Page 206 of Reign

My chest dips before I can stop it. “My room?”

He lifts me against him. My gaze catches on the bed behind us—the twisted restraints, the ruined sheets, the enormous wet spot in the middle of everything.

Oh.

Right.

“I ruined your sheets.”

“They’re sheets.”

“They look expensive.”

“I own more.”

He carries me down the hallway with my cheek resting against his chest. His heartbeat is still faster than usual beneath my ear.

That helps something inside me settle.

In my bathroom, he places me on the edge of the tub and keeps one hand around my waist until he’s certain I can sit without folding onto the floor.

He starts the water, tests it with his hand, and adds something from one of the glass jars beside the sink. A soft, clean scent rises with the steam.

“Arms up.”

I obey.

He lifts the dress over my head without catching it on my earrings, then removes what remains of my underwear and drops both somewhere behind him.

When the bath is ready, he lifts me again and lowers me into the water.

Heat closes around my sore body. I sink back with a sound that would be embarrassing if I had any dignity left.

Luciano dips a washcloth into the water.

“I can wash myself.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

His eyes lift to mine. “Because I want to.”

The answer leaves me with nothing to fight.

He washes me slowly, beginning with my face and neck. The cloth passes over my shoulders, along my arms, and carefully across each wrist. His touch remains gentle around the tender impressions from the silk.

He cleans the sweat and tears from my skin without making the moment feel clinical. Without looking away from any part of me.

When he reaches my legs, he lifts one at a time and rests my calf across his forearm. The washcloth glides over my knee and ankle before his fingers massage the places the restraints held me.

He’s so close.

Close enough that my gaze catches on his mouth.

Luciano notices.

Understanding flickers across his face, and my heart lifts stupidly as he leans toward me.