A green I have never seen in his irises before, the hue of jade gemstones, and it’s like looking into pockets of the universe.
It startles me, the mystical depths of his eyes—eyes thatexploreme.
It doesn’t feel like his wandering gaze just considers me, a frog to be dissected. It feels like the intensity of his stare is dragging over me like jagged daggers cut from rich jade gemstones.
I’m frozen under the intensity of it.
The way he grazes his stare over the curve of my waist, along the patch of freckles on my hip, then drags it to my bellybutton—
There, his attention hooks for a beat, before he lifts his stare… and my cheeks burn, hot.
There’s no modesty in how he stares at my breasts.
My freckles are pale under the warmth of the torchlight, but his sight is sharp, and so he can probably count each one.
There’s a hardness on his face, carved from stone. It doesn’t match the way he sits, like he’s just lounging around as he waits.
Then he flings that hard stare up at me.
My bones cringe.
His voice is as stony as his face, “What is that?”
I blink, once, twice, then utter the breathy question, “What?”
My voice should be drowned out by the shower rainfall, the storm outside, but he hears it.
He looks at my naval. “That.”
I touch my fingers to it, as though to hide it. “A… It’s a bellybutton.”
A frown knits his brow. “Button?”
For a heartbeat, I just part my lips around an answer I don’t have.
The warmth of the shower is starting to cool. Droplets snake into my mouth.
“It’s…” The explanation falters on my tongue—because I remember, he doesn’t have one.
None of the fae have bellybuttons.
So how the hell do I explain one to him?
I look down at it, my fingers pressed into the skin around the divot.
Water threads through my fingers.
I watch the droplets snake and weave over my knuckles. “It’s part of how we’re formed in the womb.”
Best I can do.
And it’s good enough.
Samick’s frown fades.
A heartbeat passes before he lifts his gaze over my shoulder, then down the curve of my back.
I should feel more… exposed.
