I ran my fingers through my hair, not understanding this bizarre allure the barbaric brute had managed to grip me with—and it was definitely there now that I was paying attention.
He’d been right before. The sex yesterday had pointed out the major flaw I’d had with myslightcuriosity about other men.
But this?
I wasn’t even sure if I was attracted to the shifter. Yet he wascharmingin the weirdest Fae fucking way that had my head spinning in circles.
Nevertheless, I pointed at his dangling bits. “My housekeeperwill be here soon. You’re going to scare her off with that.”
Bishop snorted and looked down at himself. “You mean my cock and balls? If this scares her, she needs to get out more. I’m Fae damned freezing right now, and that is never a good look.”
My lips twitched. “You know what I mean.” I tipped my chin up at the spiral staircase. “Get washed up, so we can go.”
He sighed and muttered, “I already took a bath.”
“That, out there, is not a bath, shifter,” I repeated myself. “Not here in the Elf Kingdom. Use soap and a washcloth and scrub your body so you don’t smell like a pond all day longin the bathtub upstairs.”
Bishop scowled and turned to leave but paused with a wrinkled brow. “Do you have any bubbles for the bath? King Athon mentioned these delightful bubbles Princess Trixie gave him from the Merfolk Kingdom. I thought I might try them.”
Visions of a gorilla tossing bubbles all over my bathroomalmoststayed my tongue…but I scrunched my nose and mumbled, “Top shelf.But use them sparingly.” This would be a test to see if the shifter could behave himself. “A little goes a long way.”
He nodded once and left to do as told, strangely not arguing with me further, simply obeying my dictate.
As I eventually sipped my tea at the kitchen table, I kept a close ear out for the sounds of a rowdy gorilla wrecking my pristine bathroom. After the pond debacle, I wouldn’t put it past him.
The man would need to be watched.
I sighed in relief when he showed up not long after I’d finished my first cup of tea, his hair wet and his white flowing shirt from yesterday sticking to his damp skin and showing off his dark chest hair. I asked casually, “What inn are you staying at? If you want to change into different clothes, we can stop on our way.”
Bishop slowly blinked and shook his head. “I didn’t bring much with me. I wasn’t planning to stay long.”
Placing my cup in the sink, I questioned bluntly, “You were tasked to spy on me, I take it?”
“Precisely so.” The shifter didn’t look at all repentant. “The assignment’s gone a little sideways on me, though.”
I snorted hard. “Just a trifle.”
The shifter hummed deeply in his throat, his shifter accent even noticeable in the simple act, rough and thick. He sauntered casually in my direction, and Fae damned backed me up against the bar, trapping me in place. He caged me in with his arms as he bent down and placed his face in front of mine.
“What…are you doing?” I barely breathed, my head going haywire again, unable to think straight as usual.
“Looking at you,” he answered just as quietly, his solid honey-brown eyes dipping to each of my features. He gently rested a fingertip against my cheek, watching closely as a Fae damned blush stole over my pale skin. His lips curved subtly as if he were pleased with the view, and he whispered, “May I kiss you, elf?”
I blinked at the bluntly honest—and innocent—request from a soul mate to a soul mate, halfway expecting him to justtakewhat he wanted now that…fuck…I was his. I cleared my throat jaggedly and glanced at his mouth, eventually nodding my head when he didn’t push for a faster answer.
His dark whiskers tickled my face in a quietly tantalizing way as he pressed his mouth to mine, his lips caressing and lingering as he tilted his head to the side, nibbling my bottom lip for entry.
The urge was long gone, but I opened for him with a low groan, our tongues dueling in the most remarkable way. I raised my hands and set them on his chest, curling my fingers down into his thin shirt, feeling the slight scrunch of his chest hair beneath the pads of my fingers. I pulled him closer, pleased when he came nearer, and pressed harder against my body against the countertop.
My eyes languidly opened when he eventually pulled his head back, his short breaths puffing against my damp lips. Then, with the light scent of lilies filling my nostrils, I peered at him through my lashes, our faces mere inches apart, our gazes locked on each other.
I licked over my bottom lip and reluctantly breathed, “You don’t need to ask me anymore if you want to kiss me.”
His eyes crinkled as he smiled with a confident, satisfied delight. “That’s good, elf. Because I’ll want to do it again.”
“I imagine you will.” I lifted a cocky eyebrow.
Bishop chuckled softly and pulled back, gently pulling my hands away from his chest and saying softly, “I think your housekeeper is here. Do you have a backdoor?”
