She inhaled his warm scent. Memorizing it, though she’d had it committed to her mind years ago.
“Where have you been all day?” he asked quietly in the darkness, stroking his long fingers over her forearm.
She shivered and couldn’t resist pressing small kisses to the scars on his back. Some of them had been because of her, after all. Because she’d loved him and Madame Allegria had known that.
Dravka’s breath hitched when he felt her kiss.
“Val?” he asked, before turning, cupping her cheek and turning her so she could see him.
“I’ll tell you,” she said, licking her lips, still nervous. “After,” she added.
His eyes darkened as a lengthy silence drew out between them. His voice was dark and husky when he asked, “After what?”
“I need to wash,” she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest. “Will you join me?”
Valerie heard his audible, thick swallow.
He told her last night that he wouldn’t have sex with her on Everton. But maybe they could…do other things. Last night, Valerie had realized that she might not ever get to explore him otherwise.
And she thought she might scream if she never touched him the way she wanted. After last night, she couldn’t stay away. She didn’t want to anymore. She didn’t have thewillpowerto stay away.
Not now.
Her heart was a thundering mess as she waited for him to reply.
In the end, he didn’t say anything. He only led her to the washing room, closing and locking the door behind him, and then they were encased in that cool, dark, small space.
This bathroom was like most in the brothel. The bricks were painted a matte black. The sink and washing tub—Keriv’i sized—were gold. The floor was marble, though an Old Earth rug adorned it to keep the chill out. A round gilded mirror sat above the sink counter and in it, in the dim light from the single sconce on the wall, Valerie saw her eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed.
In the darkness, it felt intimate. It felt like just the two of them…and it was a place in the brothel that they’d never been together before. It felt new.
Dravka was next to her. He came behind her, running a hand through her hair. He turned them so they were looking in the mirror and the sight stunned her. Because she’d never seen them standing together, side by side.
He was so much taller than her. So much larger. His skin looked bluer against her flesh.
And for the first time, she saw the way she looked at him. Wide-eyed, a little dazed, but happy. She looked at him like they shared some great secret, just the two of them.
She supposed they did.
In the mirror, Valerie saw—and felt—his hands trail down her front, the sides of his palms skimming over her breasts, just barely, just enough to make her breath hitch, before coming to rest on her hips.
“Look how beautiful you are,” he rasped in her ear, crouching down so their faces were next to one another’s. “Vauk, I’ve loved you since I first saw you.”
Valerie’s lips parted, her heart freezing in her chest at his sublime words. He’d never said them before, though it had always been unspoken. Of course, she knew that he loved her in some capacity.
But up until this last week, she hadn’t known for certain it was like the way she loved him.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,mellkia,” he murmured.
Valerie didn’t think she could make her tongue work if she wanted to. His eyes were burning into her through the mirror, dark and teasing andwanting.
Last night, he’d pointed out just how silly her fears were about intimacy with him. Though he might not want sex now, she still wanted to show him how much she desired him, no doubt the cause for her nerves that night. She feared she was running out of time to show him.
And she wanted these memories to last her a lifetime. Because they would need to.
Valerie turned her face, saw a flash of those dark eyes, and then she was kissing him. Fiercely. Possessively. She wanted to show him what she was thinking because she didn’t think she was capable of words.
Dravka growled, his hands squeezing around her hips, and his tongue flicked out, darting between her parted lips. A sharp intake of breath whistled between them when she sucked on his tongue. Opening her eyes, she met his and saw they were narrowed. The wicked promise that gleamed in them was enough to make her whimper.
