“What is it, Lucie?” Jasper asked, seeing her staring toward the bathroom.
Lucie inched away from Ryan’s touch and waved her hands over her white-powdered self. “Look at me!” She giggled. “I have flour in places flour should never be.”
Jasper chuckled. “Well then go get cleaned off real quick. It isn’t like I’ll peek in on you.”
Lucie gnawed on her lip and Jasper released a thunderous laugh that ripped through the air.
“You’re still afraid of the spider in there, aren’t you? Oh Lucie, you are too much.” Jasper wiped the tears from his eyes.
“I’ll just use someone else’s shower,” Lucie said simply.
“You aren’t showering in another room,” Ryan said, growling slightly. “I’ll stand watch for you.”
Lucie scoffed and planted her hands across her chest. “I bet you will. No thanks. I don’t need an audience.”
“Are you sure? Having someone to shower with is more fun … and I could use a shower too.” Ryan let his voice drop low.
“Okay, time out.” Lucie looked up at Jasper. “If anyone else had said something like that, you would kill them. Shoot, you were ready to murder Kyle when he tried to kiss me.”
“WHO TRIED TO KISS YOU?!” Ryan roared. He walked into Lucie and gripped her shoulders.
“That’s not the point.”
“Oh no, that is the point now.” Ryan growled, glaring at Jasper.
“Ryan is your soulmate, Lucie. That is sacred. Its sanctity is absolute. There is no one who will object to that,” Jasper said, seeing the confusion in her eyes. “And Lucie was going to stop him from kissing her, but I just beat her to it.”
“What did you do that made him think it was okay to try to kiss you?” Ryan asked between clenched teeth.
OH, HELL NO!Lucie shot daggers at Ryan. “What did I do?” She scoffed loudly, stepped toward him, and poked a finger into his chest. “How dare you talk to me like that? What did I do? Who the hell do you think you are? Obviously, if someone tried to kiss me, it was because I led them on, right? I guess unhooking my bra and tossing it to the side might have been too suggestive, huh?” She listened as he growled at her. “You know what? Forget it. I’d rather take my chances with the spider than talk to you.”
She shoved him and turned, marching toward the bathroom. How could he say that? She flipped on the shower and huffed angrily.
Jasper had said that she could accept Ryan as her mate because they were soulmates. But what about the treaty? Even if the vampires would understand Ryan taking her as his mate, what would this mean for the treaty? And right now, she was irritated with him, so she could think more rationally. When she was next to him, it was as if her body was drugged, slowly being consumed by him.
No … that wasn’t right. She was the one who wanted to consume him. The real problem was that she didn’t trust herself with him. He was the one in danger of being devoured, though she didn’t think he would mind. She had to keep the treaty in her mind at all times. It was the only thing she had to grasp on to in order to control herself. That and her current irritation. However, she had other ideas about how to release her frustration. She reached out and turned the water temperature to cold. Yeah, she needed a cold shower.
From the doorway, she could hear Ryan’s soft, baritone chuckle. She looked back and could see part of his shoulder as he leaned against the doorframe but looking away, toward the wall.
“You know, Lucie … that spirit of yours only makes me more hot for you. I could wash the parts you can’t see.”
Ugh. She could almost hear the smirk in his voice. And damn her if she didn’t want him.
She clicked her tongue loudly. “Jasper, would you put your friend on a leash?” She listened as Jasper snickered, and she heard his back plop on the other side of the door frame. She also heard Ryan grumble at him for being too close to where she would be showering.
“Sorry. If Lucie wants me to protect her from you, then that is exactly what I’m going to do. Mate or not.”
Lucie smiled as she heard the seriousness in Jasper’s voice.
Ryan sighed loudly and flopped his head back, banging it on the doorway. “I’m sorry, Lucie. Don’t be mad at me. I got really jealous, and I was wrong. I never should have questioned you.”
“Thank you, Ryan. But you still aren’t joining me.”
“You want me. I want you. You heard yourself that it’s okay to be with me. You’ll accept me as your mate, right?”
Lucie stepped into the cold water and sighed. She could hear the insecurity in his voice. It broke her heart. But being allowed to be with him was only a start. What about the treaty? The cloudy water dripped onto the floor below her as it washed the flour off of her body. She grabbed the bottle of body wash and scrunched up her nose.
“Sandalwood? There isn’t anything less … male in here?” Lucie squeezed the liquid into the scrunchy that was hanging on the wall. She blushed slightly, knowing it was Ryan’s scrunchy. “I hope this is the first time your loofah is seeing a woman’s body.” She listened as Ryan groaned, and she heard the thud of his head against the door frame again.
