“Uh… bye!” she exclaimed, heading out the door without looking back.
“Bye,” he replied as the door closed, feeling awkward, standing there shirtless in the room of a woman he had only just met – and who was hismate, at that.
He took a minute just to let everything sink in.
What a day.
… And no,he said to his hellhound,you can’t destroy anything in this room, no matter what the pet damage policy is.
I wasn’t going to destroy anything,his hellhound grumbled.I was going to improve it.
I’ll improveyouif you’re not careful. You don’t want to make trouble for our mate. Or for anyone.
He looked around the room, still feeling out of place in somewhere so upmarket. And it wasbig, too, or at least it seemed so to him – he was in the main room now, but the place had a separate bathroom and bedroom.He was a pretty rough-around-the-edges kind of guy, for the most part – places with art on the walls and little bags of herbal tea sitting on floral-print saucers weren’t his usual form of accommodation.
Henry couldn’t say he minded it, though. The room he was in, despite being obviously expensive, was homey and inviting, the dark green walls offset by the cream-colored ceilings, the shelves decorated with interesting trinkets. A leafy green plant crawled along the wall above the little kitchenette – he had seen a full kitchen and dining area on the way in, presumably for sharing with other guests – and there was even a welcome hamper sitting on the table, packed to the brim with all kinds of delicious-looking produce.
He peered closer at it, taking in the contents: freshly baked bread, a bottle of wine, hand-made chocolates, fruit, jars of jam and honey with hand-written labels, and a carefully wrapped package of cakes that he instantly recognized as being from Sylvie’s Sweets and Bakery.
It all smelled absolutely divine, and he took a moment to savor the aroma before remembering that this was not his hamper nor his B&B room, and he had better get himself showered before Luna returned.
He took off his shoes and entered the bathroom, which was about half the size of his apartment back home, light and airy with its white tiles and large frosted windows, offset with the green of several lush, green potted plants placed all around the room. A massive old-fashioned claw-foot bath stood in the corner, an array of ferns dangling overhead.
A small cupboard in the corner yielded up some towels, huge and fluffy and dark green, and he pulled one out, hanging it on the rack. The floormat was equally fluffy, and he resisted the urge to stand on it and scrunch his toes up in it. That could wait until after he was clean.
Taking off his pants, he reached over to turn on the shower… and paused.
It had been a really,reallylong time since he’d last had a bath.
When even had been the last time he’d taken one?
He racked his brains. It was probably at least ten years ago, now that he thought about it. His parents had had a tub, but everywhere he had lived since he moved out of home had been strictly shower-only. Dingy apartments weren’t exactly known for even these kinds of small luxuries.
His hand hovered over the shower faucet for several seconds longer.
… Ah, what the hell.
Luna had said she would be about an hour, right? Plenty of time for a quick bath. And anything that kept him from hanging around in her room was probably a good idea – it felt invasive, being in her room without her when he barely knew her.
He stepped over to the bath and turned on the faucet, the water coming out hot and strong. That was another thing he missed from when he was younger: good water pressure.
He looked around the room some more while he waited for the tub to fill. A small bottle caught his eye.
Bubble bath.
He popped open the cap and sniffed it. It wasn’t too overpowering or cloying – just a light sandalwood scent. It was nice, really. And hewasin need of a clean, having been covered in cake.
He poured in a small amount – no need to flood Luna’s bathroom with bubbles! – and then carefully put one foot into the water, hissing a little at the heat.
Slowly he eased himself down into the hot water, sighing as he lay back. The fern fronds above him swayed gently in the breeze that came through the cracked-open window, the steam swirling and eddying as it searched for an escape, the cooler air from outside contrasting deliciously with the warmth of the water.
Assuming I can ever get rid of this curse and find another job, I am definitely going to upgrade to an apartment with a bath. I don’t care what I have to give up for it. How did I go this long without one?
He closed his eyes, allowing the warm water to soothe him and take all his tension away, letting his head sink under the water briefly so that all the problems of the world were muffled and distant. Even the hellhound was quiet and relaxed, for once in its life.
It occurred to him, suddenly, that he hadn’t had any unwanted encounters with animals since he met Luna. Fillmore was being friendly, but not overly so, and besides, Fillmore had thrown himself at him before he and Luna had met.
Had the curse been lifted, somehow? He vaguely remembered stories from when he was a kid, of all the special things that came with the mate bond – a sense of when your mate was in danger, a feeling of peace and wellbeing, of knowing you’d found the one person in all the world who was meant for you. It could differ between different types of shifters, so he didn’t really know which of those he personally would experience.
