Sadness pierced my heart. Not for the first time today, but differently.
I had told him I would be a light for him. Someone he could trust. And I’d betrayed him so thoroughly, he believed the most intimate moment of my life had been an act on my part.
Gods damn it, I was right. We didn’t just break each other’s trust. We shattered it. Nothing can fix this.
“Swim with me.”
I blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
A playfulness I hadn’t seen in weeks teased his shadowed mouth. “I find myself in desperate need of a swim in icy water. Join me. Or go back and wait for a boat.”
My jaw dropped as he turned and sauntered into the water, his clothes thrown over one shoulder.
He flashed a grin at me when the water reached his waist.
“You know I don’t swim very well!” I called out to him.
“You won’t have to,” he called back. He waded across the river and tossed his clothes on the other bank. Then he dove underwater, headed for me.
I glanced around nervously. No one in sight. And I really didn’t want to wait for the mourners. Perhaps that was selfish of me, but I wanted a respite from the heavy grief.
Trying not to think too much about it, I slid off my boots and socks.
Aiden resurfaced close to me. He raked back his wet hair, water cascading over his muscled torso.
“Don’t look,” I commanded.
He pressed his lips together, no doubt thinking of how I’d already gotten a few eyefuls of him. And he knew my body, perhaps even more intimately than I knew his. But he turned around without complaint.
My fingers trembled as I undid my pants and shirt. I’d found Mother’s knife before the funeral and tucked it in Nikella’s saddlebag for safekeeping.
I was unarmed for the first time in a long time.
I hesitated before also removing my breast band and underwear. I’d hate to hunt down dry ones after this.
Clutching everything to my chest, I slowly tiptoed into the water that seemed to attack my skin with a thousand icy needles.
“F-Fucking Four, that’s cold,” I squealed.
“You’ll warm up,” Aiden said, his back still turned, his eyes on the stars.
“L-Liar.”
His deep chuckle actually did warm me a bit, but in a place the water didn’t reach.
My skin tightened as I waded deeper and deeper. The frigid river took my breath away. I tried to keep my clothes out of the water, but it was now up to my chest.
The heavy paste Nikella had put on the cut across my back softened and loosened, but I didn’t care. The cold water dulled any pain the paste uncovered.
I drew even with Aiden, who glanced down at me. Then farther down.
His jaw tightened. “Allow me.” He stole my clothes and waded to the other side.
I frowned and looked down.Oh.
Even though the water covered them, my breasts were still visible, like little moons in the river. And my nipples were as hard as arrow tips.
Biting my lip, I sank into the water.
