I caught the exhaustion carved into his features, the bruises I hadn’t yet kissed away. I reached for a pitcher by the edge of the tub, dipped it into the steaming pool, and tipped it gently over his head. Water cascaded down his dark hair, over his sharp cheekbones, and across the breadth of his chest.
“You don’t need to do this,” he said.
“I want to. Letmespoilyou.”
His lips curled up, and he closed his eyes. For the first time in too long, he looked at peace.
I threaded my fingers through his wet hair, working in the soap, massaging his scalp. “You’re allowed to let someone else take care of you once in a while, you know.”
His lashes lifted, his golden eyes molten. “You think I don’t?”
I laughed. “Trew, you carry a kingdom on your shoulders. You’re terrible at sharing the load.”
His mouth twisted into a half-smirk, the other half something softer. “I’ll let you carry me. Here. Now. Always.”
My heart tripped. He wasn’tjoking.
I rose onto my knees and kissed him, water dripping between us. He deepened it with a sweep of tongue that left me dizzy.
When I pulled back, my voice shook for an entirely different reason. “This was supposed to be a bath. Not an excuse for you to grope me.”
“I believeyou’regropingme.” His smirk sharpened. “And I love it. Why not both?”
Heat flushed through me hotter than the water around us.
We both sobered as I brushed a line of water down his bruised jaw.
He caught my wrist and kissed the inside of it, his eyes never leaving mine. “You bleed, and my world unravels. If I could keep you from ever being harmed, I would.” The touch of sadness in his gaze was echoed in my heart. Neither of us could fully protect the other, though we’d try.
I swallowed hard, my pulse a wild rhythm in my throat. For once, I had no words, no shield. Only the truth pounding through my chest.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I’ll do and be anything to protect you.”
“Same.”
He caught my face between his hands, his calloused palms cradling me as though I was fragile when he knew damn well I was anything but. Drops trickled down his jaw and slid over his chest.
“I thought I would die today,” he said, the words as rough as gravel. “And then you came, my reckless, radiant woman, like the fates themselves heard my prayer.”
My breath stuttered, my chest tightening.
“I will never ask you to stay behind or leave again.” He stroked my damp cheeks with his thumbs. “You’re my equal. My blade. My heart.”
Tears blurred my vision, and I did not look away.
My voice came out unsteady, breathless, but it carried steel underneath it too. “I was born for this. For you.”
“You’re not my weakness, Amarissa. You’re the sword I’d burn kingdoms to wield.”
Heat coiled low in my belly. Every vow he spoke tethered me tighter to him until I could hardly tell where my will ended and his began.
“I thought I’d spend my life trying to grant mercy,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to his. “But I was only made for this and for you.”
His breath hitched, a broken sound, half groan, half vow, and he kissed me like the battlefield had never ended, like every promise we’d just made could be carved into our skin.
The kiss shattered what restraint remained between us. Water sloshed as I twisted fully onto his lap, straddling his hips, sinking my fingers deep in his hair. When I bit his lower lip, he groaned.
He stood, water cascading from us both, lifting me with him. The world spun, my gasp lost in the intensity of his kiss. He climbed from the tub and strode toward the low stone bench near the hearth where thick cloths had been laid out. The fire crackled hungrily in the hearth beside it.
