“All clean,” he said at last. “Time to get out.”
Lifting her out of the tub as easily as he had put her in, he stood Ellina up and toweled her off completely. Then he slipped a soft, clean white nightdress over her head and picked her up again and took her to bed.
He tucked her in between the sheets and leaned down to kiss her forehead, just above her third eye. The gesture was so like what something Guffin, her old guard, would have done, that Ellina felt something give way inside her.
“Wait…” She reached for his arm as he started to turn away. “Wait please, Ty.”
He turned back, looking down at her, a tender expression in his pale eyes which were vivid blue tonight.
“Yes, my Lady?”
“Don’t go,” Ellina begged, not caring if her plea sounded undignified. “Stay with me tonight. Hold me.”
Ty frowned slightly.
“You know that isn’t proper, Ellina. No one but the Potentate’s consort may sleep in her bed. I may be an off-worlder but even I know that.”
“None of what we did just now was proper,” Ellina pointed out. “Please, Ty…” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. I’m afraid…afraid I might have nightmares. About the Grand Promenade.”
His expression softened.
“Very well, little one. If you really want me to.”
“I do. Please.” Ellina tugged eagerly…pleadingly on his arm. “Come to bed with me,” she whispered. “Come hold me.”
“How can I resist?” Ty’s usually piercing eyes were gentle and his voice was soft.
And then he was sliding between the sheets with her and gathering her into his arms. Ellina pressed her body against the long, hard length of his and pillowed her face against his chest. His arms around her felt like safety…felt like home, and the deep, masculine spice of his scent filled her senses, bringing peace and security with it.
They didn’t speak, he only held her and that was all right because it was exactly what she needed.
Ellina heaved a deep, contented sigh. Safe…she was safe at last.
Finally, she fell into a dreamless sleep and whether it was the big Kindred’s warm, spicy fragrance surrounding her or the feeling of his arms holding her close, no nightmares came to disturb her all night long.
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Wake up, Ty! Wake up! It’s late and we’ve overslept. The ministers will be here soon and if they see you coming out of my bed chamber…”
Ellina didn’t finish the sentence—she didn’t have to. Ty knew exactly what the stuffy, self-important ministers who took up most of Ellina’s mornings with their proclamations and policies would think if the saw her off-worlder bodyguard sneaking out of her bed chamber.
They’ll jump to the obvious conclusion—that we slept together.
Which was true, but only in the sense that they really had slept in each other’s arms. Or rather, Ellina had slept in his.
He shouldn’t have done it—shouldn’t have stayed the night in her bed. But she had seemed so fragile last night—so wounded, he thought, throwing her a worried glance. He couldn’t resist holding her close and feeling her small, soft body cuddled against his much larger one. It just felt right to have her in his arms, somehow.
Thank the Goddess, she seemed better this morning. But he wouldn’t be surprised if she had flashbacks of yesterday’s assassination attempt for years to come—it had been an awful experience for her. And it was even worse to know that someone wanted her dead and was willing to go to almost any lengths to kill her.
I won’t let that happen, he swore to himself fiercely. I’ll keep her safe no matter what it takes! And I’m going to find the bastard who was behind planning yesterday’s attack.
Indeed, he had plans to start the hunt for the guilty party today, while Ellina stayed safely in her apartments with her councilors and ministers. Ty had already checked them thoroughly and knew she was all right with them, plus he had both Kindred and Chorkay guards posted outside her door. So while she worked on matters of state, he intended to work on tracking down the bastard who had tried to kill her…
They got dressed quickly and got out of the bed chamber just as a knock sounded at the front door of the apartment. Quickly, Ty took up a position to one side of the fireplace while Ellina sat on the couch with a bundle of papers—the latest proposals her ministers had asked her to look over for their morning meeting.
They looked perfectly natural, Ty thought, when the head guard stuck his head in and said, “Excuse me, Your Majesty, but the High Priest of Thufar is here to—”
But he didn’t get to finish because Lord Kikbax was already elbowing his way into the room impatiently.
“Hurry up!” he said to Ty. “You must come now—the egg is about to hatch.”
“What in the Seven Hells are you talking about? What egg?” Ty stayed where he was, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the Chorkay priest. He didn’t trust Kikbax and he wasn’t about to leave Ellina’s side.
“Your chewchie egg, of course!” The High Priest sounded exasperated. “By Chorkay law, an off-worlder who saves the life of the Goddess in the Flesh must be granted a chewchie of his own and yours is about to hatch!”
“What? But I don’t want a chewchie.” Ty put up his hands in gesture of refusal. “I mean, the Potentate’s little fellow is nice enough,” he said, nodding at Lor who was sitting up on Ellina’s head and looked at her alertly. “But I don’t want one of my own.”
“Oh, you can’t refuse!” Ellina looked shocked. “I
