“She used you.”
“Until someone younger and more interesting came along.”
“So, that’s what started it.”
“No.” Jason shook his head. “My vice was there after the first time I shifted, and it was relatively mild until…”
“Until that day. I saw you in her office. Silas was trying to call you.”
The scene that played out in Jason’s head made his stomach turn again and a wave of exhaustion overcame him. He closed his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Why was Silas calling you that day?” She lowered herself to her knees next to the tub and folded her arms on the edge, nothing but compassion in her voice.
“Can we take a break? Plenty of time to probe my subconscious and torture me with the results later, right?” He looked at his hands in the water. The symbols she’d drawn there had washed away and turned the bath slightly red.
She didn’t waver from her goal. “Why was Silas calling you?”
“I… I’m naked. Can you hand me a towel?”
Selene raised her eyebrows and smiled roguishly. “You weren’t wearing one when I put you in there.”
“Hide your virgin eyes, woman!” he tried to tease. “Aren’t you supposed to maintain your innocence? One look at my member and you’ll be ruined for celibacy.”
The corner of her mouth twitched up. “Sorry to break it to you, but I had more than an eyeful when I was in your memories, not to mention while I was taking care of you over the last four days. I think I can control myself.”
“Four days?” Jason wiped a hand over his face.
She nodded slowly. “By the way, acolytes are celibate—they’re not necessarily virgins.”
Jason lifted an eyebrow. “Pass the popcorn, someone has a story to tell. What in the goddess’s name are you saying?”
“Tell me why Silas was calling and I’ll get you out of this tub and tell you my story.”
He took a deep breath and watched a bead of water roll down the tiled wall. There was no getting around this. She wasn’t going to let it drop. “Silas was calling to tell me… my parents had been shot. He called to tell me they were dead. Alex Bloodright shot my parents while I was fucking Jill Matthews.”
13
“Which drawer?” Selene drifted to his dresser.
“Third on the left,” Jason said. He was sitting naked on the bed, and by the way he swayed, having a hard time remaining upright.
“It’s okay if you want to lie down,” she said as she retrieved a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.
When she turned back around, he was scowling at her. “Doesn’t it bother your acolyte-ness to see me naked?”
“Like I said, most of us had lives before we joined the order. I joined at sixteen. I’ve seen a dick before.”
Jason broke out in a fit of coughing, staring at her as if deeply disturbed by her use of the worddick. Well, he could think what he wanted to. She had no intention of deceiving him into believing she was somehow better than anyone else. Selene had a past, and if Jason knew that, it might give him the hope that he too could overcome his.
She pulled his T-shirt over his head and knelt in front of him to help him into his sweats. Her cheeks grew warm when she found herself eye to eye with the male member they’d just been discussing. Nothing about Jason was average or unattractive. She stood up, trying her best to hide her body’s response to him. He finished pulling them on himself.
“Are you okay?” he said, with an impish smile. “You’re flushed.”
Rolling her eyes, she wiped the back of her hand across her sweating forehead. This would be so much easier if Jason were old or plain or smelled differently. Oh goddess, she loved his smell, an earthy concoction of warm cloves and ground chicory that seemed to ooze naturally from his pores. She looked away for a moment.
“I need something to eat and I know you do too. Can you make it to the kitchen, or do you want me to bring you something in here?”
“I can make it… with your help.” He held out a hand to her. She helped him up and they slowly made their way into the great room, where she propped him in a chair at the dining table. As she moved into the kitchen to start lunch, his silence surprised her. He gave her nothing. No teasing. No insults. No anger.
