It would fit three people and blessedly allow me to lie down. I had never been so grateful for laundry in my entire life. Refusing to let Declan help me sit up, I caught my breath at the edge of the bed.
Only to watch Declan walk over to a cupboard and get on his knees. He looked ridiculous in my nightgown but by the time he opened the cupboard to a shrine, lit some candles and murmured in that lilting language, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up.
The trough slowly filled on its own and steamed into the chilly air.
“I didn’t know you did magic.”
He turned to me, checking the water temperature. “I can’t. I just understand how to ask nicely.”
That was as good as being able to do magic to me.
“Thank you.” It seemed foolish to say it into the room with no one else here but the scent of nutmeg filled the bath and the steam rising from it.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
I absolutely did not.
I absolutely did.
My fingers fumbled with the hem of my nightgown, a whole new worry cropping up after all of Declan’s hard work. He gestured to all of me.
“You have to get undressed.”
“Maybe a bath is a bad idea.” I shot back.
He quirked his head in that way that read pure canine curiosity. I didn’t deserve that level of patience when I was a cranky, old, broken bog hag.
“I’ve seen it before, Honey.”
But had he? I’d never really looked at his girthquake. And if we had been in a situation for him to see me naked, I couldn’t recall. Suddenly, I remembered he had never had to gaze upon the cellulite I faced in the mirror every day. I mainly ignored it because there were better things to do with my time and no one saw it anyway, but nowhe was definitely going to notice when I didn’t clamber into the tub fast enough.
“I can get in, in my nightgown.” The pain was really making me think stupid, if that was the best I came up with.
He laughed until he realized I was serious. His hands fisted on his slim hips. “The hells you will. Then you’re going to be soaked and cold. Don’t be silly, Honey. Take off your clothes and get in the tub.”
“Close your eyes then.”
“I can’t close my eyes and help you into the bath. What if I drop you?”
I huffed in frustration.
“Because I am carrying you to the tub and I am getting in so you don’t have to rest against the metal sides. So take it off or I’m going to take it off you.”
My legs shook in a completely inappropriate fury. That tone low in his throat made me draw in a shaky breath. As he took off his nightgown, the kiss washed over me again and soothed the pain for a moment. My body went haywire trying to run in a million directions at once.
His entire being sharpened when my momentary lust hit his nose and I stood up as if I was about to fight the sweetest wolf shifter in existence. He stepped closer, gripping the front of my nightgown with his clawed hand.
“Your choice, Honey.”
I jerked back, the sound of ripping fabric in the air. Myillness never gave me a choice and for him to hand one to me was an outsized gift. My heart crumbled a bit at the edges.
I had snuck a few of his books into the kitchen and this had to be the scene straight from The Lustful Rake.
Except Fabian, the main character in that book, never said, “Oh no, I ripped it.” His eyes grew wild. “Honey, I’m so sorry.” Declan tried to pat the fabric back into place.
His apology gave me the strength to grip his wrist, ready to tumble into him and surrender in every way. I never did anything by half-measures. “More.”
His frowning worry gave way to a hunger so intense that I had no idea how had I missed it before. Mesmerized by his claws, they tore down the front of my nightgown with careful precision. Torrid was not a word I had in my limited sexual vocabulary but that applied to the gaping fabric around me and the way Declan’s eyes ate every detail of my body, including the parts I wished he didn’t see.
