had on her. He started slowly forward. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you,” she said quietly. Her voice was raw from misuse, and she coughed on a tickle. “I was wondering who, erm, that is—” She glanced down at herself.

He set the flagon on her small table. “You were wondering who bathed you…?”

“Yes.”

“Sienne helped me,” he said, setting the cups beside the flagon. “She would have done it herself, but she needed another set of hands. You’re quite violent when you’re unconscious. You nearly broke my nose.” He gave her a lopsided grin that made him appear reckless and boyish, and Seph’s heart fluttered hopelessly.

“I…I’m sorry,” Seph replied lamely.

“It’s not as if you meant to.” He smirked. “Or did you…?”

Seph opened her lips to say something smart, as had been their usual pattern, but her thoughts were still slow, and he was so handsome, so she ended up staring at him like a besotted idiot instead.

Alder cleared his throat and glanced away as he poured the contents from the flagon into each of the horned cups. He grabbed them both and approached her. “It’s just water,” he said, holding out one of the cups.

“Thank you.” She took the cup from his hands and lifted it to her lips like a shield, finding it very difficult to look at him again.

“I’ve made you uncomfortable, haven’t I?” Alder said after a moment. “I swear to the Fates that Sienne was there the entire time?—”

“Oh. It’s not that. Not at all. I trust you.” Those last words came out of her mouth as a surprise. She hadn’t meant to say them, but in speaking them, she realized they were true. Shedidtrust him. Completely. Seph lowered the cup and licked her lips. “I…well, the only people who have ever seen me…undressed…are my mama and sisters. So.” She ignored the fire licking up her neck and looked to the window as she added, “I’m just a little embarrassed.”

“Ah.” He stood quiet for so long that she dared a peek at him. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but then he averted his eyes and dragged his palm across the back of his neck. His gaze caught on the second cup, which he seemed to remember was in his hand, and he drained it completely.

“Thank you for carrying me, Alder,” Seph said. “Thank you for…everything.”

His eyes found hers again, and the warmth in them set a hundred butterflies loose in her stomach. “I am honored to do it.”

Seph missed sarcastic Alder, because she didn’t know what to do with the serious one. It felt like the ground was being pulled from under her feet. She lifted the goblet and took a small sip, more to give herself something to do—a distraction while she gathered her composure.

“Is your ability to transform into an animal very common?” she asked after a moment.