Chapter Five
Baralt felt his chest tighten as Isabel put her hand in his, small and impossibly soft. She had tiny blunt claws, as defenseless as the rest of her body, but she had the spirit of a fighter. The feel of her skin against his started to reawaken his lust, but he focused on the ache in his knee rather than the ache in his kotra.
He pulled her gently to her feet and watched in concern as she swayed.
“Are you all right?”
“Just a little dizzy.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I think the heat got to me.”
“This is why you have changed color?” He dared to brush his hand along her arm, indicating the red glow beneath her golden skin. As delicate as his touch had been, she winced. “Did I hurt you?”
“It’s not you. It’s the sunburn.”
“You were burned by the sun?” he asked in horror. He hadn’t realized the full consequences of naked skin. It was a terrible price to pay for such silky softness. “Should I fetch a healer?”
She shuddered. “No. I’ve been examined once, and I don’t want to repeat that process. You mentioned a bath. Some cool water would feel good.” She took another step and swayed again. “I should probably drink some more as well.” Those blunt little teeth closed down on a full bottom lip. “Thank you for making the guard give me some water.”
Yes, of course she would be dehydrated. He had made sure that she was provided with suitable food and drink while she was in the slave quarters—he should not have forgotten to attend to her needs now that she was with him.
“I will bring you some,” he promised as he lifted her into his arms, holding her carefully in front of him this time. He should not have thrown her over his shoulder like one of his barbarian ancestors, yet he couldn’t regret the feel of her deliciously wet cunt against his hand. He sternly suppressed his immediate physical response to the memory.
“What are you doing? Put me down!” Her reaction occurred a fraction too late, but as soon as she realized that he was carrying her off, she started to struggle.
“I am taking you to the bath. You can barely stand, let alone walk.”
His calm voice seemed to penetrate, and she stopped struggling, looking up at him with suspicious eyes.
“I will not hurt you,” he found himself promising.
“Why should I believe you?” She sounded more resigned than angry, but he found his own anger increasing. What had happened to her that she had such a hard time trusting his word?
“A Hothian never breaks his word,” he said truthfully. “A verbal vow is as much of a contract as a written document.”
She snorted, but her body relaxed a little as he entered the bathing room and paused to adjust the temperature. As he began to walk down the steps into the pool, she protested again.
“I don’t need any help taking a bath.”
“You were too dizzy to stand. I am not going to take a chance on you falling into the water.”
“You’re going to get all wet.”
“Good. I told you that I needed cleansing also.” Normally he would have rinsed his fur before entering, but he had no desire to put her down while he did so, and he was concerned that the spray might be too much for her delicate skin. He shook his head as he realized that his protective instincts were in full force. This was not how he had envisioned spending his time with the little human, yet as he settled into the water, he was filled with a curious contentment.
Izzie hissed as the water covered her sunburned skin when Baralt sat down on a bench beneath the surface of the pool, still holding her cradled against his chest. He had adjusted the water so it was barely warm, but even the slight amount of warmth was almost too much to take. She started to pull away, but he only held her more firmly.
“Let go of me, damn it.” She tried to struggle, but it was like being enclosed in a soft but utterly inescapable hug. Unlike the chains, this felt as much protective as confining. As soon as she stopped fighting, his arms loosened.
“Not yet. The water will help to soothe your skin.” He ran a very cautious finger down her arm again, and she realized that the claws she had seen in the arena had retracted. Just as well considering where else his hand had been.
“Your skin is so soft and bare,” he continued. “How do your people defend themselves?”
“With weapons.” She hesitated, remembering the fights she had witnessed. “Do you always fight without weapons?”
He shrugged, settling back against the edge of the pool, and she did her best to ignore the tantalizing sensation of all those hard muscles rippling beneath her body. She didn’t want to respond to an alien, no matter how kind he was being now.
“It is the only true test of a warrior’s skills. We do have weapons, of course, and many warriors take pride in their skill with them, but this is true combat.”
“You’re very good at it. How long have you been fighting?”
He didn’t answer immediately, and she felt his body stiffen.
“My people have always been a warrior race,” he said eventually. “Even as cubs, we challenge each other, but it is to learn rather than to injure. I did not understand that other races treated combat differently. I have been paying for that mistake ever since.”
He spoke with a finality that prevented her from asking any more questions. Instead, she found herself relaxing against him. The water did help to soothe the painful burn. Extending a long arm, he retrieved a bottle of water for each of them from a nearby niche in the wall, and that, too, helped.
They sat in silence as the water swirled gently around them, and the little clusters of lights on the ceiling seemed to dim. The scent of
