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As she suspected, Reid was not pleased by the idea. “That will not—”

“Reid, please. Let me speak to her. Give her some time—”

“We do not have time.”

“Has there been an agreement between the clans?”

Reid shook his head. “Nay, but the council will not last forever.”

“Just a few days,” she said. “Give her a chance to become accustomed to the idea, and let me handle her. Before others, act as if you’ve heeded her words. Deferred to her wishes. Please?”

She had pushed too far. Reid’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched so tight it had to hurt. She wasn’t sure the man was capable of deference.

“Reid?” Abandoning her search for the soap, Allie gripped the cloth underwater and watched Reid’s expression soften.

As it always seemed to do with her.

“Very well,” he said finally. “We will try this your way.” He leaned in toward the tub. “On one condition . . .”

“Anything.”

He gripped the side of the tub. When he gave her a wicked smile, Allie knew she’d responded much too quickly.

“Then you won’t mind if I recover your soap.”

It took her a moment to understand, but by then it was too late. His hand had already slipped into the tub.

“Reid, my maid—”

“Will be quite surprised if she returns now.” He paused in his search, and she found she did not want him to stop. “Are we agreed?”

Allie’s heart thudded in her chest, though she could not feel his hand. Yet.

“Agreed.”

The word no sooner left her lips than she felt the lightest brush of his fingertips along her waist. The taunting touch became more pronounced as those fingers moved along her hip. When his hand continued its exploration and finally settled on her breast, Allie leaned into it as his thumb and forefinger came together to caress her nipple. She could see the top of his hand as it dipped beneath the water and then resurfaced. Mesmerized by the motion, Allie felt an unexpected tingling between her legs.

“I do not believe you will find the soap there,” she managed, chancing a glance up at his face.

Allie wished she hadn’t done that.

Reid’s eyes, hooded and intense, held her own in their thrall. His hand glided down, away from her breast and toward her stomach, as Reid leaned closer toward the tub.

“Is it here, perhaps?” Pretending to search for the errant item, he explored and teased, his hand moving lower still.

“I do not believe so,” she said, the words coming out in a strange, throaty voice that sounded unlike her own.

Then he smiled.

Allie sucked in a breath, her heart beating wildly in anticipation of . . . she wasn’t sure. She only knew he was planning something.

“Relax,” he said.

Allie had thought she was relaxed. In fact, she couldn’t ever remember feeling this relaxed before. But when his hand slipped toward her curls, Allie understood. He would touch that most private place. A man who was not yet her husband, who should not be in her bedchamber and should certainly not be touching her.

“Trust me.”

She did. It was impossible to account for, the trust she had in this man, but she did trust him. And when his finger dipped even lower, between her legs, she nearly burst out of the tub. “Oh!”