After a moment, a teary murmur escaped her, “It’s not your fault.”
No, she’d never blame him for anything. Hell, she’d nearly taken off his head when he implied that he failed her. She looked over her shoulder, her sunflower-hued eyes were huge, wet and red-rimmed. It gutted him, hating that he’d unintentionally made her cry. He kissed the dampness away from her cheek. “Come here, sweetheart.”
She twisted in his arms, and he pulled her onto his lap. She buried her face against his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, taking his own comfort from the warmth of her curvy body pressed against his. “You are right, it’s over now.”
Darci suddenly pulled back, her gaze skimming over his chest and stopping on the slow-healing gash on his abs. “I wanted to hurt him so badly for what he did to you.”
She reached for his wrists. At the scab forming where the cuffs had cut him deeply when he broke free, she gently touched the healing scar. “I’m so sorry you had to see that, see what he did to me.”
She was apologizing for the lunatic kissing her? “Darci—”
“No.” She pressed fingers to his lips, stopping him. “Let me say this, okay? When Finnén kissed me, I felt…odd. There was nothing, no connection between us. I wanted to push him away, but his face—he wasyou—and I thought I was over-reacting.” Her damp gaze searched his as if begging for his understanding. “Then I asked about conceding the bet to me, and when he so readily agreed, I realized the truth. You never, ever give in when it comes to wagers…”
Blaéz lowered his brow to hers, emotions choking him. So grateful to have her back and unharmed. “No, you are wrong,a leannan.” He pulled back, so he could look into her beautiful eyes. “I never cared about winning this bet. It was tradition, I gamely played along. I’ve always wanted you. Every. Damn. Day. You were my first kiss—myfirsteverything. I’d do anything for you.”
Her lips trembled. He cupped her face and kissed her gently. When she finally came up for air, she whispered, “I didn’t really mean the bet anyway, I thought you’d say no…”
“I know.” A smile tugged his mouth. “But you couldn’t resist the challenge, you relish in besting me, and I love that.” He took the loofah from her hand, scooped up some of her lilac bath gel, and stroked it over her arms and chest. As he drew the foamy sponge down her side, he frowned at the purplish bruises on her ribs. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing.”
He lifted his hard gaze to hers. “What. Happened?”
She swallowed. “Finnén got mad when I called him a bastard and told him he’d never be even a smidgen of what you are. He…he hit me.”
A deadly red haze tore through Blaéz. It took everything in him not to leap out of the tub and go after the fucker. Instead, he concentrated on placing his palm on her hurt ribs, scanned, and found no broken bones. He let his healing powers flow through and coalesces into her injury. “What else?”
She bit her lip, but at his rigid stare, she sighed. “He had to leave for a few minutes. I think that was when The Morrigan summoned him. He said when he got back, he would make you watch what he did to me. I was so angry, I told him I’d find you, and you would kill him.” She inhaled deeply, before she continued. “That’s when he…when he smashed his foot on my ankle and shattered it so I couldn’t leave.”
Fury blazed like an inferno. Unable to set it free, he lowered his gaze to the sponge in his hands.
“Blaéz?” She put her hand under his chin, making him look at her. “I’m okay now, honest. Nora healed my ankle. And my ribs don’t hurt anymore…” She pressed a palm on her upper abdomen and inhaled slowly as if testing for pain. “You have to know, I’ll do anything for you. I wasn’t going to let a snake like him win. It didn’t matter if I got hurt—”
“It fucking does to me! You are mortal, you could have died.” Anguish swept through him at the very thought. It took a moment before he could speak again. “I don’t like seeing even a mark on you. My heart cannot stand what you went through with that vindictive bastard…” He gently stroked her blemish-free skin. “I’m glad you didn’t use your dagger on him. He could have wield it against you, and that would have ended badly.”
She grimaced. “Actually…”
“Youdid?” he exploded, feeling as if she’d plunged the obsidian blade into his gut.
She winced. “I was so angry at what he’d done. And when he tried to tear my dress off, I just reacted and summoned the dagger. But he was too close, and I couldn’t get in a good strike. I ended up stabbing him in the sternum. It’s how the punch to my ribs happened.”
Blaéz hugged her tightly to him, so damn glad Finnén had been too steeped in his hatred of him that he hadn’t realized how easily he could have gotten his revenge had he killed Darci. Without a strong soul-joining because of her fragmented soul, Blaéz couldn’t follow her into death, and he would have lived eternity alone, tormented by his loss.
It was his greatest fear, losing her.
“Blaéz?” She eased back a little. Before she said anything, he shook his head, emotions deep and unending, consuming him like a wave. He needed her—needed to be inside her desperately, so the coldness swamping him would dissipate.
Sliding his hands to her waist, he pulled her onto her knees, and the water undulated in a huge wave, splashing over the rim of the tub as she rose above him. Her face flushed from the too-damn-hot bath. He gently pressed his lips to her healed ribs then ran his tongue up her torso to the underside of her breast before swiping across her hardening nub. Her breath hitched, and she grabbed his hair as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
He loved when she did that. The faint, seductive scent of her arousal crowded his nose. But more, he felt her exhaustion, it settled over him like lead. Hell, she needed rest after her ordeal. Ignoring his aching cock, he moved her off him. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. You should call your brother.”
About to protest, her eyes widened in panic. “Oh, no. Declan. He’s going to be so upset.”
With him?Indeed. Her kin had already made that known earlier in the night. “It’ll be okay.”
Blaéz got out, retrieved the bath towel from the rail as she stepped out of the tub. He wrapped the thick fabric around her, swept her into his arms, and strode to the bedroom.
She looked up at him, the flush on her face from her bath receding, leaving her pale beneath her tan skin. “I lost my cell and my bag…”
