Not just one but three Dakkari males entered, carrying in buckets of steaming hot water, pouring them into the bathing tub that still remained from that morning, though it’d been emptied sometime during my nap.
When they left, I sat, frozen on my cushion.
“Do you wish to bathe first?” came his low voice.
Swallowing, I watched a trail of steam rise from the surface of the water. I’d never taken a hot bath before. What was it like?
“No,” I choked out. “Of course not. That is inappropriate.”
That was what Jana would’ve said, right?
The corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly but he stood.
“Very well,” he said, walking to the bathing tub.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice reminding me of the Dakkari boy’s high-pitched laugh from earlier that morning.
He didn’t look at me as he unlaced his hide pants and slid them down his legs, being mindful of his tail.
I blinked, frozen, as the expanse of his bare flesh came into view. For once, my thoughts momentarily went silent.
“Bathing,” he told me, as if it were obvious.
Chapter Nine
Ithink I let out a small squeak of outrage. I couldn’t be certain.
All I knew was that I was staring. The demon king effortlessly dropped into the large bathing tub and between his legs, I saw that his massive cock was somewhat erect, swinging with his movements.
Panic seeped into my veins, freezing me in place.
I blinked and stuttered out, “You know, I-I…I’m not like that.”
When the demon king sank low into his bath, he made a grunt of pleasure, his eyes momentarily sliding shut as the hot water enveloped his body. My mind caught on that detail and I imagined being cocooned in complete, delicious, soothing heat that way. Longing grew in my heart, even though it fluttered with panicked disbelief.
“Like what,thissie?” he rasped, a splash of water meeting my ears as he scooped water over his broad shoulders.
I jerked my gaze away, tapping a rhythm on my wrist with my fingertip. I desperately ached for my bow. I needed that centered focus, that simple act of calm as I nocked my arrow and drew it back. As I inhaled a slow breath and then...released. I used to practice on the wall of my home.
“If this is your plan, keeping me here as a prisoner, all for the purpose of...ofsex, your efforts will be wasted,” I explained in a rush. “I think I am quite immune to such things.”
When I chanced a peek over at him, I saw him regarding me, carefully analyzing my words.
“You are immune to what, exactly?” he rasped.
“Sex,” I told him, frowning. “Desire. Need. I don’t feel those things.”
“I think you are lying,” he said, ignoring what I was trying to tell him.
“And even if I did feel those things, it wouldn’t be for you,” I said, irritated and nervous. The tapping on my wrist grew faster.
He went still in the bath at my words. Then he rasped, “If you are immune to such things, if you are immune to me, then my bathing should not bother you,thissie. Certainly not this much.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks hard and made a conscious effort to slow my breathing.
“I am just informing you now, since I must sleep here tonight,” I told him. “The last male who tried to take from me ended up with my arrow in his shoulder.”
Silence came from the bathing tub except for an odd scratching noise. When I looked up to identify it, I saw his claws were curled into the sides of the tub, gouging marks into it.
