Once he finished, he tidied the counter and put everything away. Then, without a word, he scooped me back up into his arms and walked to the bathing pool.
The hot water swallowed us as he sank deeper than I ever had before, moving us to the opposite side of the pool. He settled on a ledge, still holding me in his lap. When I tried to move and sit beside him, he held fast.
“Stay,” he commanded, reaching into a recessed shelf next to him.
I was too tired to give him shit for commanding me like a dog.
He pulled out a bottle and set it on the side of the bathing pool. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, he dipped me back until my hair and scalp were submerged in the hot water. Then, he poured the liquid from the bottle onto my hair. The scent was warm and sensual, like amber and sandalwood, but it wasn’t too strong.
Still cradling me like a child, he set the bottle aside and began to massage the liquid into my hair. My eyes drooped, closing slowly as he used the pads of his fingers to rub my scalp. His claws lightly scratched my scalp occasionally, but it felt good. A long, deep sigh escaped me as warm tingles spread over my head, down my neck, and to my shoulders.
Once my hair was washed, he lowered me and rinsed it. Then, he turned me in his lap, so my back rested against hisfront. He retrieved a bar of soap from the same recessed shelf and lathered his hands.
Every muscle in my body seemed to melt as he ran his hands over my skin, washing me carefully. Once my front and my legs were clean, he turned me and guided my legs until I straddled his lap, facing him. His hands pressed my body against his, urging me to lay my forehead on his shoulder. After working up more lather with the soap, he washed my back in firm, steady strokes that were more like a massage than bathing.
I was nothing but a limp noodle by the time he slipped his soapy hand between my legs, removing the sticky traces of arousal from my body. I was so relaxed that I didn’t even react when his hands moved to my ass and washed each cheek and between them with the same thoroughness.
Once I was washed and rinsed, he kept me facing him, wrapping one arm beneath my ass and the other around my upper back. My arms felt weak as I twined them around his neck, but I managed to hang on as he hoisted us out of the bathing pool.
I shivered at the cool air but quickly warmed as he draped a large towel around me and dried my skin. When he reached for a shirt hanging on a wall hook, I shook my head.
“I’ll be warm enough if you stay with me,” I murmured, tucking my face into the crook of his neck. I didn’t examine my desire to feel his skin against mine. Just tonight, I was going to enjoy it. Tomorrow, I could worry about everything that transpired tonight.
My words were rewarded with another rumble in his chest. He carried me into the bedchamber and tucked me beneath the furs and smooth sheets. Once he was done, he walked over to the fireplace and added a few more logs to the fire.
I watched as he walked around the room and turned off the lamps.
He paused at the end of the bed. “You should eat.”
“I can eat in the morning,” I replied. My voice sounded as sleepy as I felt.
He sighed but didn’t argue with me. He climbed beneath the blankets and faced me, reaching out. Then, he hesitated, as though he wasn’t sure if he should touch me.
I scooted closer, putting a hand on his chest.
With a heavy sigh, he wrapped his arms around me, dragging me across the bed and against his body. My head was pillowed on his bicep, and I draped an arm over his ribs. His other arm wound around my shoulder, down my back, to cup the cheek of my ass. The same position we were in when I woke in his embrace before.
He was so large, and his arms were so long that I felt enveloped. Surrounded.
Safe.
I shouldn’t feel safe with this huge, horned daemon. He had fangs, claws, and even a tail. He should look like a monster to me.
At first, maybe he did. But now, he just looked like… him.
And he never acted like a beast with me. If anything, he’d been more considerate and caring than any man I’d ever dated. He saw to my comfort. He seemed interested in what I had to say. He held me as though I were the most precious treasure.
Yes, this male made me feel safer than I ever had before.
Maybe it was the feel-good hormones and chemicals from all the orgasms he’d given me, but lying here in his arms, warm and replete in his bed, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
The thought floated through my mind, and it didn’t scare the shit out of me. The idea of being stuck here wasn’t as daunting if I could have this every night.
If there were a way I could have both my home and this daemon, I might be willing to try.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a possibility. I couldn’t give up my home for a place where I had no rights. A place where I was considered nothing more than an indentured servant or property.
The thought made me sad. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and cuddled a little closer to Bokkan. His arm tightened around me a bit, and his tail wound further up my leg, the tip coming to rest on my inner thigh just above my knee.
