“He’s j-just w-worried about you,” I muttered, my teeth chattering so much I feared I’d bite my tongue off. “W-Why are y-you freezing y-yourself t-to death?” Wrapping my arms around my waist, I hunched as much as I could. At least the plunge pool wasn’t deep. At least I didn’t have to swim.
“You don’t get to ask questions,” he snapped. “Answer mine. Why. Are. You. Here?”
“H-He brought me.”
“And you thought that meant you could trespass in the dead of night?”
I scowled, another bone-rattling shiver working down my spine. “H-He d-didn’t e-exactly give m-me a c-choice.” I pointed with a sodden, heavy arm at his depressed panther, now plastering himself against the rock. “B-Blame him. Not m-me.”
“Your teeth chattering is insanely annoying.” Swooping to his feet from where he sat on the submerged seat, he waded toward me, scooped me like a bride in his frigid arms, and carried me toward the edge.
Every part of me froze, woke up, and sizzled.
His body was unnaturally hot, as if his blood was on fire beneath his skin. Warmth curled off him in waves, soaking into my frozen flesh that had nothing to do with the fact he held me half-naked, tight against his chest, clutching me as if Imeantsomething.
Our eyes locked and he hissed through his teeth.
My fingers found his shoulders out of reflex, clutching at slick, rock-hard muscle. Muscle I’d massaged. Muscle that was riddled with knots.
His bare skin felt like searing silk.
The cold water almost turned to steam around us. My night clothes clung to me, satin and lace plastering to every inch of my curves. Even numb from the cold water, I could feel everything about him—the ridges of his abdominals, the jagged rhythm of his breath, the raw, unnatural heat radiating from his chest into mine.
He lowered me onto the edge of the pool. His forehead brushed mine, barely a touch as he settled me on dry land, but it sent an electrical shock through my entire body.
His voice was hoarse as he planted his hands on either side of my dripping thighs, gripping the pool edge. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“W-What h-happened to you?” I caught the glint of red on my fingers—the hand that’d wrapped around his back for purchase. “Y-You’re b-bleeding?”
“Go change.” He arched a chin at the changing rooms hidden in another wall of flowers and ferns. “Any longer and you’ll get frostbite.” His lips twitched. “And there’s no one in here who can help you if you do. I certainly won’t.”
“B-But—”
Grabbing my hand streaked with his blood, he wiped his wet one over it, removing any evidence of his injury. “Go.”
The cold seeped past my skeleton into my very soul. “I-I don’t t-think I c-can m-move.”
His eyes dove into mine, piercing and full of disdain, yet beneath his familiar look of frustrated hate, I caught a glimpse of nervousness.
He glanced at my lips, his jaw clenching.
The ferocity of his stare woke something powerful and feral trapped deep within me. Every breath we took seemed to sync, each exhale a little faster, shallower, as the night webbed us tighter together. Whatever he’d ignited within me clawed to get free, to touch him, know him,helphim—
His hand suddenly came up—hesitant and shaking. Without a word, he brushed wet, heavy hair from my cheek, his fingers scorching me.
I gasped.
He ripped his hand back as if he hadn’t meant to touch me. As if he’d reached out against all his control. “Go,” he ordered.
His voice was as arctic as the water but his eyes...
They held an ocean of secretive things. Wanting things. Hungry things.
All it took was a single stare full of chaos and confusion—one hint that he wasaffected—to fling me explosively to my feet.
His eyebrows rose as he looked up.
His hair clung to his forehead, droplets racing down his neck, and rivuleting over the silver disc in his chest. The red light had stopped blinking, a green light replacing it, flickering dimly with his pulse.
