“What do you think?”Alaric asked, pride in his tone.
“It’s…beautiful.” Heat blazed in my cheeks.
He canted his head.“Why do you not sound happy?”
There was no way around it. May as well confess. “I never learned how to swim.”
His brow furrowed.“So, when I discovered you at the lake—”
“I was on the verge of being eaten or drowning.”
His broad chest puffed.“It was a good thing I was there.”
There he went again, reminding me of how he’d saved me. Though this time, he’d done so with less of a domineering growl. Strangely, the dragon had been far more civil since the bargain we’d struck, the two of us forging an odd sort of truce.
“The pool is shallow and clear near the edge, with a few branches in the deep end,”he explained patiently.“You’ve no cause for concern. I will make sure you remain safe.”
I gazed at it with longing, wanting to believe him, my skin itching for a nice long soak. “Very well.”
“While you get ready, I will heat up your bath.”
Before I could question his intent, the dragon raised his head. Chest glowing with an inner light, he unleashed his flames at the body of water. I gasped, nearly falling back on my ass while steam skated over the surface.
Holy nerf dung. That was a handy trick.
Though filled with trepidation, I sat on a smooth rock near the edge and proceeded to remove everything I wore from the waist down. Dressed in only a filthy oversized shirt, I turned to the dragon. “Okay. I’m ready.”
He shuffled close to the edge.“Step in here. I’ll stay close.”
“Okay.” I dipped a toe, finding the temperature pleasant enough.
Once I’d waded in, the dragon let his tail drop into the pool, forming a barrier between me and the deep end. With Alaric on guard, my tension eased, and I dunked my head under to wet my hair.
I groaned, wiping water from my eyes. “By the goddess, that’s nice.”
The shirt I wore tangled around my arms, the fabric transparent. Now that I was submerged in cloudy water up to my shoulders, modesty was less of a priority.
I shucked off the clingy cloth, twisted it to squeeze out the excess water, then draped it over a rock on the stony bank. Next to the edge was a basket filled with an assortment of soaps and bottles. “May I use this?”
“Go ahead. Myrna delivered them for you this morning.”
The dragon rested his head on his foreleg, averting his eyes. Such a gentleman. My opinion of my scaled captor rose a bit. The gift worked to soften me as well. Then again, perhaps he did it to protect his sensitive nose from my stench.
“Your wounds have barely left a scar,”he said to the wall.
Given the glimpse he’d just stolen? Gentleman? Ha! I ducked lower in the water, casting him a disapproving glare, before reassessing my situation. What did it matter if he’d seen far too much of me? We were completely different species, after all. Sebastian had seen me undressed more times than I could count. It wasn’t as if Alaric wore clothing himself. In fact, he was as naked as I was at the moment.
At the thought of the dragon in a shirt and pants, a chuckle rolled up my chest.
“What?”he asked.
“Nothing.” I poured a creamy concoction into my palm and massaged it into my hair, satisfied when it created a rich lather. Delicate floral notes filled my senses, and I groaned.
“You’ve not mentioned your family. Only the shepherd.”
Feeling rather pleased with the dragon and the luxurious bath, I couldn’t see the harm in sharing the truth. “That’s because I don’t have one other than Speck. When I was seven, a family found me in the woods alone with no memory of who I was or how I had gotten there. They took me in for a while, but with so many of their own children to feed, they soon decided to sell me to the high ruler.” My chest ached at the reminder. It was the second time I’d been abandoned.
“They sold you?”The accusation emerged with a low growl.
