Finished washing off her skin, I dropped the cloth into the sink and turned off the hot water. “Would you like me to brush out your hair?” I asked.
“I’d like the shirt first.”
“Don’t move your arms yet,” I instructed as I grabbed the shirt. I gathered the fabric in my hands and gently maneuvered the material over her head. Then, I let the rest of the shirt fall over her body. Even with her arms inside, it was loose enough for her to move.
She dropped the towel on the floor, and I saw her shoulders moving. Her dagger appeared from beneath the shirt, and she laid it on the counter. Then, her trousers and other undergarments pooled on the floor at her feet. It took a little wiggling, but she slowly pushed one arm, then the other, through the sleeves.
“Why don’t you come sit on the sofa?” I asked. “You can rest, and I will tend to your hair.”
I knew the tincture for pain was taking effect when she did as I asked without hesitation or argument. Pain twisted in my chest at the sight. She was a strong, stubborn female. She would never just submit without resistance if she wasn’t injured.
Still, she wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t remember to take her weapon from the counter. The sight softened the knot in my chest. She might not be at her full strength, but she was still formidable.
I stood behind her with the comb in my hand and gently worked the strands of her hair free from the braid. It took a long time to comb the tangles from the length. Finally, when her hair was free of snarls and lay in waves over the back of the couch, I wove her hair into a thick plait and tied it off with a strip of leather.
When I finished, she didn’t move, her breathing slow and even. I carried the comb back into the bathing room and then readied the bed, pulling the furs and blankets back.
Leda’s eyes were closed when I came around the sofa, but they opened when I stopped in front of her.
“Are you ready to lie down?” I asked.
She nodded, moving as though she was planning to push herself to her feet.
I didn’t wait for her to stand on her own. I bent down and scooped her up in my arms.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “I can walk.”
“I know you can. Just let me help you.”
Again, she didn’t argue. Her head rested on my shoulder with her face tucked against my neck. She relaxed against me with complete trust. It was the first time she’d let her guard down so completely with me.
I loathed to put her down, but she needed the comfort of the bed in order to rest and heal.
I carried her to the bed, carefully lowering her to the mattress. Her eyes opened briefly to look up at me when I pulled the blankets over her body.
“I don’t need the furs,” she murmured when I moved to pull them over her as well. “The fire made it warm enough in here.”
“Very well. Rest now, Leda. I will return in an hour or two with dinner.”
“Thank you, Bo,” she whispered as she closed her eyes and rolled onto one side.
I stood over her, watching as she fell asleep almost immediately. Contentment filled me at the shortened version of my name. No one had ever called me that before, but I liked it from her lips.
Then, the anger came. I clenched my fists and forced back the growl that wanted to rise in my chest. I kept my footsteps silent as I walked out of the bedchamber and silently shut the door behind me.
As I made my way downstairs and back outside, I couldn’t decide if I wanted Venna to be there when I arrived or if I wanted the pleasure of hunting her down to warn her that she was not to challenge my female again. If she harmed Leda, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from killing her. My instincts already saw the human as my mate. If Venna killed her, I would lose my grip on sanity and rip her to shreds.
It was time for the daemoness to learn that she couldn’t have whatever or whomever she wanted. But first, I was going to retrieve the broken piece of her horn from the training ring.
My female deserved to have a trophy from her first, and hopefully last, challenge.
Chapter
Fourteen
Leda
I woke slowly.
