“Why do you think that?” Her people didn’t have shamans or prophets like that, but since he wasn’t arguing about her gift of luck, she wouldn’t question the accuracy a wolf seer’s vision. Still, she wanted to hear his response.
“Because I might well have let it happen,” Raff said softly.
“If I failed, you mean. You’re saying that you’d have let Gavriel kill you? That you’d die without me.”
Why didn’t I trust him? She might have still made the decision to go alone, but she wouldn’t have been so cold about it. Wrapping her arms about his waist, she hugged Raff tightly, silently vowing never to let him go.
He stood silent.
“Never mind, you don’t have to answer.”
Clearing his throat, he lifted her and carried her toward the bathroom; Thalia looped her arms around his neck. The hot water probably wouldn’t last long enough for them to have exhausting shower sex, but at least she could scrub away the road grime and dried blood. He turned the old-fashioned handle and stripped her down while they waited for the hot water to circulate through the elongated, ancient pipes.
“What’s with your hair?” Raff ran his fingers through the short bob and sniffed. “Smells like chemicals.”
“The dye will rinse out. Growing it again will take some time.”
“I’ve got plenty,” he said, backing her into the stone shower stall with his body.
With the door shut, it was crowded, but Thalia loved the way it felt, slipping against his strong, wet body. Raff washed her first, and she didn’t think he was trying to be seductive, but his hands on her felt so good that she wanted more. Teasing, he lingered on her belly, and she marveled that he always remembered the little details.
She braced her hands on his chest and closed her eyes, splaying her thighs a little more, but he didn’t touch her there. No, he was brisk in washing everywhere else, including meticulous attention to scrubbing away the color from her hair. By the time he finished, the water was lukewarm, and he nudged her toward the door.
“I’ll finish up quickly. Wait for me in bed.”
Outside the steamy bathroom, their chamber was chilly enough to raise goose bumps on her damp, bare skin. Sometimes she swore the stones held an age of extra chill and that inside the fortress, it was colder than the spring day allowed. She dove under the covers and burrowed in. Her wet hair would probably be a mess later, but she didn’t care.
Only her eyes and the top of her head were visible when Raff came out a couple of minutes later. The pale towel wrapped around his hips contrasted deliciously with the brown of his skin, and she wanted to lick up the water beading on his chest. She followed him with her eyes, until he came to her.
“You’re like ice,” she chided.
“Warm me up?”
He wasn’t asking for an apology, but she owed him one nonetheless. “I’m sorry I got angry about what you said regarding Eldritch children. I’ve had a chance to think about it, and you’re right. Some of our customs are terrible. That’s one of the first changes I’ll make.”
“No more Noxblades?” Raff asked in evident surprise.
“There will be updates to the training timetable anyway and we’ll wait until the candidates are old enough to consent.”
“Beautiful and wise,” he whispered, nuzzling at her ear.
Thalia turned her face toward his mouth like a flower seeking the sun, and she melted when his lips parted so she could taste him. The kiss went nuclear so fast; he was hungry, in a way he never had been before. His lips told of need and want, and each stroke of his tongue gliding deeper into her mouth filled her with the heady rush of desire.
Raff was already hard, and she smiled as she pulled back, remembering that awkward first time that never quite took off. Now she never needed to wonder if he wanted her; he didn’t try to hide it. He pulled her on top of him, yielding dominance with a little growl of invitation.
“You’ve claimed me. Will you savor your prize?”
Grinning, she shook her head. “Would you be offended if I had you hard and fast?”
“Not this time. Feels like it’s been forever since I touched you.”
Still, she reveled in straddling him, feeling the slide of his hard cock against her ass as she dug her nails into his hairy chest. He hissed a breath, a curse, then lifted his hips. It would’ve been cruel to tease either of them further when she’d already gotten so turned on in the shower, even if he hadn’t meant it as foreplay. Thalia rose up, held his shaft still, and sank down with a luxurious sound. He jerked and arched, before getting a hold of himself. From his expression, she might be torturing him instead of preparing for a wild ride.
“Good?”
“Fuck,” he said.
Could’ve been a curse or a request—either way, Thalia started to move, her eyes slipping half closed at the delicious tension rising in her lower belly. Hot friction, the quick rise and fall of her hips. Impossible to be anything but selfish, moving so that her pleasure spiked higher and higher, but from the way he twisted and moaned beneath her, it was feeling great for him too. She caressed his chest, his shoulders, ran her fingers through his hair and touched his lower lip to feel the soft gulps of breath he couldn’t hold.
“You’re so hot,” he whispered. “Burning me up. I should’ve beat one out in the bathroom first. Last longer.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. It means you couldn’t wait and that you had to have me.”
“Fucking true,” Raff grunted.
She could watch his face all day, the way his head fell back when she dropped down, the way his mouth opened on a silent
