Page 195 of Bitten & Burned

“Positive?”

“That cat is a phoeline. He’ll be fine. Remember back at Halemont? He’s a fighter. He’s going to be fine. He’ll miss you, but… ” He cleared his throat and looked up at the cave ceiling.

Only then did I realize I’d been arguing about my cat while completely nude.

“Quil. Come on. You can look.”

“Rowena… you’re injured.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t have breasts.”

“Rowena.” His voice cracked on my name, low and pained—the kind of pained that made an unshakable smile tug at my lips.

“Don’t be such a gentleman,” I teased.

“Believe me, I’m not.”

“Not what I saw. You were a perfect gentleman with my father.”

“Don’t… talk about your father now…”

“But seriously, you know how to do all the courtly things, don’t you?”

“Yes. But I had to learn. My parents were going to marry me to some girl from an influential family in the Pines. To do that, I had to know how to mind my manners. Clean up. Dance.”

“Dance?” I squeaked.

“Yes, dance. It’s part of being courtly.”

“I know, but you?Dancing?”

“Rowena… later. Right now? Get in the water. You’re…” He glanced down my frame and back up to my eyes. “Naked.”

“Quil, please. Will you get in with me?”

He frowned, glancing between the spring, me, and back to the spring again. “Just… what? Undress and get in the water with you?”

“Yes, after you help me sit down because my joints and muscles ache. Please come sit with me. Sit close so I know you’re there.”

“You can see me from there. You’ll know I’m still with you.”

“Quil, please…” I poked out my bottom lip.

He sighed heavily, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and yanked it over his head.

“Really? That worked?”

“Apparently.”

“Hmm. Seems like I could do some damage with only my bottom lip.”

“You could do damage with only your pinky,” Quil said.

I averted my gaze when he got to his trousers. If he could be a gentleman, I could be a lady. No matter how much I wanted to run my hands over his chest. Arms. Stomach. Everywhere.

I might be hurting, but I wasn’t dead.

He stepped up behind me, taking my hands to help me into the spring. Then he waded in after me, and together we sank into the water.