“Hot springs. It’ll relax you.”
“If I’m any more relaxed, I’ll be asleep.”
“Please.”
That was all it took. When he made demands, I balked. But asking with please?
I was a complete pushover for this man.
I nodded, and he strode into the bathing area adjacent to our rooms. Steam rose in lazy curls, and the mineral-rich water glowed in the low light.
Raoul set me on the stone edge, kneeling to remove my boots. His movements were gentle, careful, like I might shatter.
“I can undress myself,” I said.
“Can you?” He looked up, one eyebrow raised. “Prove it.”
I reached for my tunic laces and fumbled them. My fingers wouldn’t cooperate.
“That’s what I thought.” He lifted my hands and kissed them before unlacing the tunic, tugging it and the undergarment beneath up.
He made quick work of the rest until I sat naked on the warm stone.
After stripping himself, he lifted me and carried me into the water.
The heat shocked through me after the mountain cold. I gasped, and he pulled me against his chest, letting me adjust gradually.
“Better?” he asked.
“Getting there.”
We settled onto a submerged ledge, the water up to our shoulders. Raoul positioned me between his legs, my back to his chest, his arms loose around my waist.
“You were extraordinary today,” he said quietly.
“I was doing what I love most. I’ve always been good with weather.”
“You saved those babies. You prevented a war. That’s more than being good with weather.”
My throat tightened. “When you put it like that…”
“That’s exactly how it is.” His hands traced lazypatterns on my arms, warming skin that had gone numb hours ago. “You’re brave and completely terrifying when you’re focused.”
“Terrifying?”
“In the best possible way.” His lips brushed my temple. “I’ve never seen anything like what you did today. You bent the atmosphere to your will. It was like watching someone paint with elements most people can’t even perceive.”
Heat bloomed in my chest. He saw me. Not just a weather witch and problem solver, but me, in all my scattered, obsessive, magic-drunk glory.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said. “You kept me fed. Warm. Alive.”
“That’s what partners do.”
I turned in his arms, needing to see his face, making water slosh around us. His amber eyes held mine, and whatever he saw there made his expression soften into something that stole my breath.
He kissed me, tasting like feelings I wasn’t ready to name. When he pulled back, I was trembling again, but not from exhaustion.
“Let’s get you out before your skin shrivels,” he said, his voice rough.
