"What's all that?"
"You'll see."
The path to the pools wound between rocks slick with mineral deposits, the ground glowing faintly orange and white in the moonlight. Steam rose around them as they walked, curling against Mab's cheeks, dampening the loose strands of hair that had escaped her braid.
Varek stopped at a pool set apart from the others, tucked into a curve of rock that blocked the wind. The water was clear, steam rising from its surface in lazy spirals. Flat stones surrounded it, worn smooth by years of use, and the mineral deposits here were pale, almost white, giving the whole space an otherworldly glow in the moonlight.
"This one," Varek said. He set the bundle down on one of the flat stones and turned to face her.
Mab looked at the water. At the steam. At the promise of heat seeping into muscles.
Then she looked back toward the camp. The fires were visible from here, small orange points in the darkness, and she could hear the low murmur of voices, the occasional bark of laughter. Not close. But not far either.
"Someone could see," she said.
"Let them." Varek's hands went to the ties of her cloak.
"Varek—"
"Anyone who comes this way will see my woman in my arms." The cloak fell away. His fingers moved to her dress. "And then they'll turn around and walk the other way, because they know better than to interrupt."
The dress pooled at her feet. The cold air hit her skin for one sharp moment before the steam wrapped around her, warm and wet.
"They've heard you," he said. "In the holding. The sounds you make when you come." His hands found her chemise, pulled it over her head, left her bare in the moonlight and the steam. "They know what I do to you. What you let me do."
Mab's skin prickled, and not from the cold. The thought of the warriors around the cookfire, hearing her through the walls of the lady's chamber, should have mortified her. Would have, three days ago. Now it sent a flush through her that had nothing to do with the steam.
"Into the water," Varek said.
She stepped down into the pool.
The heat closed around her ankles, her calves, her thighs as she descended the natural steps carved into the rock. By the time she was waist-deep, her muscles had already begun to unknot, the ache in her legs and back loosening like rope going slack.
She sank down until the water reached her shoulders and let out a sound she didn't mean to make. Low and long and raw with relief.
Behind her, she heard Varek undressing. The rustle of leather, the soft thud of boots on stone. She didn't turn to look. Just closed her eyes and let the heat seep into her bones.
The water rose when he entered. A wave of warmth against her back, and then his arms came around her waist, and she let herself melt against him.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The steam rose around them. The stars wheeled overhead, sharper and brighter than she'd ever seen them, the mountain air so clear that the sky seemed close enough to touch. Somewhere in the distance, an owl called.
Varek's hands moved under the water. Up her ribs, over the curve of her waist, settling on her hips.
"I've been thinking about this all day," he said against her ear. "You in my lap on that horse. Your ass pressed against my cock for hours." His hands slid forward, over her belly. "You have no idea what you do to me."
"I think I have some idea." She could feel him hard against her lower back.
"Do you?" One hand slid lower. His fingers found her under the water. Parted her. Stroked. "Do you know that I can smell you? Even now, even with the minerals in the water, I can smell how wet you are."
Mab's head fell back against his shoulder. The water held her differently than air ever had. Buoyant. Weightless in a way she'd never been, her body lifted and cradled by the heat while his arm anchored her against his chest.
Varek's thighs spread beneath hers, pushing her legs apart, and she let them fall open. His fingers worked her with a slow pressure that made her hips cant forward, chasing the touch.
"Every time you shifted in that saddle," he said, "I thought about bending you over the horse's neck and fucking you right there. In front of all of them."
His thumb found her clit. Circled. She gasped.
"I thought about pulling up your skirts and sinking into you while the column kept moving. Making you take my cock for miles." Two fingers pushed inside her, and her whole body arched. "You'd have to be quiet. You'd have to hold still. And I'd feel every twitch, every clench, every time you tried not to come."
