Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
“Elowen?” a male’s voice called from the distance.
I murmured something in response but was enjoying the warm lake I was floating in too much to heed his call. It was peaceful here. Serene. An alien violet sky arched above me, and foreign birds flocking nearby on the shore’s trees cawed.
Hands fluttering, I drifted on the water.
“Elowen!” the male bellowed.
Something banged, startling the flock of birds, and the next thing I knew, a pulse of magic rippled over the lake.
Hands abruptly gripped my shoulders. Very real hands.
The dream disappeared, and my eyes flashed open to see two dazzling sapphire irises. Wildness filled them, and with a groggy start, I realized I still lay in the enchanted bath. I must have fallen asleep.
And I was entirely naked .
“Jax!” I wrenched from his grip and sat up. “What in the realm!”
Droplets of water cascaded down my arms, around my breasts, and disappeared back into the hot bathwater. But my bruises were gone. My magic had healed that in the time I’d been sleeping.
The Dark Raider tore his gaze to the side. “I’m sorry. I thought—” He ran a hand over his scarfed head. “You’ve been in here so long, not making a sound, and when you wouldn’t reply to my knocks and calls, I...” He let out an aggrieved sigh. “I thought the worst. I’m sorry.”
My chest heaved, and a glance at the foggy window showed bright afternoon sunlight. “How long was I asleep?”
“Two hours, maybe longer.”
My jaw dropped. “And you’ve been waiting in the hallway that entire time?”
He gave a curt nod, still looking to the side.
I sighed, and some of my embarrassment faded, but I crossed my arms over my breasts and pulled my knees up. It was still obvious I was naked, but at least I wasn’t on full display.
His throat rolled in a swallow. “I’ll, uh...leave you to it.” He moved to the door.
Shaking from my abrupt awakening, I reached for the soap but hissed when a slice of pain worked up my arm from the movement. Okay, I guess I’m not fully healed .
Jax stilled at the bathing chamber’s threshold, his back still to me. “Elowen? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, just stiff and sore.”
He growled softly. Facing me again, he kept his gaze above my head. “I can help.”
My cheeks heated. “You don’t need to. I’ll?—”
He growled louder. “Let me help you. Please . It’s the least I can do, considering I put you in this state.” But even though authority rang in his tone, he didn’t move closer to me. Instead, he stood there. Waiting for my approval. Waiting for my consent. And his line of sight never strayed below my chin.
My heart began to pound, and soft feelings again flowed through me. Damn him. Damn him for making me second-guess if he truly is a ruthless bastard who can’t be trusted. In this moment, he reminded me of the Jax I’d spent the past few days with. The Jax I’d begun to feel things for.
I tried grabbing the soap again, but another spiral of blistering pain shot up my arm.
“Elowen,” he growled.
“Okay, fine. But no looking.”
He returned to the bath to kneel beside me, and his gaze stayed carefully upward, never dipping to my exposed flesh.
A moment of awkwardness made me want to renege my agreement. Jax was literally kneeling at my side as I sat naked, inches away from him, but before I could say never mind , he grabbed the soap and cloth and dipped them into the water.
“Lean forward if you would. ”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. “You’re really going to wash me?”
“If you’ll let me.”
Embarrassment flushed across my neck, and I reminded myself that plenty of males had seen me exposed. But something about this felt different. It felt...intimate.
Only Jax’s eyes were visible with his mask on, but the intensity of his gaze didn’t lessen as he worked the soap through the washcloth until suds covered it.
I didn’t know if he could feel my hesitance or know that I’d never been in a position like this with anyone, but he said softly, “I would never hurt you.” His throat worked. “Not intentionally at least.”
A stifled breath lifted my chest. For some inexplicable reason, I believed him. Once again, stupid me, I believed him. Him , the Dark Raider, the male feared by all in the kingdoms was strangely who I felt safest with. Yet he’d kidnapped me, stole my senses, locked me in this chamber, and had done it all to use my lorafin skills to his advantage.
The conundrum of skewing emotions he brought out in me again took hold, like a clamping fist around my heart. Yet I leaned forward anyway and wrapped my arms around my legs. And as I settled in the soothing, hot water, the full meaning of his words hit me.
Not intentionally at least.
Once again, my heart wanted to believe those words to be true. That Jax had never wanted to hurt me. I thought back to how he’d taken lengths to explain things to me when we arrived in Jaggedston, when he had hurt me, but he’d seemed so remorseful, as though hurting me hurt him too.
Frowning, I let that truth sink in, and then I whispered, “I know you wouldn’t.” And somehow, the belief that he never wanted to cause me pain dug deep.
He exhaled a breath and raised the washcloth to my back. Fragrant scents of wildflowers rose from it. He ran the soft cloth across my skin, massaging it in circular motions. He touched me carefully to avoid any lingering bruises.
It felt so good that I closed my eyes. Never, in all of my memories, could I recall anyone ever caring for me like this. Not after a calling. Not as a child. Never.
Of course, as fae, we didn’t actually need to bathe. We could use our magic to self-cleanse, but soap always smelled fragrant and left my skin more moisturized than cleansing magic did. Taking baths was one of the few luxuries I truly enjoyed in my caged life, especially after callings.
“Does any of this hurt?” he asked quietly.
I shook my head. “No. It feels nice.”
“Good.” When he reached my neck, he did the same, except he used his hands to soothe my aching muscles after rubbing more soap all over me.
A low moan escaped me when his fingers worked deep into my stiff shoulders. He paused momentarily, his aura pulsing, but then he continued and took his time, thoroughly cleaning each area and massaging all of the hurt away .
He washed me everywhere, my back and each arm, and then he asked me to settle back in the tub so he could wash my legs.
Complying, I did as he asked even though all of me was visible when I lay supine. But even when I was naked before him, he kept his gaze firmly on safe areas only. It would have been so easy for him to ogle my breasts or leer at my female flesh, but he didn’t.
And I knew he truly wasn’t looking when the washcloth traveled over the mark on my lower stomach, the mark that signaled that I was a lorafin, and he didn’t so much as pause.
Instead, every movement Jax made was gentle, each touch reverent, and his gaze never strayed anywhere it shouldn’t.
From how serious his demeanor was, I wondered if only I was being affected by this strange encounter. Similar to the morning I’d woken in Fosterton, a heat began to rise inside me.
With each swipe of his hand running up my thighs, a clench of need tightened my belly. And with each caress of his fingers along my arms or the deep rub of his hands when he massaged my feet, a smattering of nerves tightened my core. I had to bite my lip to stop from moaning a few times.
It was embarrassing, this response he elicited in me so easily. Even though all of his touches were respectful, my starved body wanted more. I wanted him . Wanted him to touch me in the ways I’d never been touched. I wanted his fingers to slide inside me, his mouth to kiss my skin, his tongue to devour my breasts. Once again, I wanted to give him my virginity, and I was so aroused by the time he finished, I was nearly panting.
“Did you enjoy that?” he asked in a low raspy tone.
I dipped under the water to rinse all of the soap away. I ached fiercely, and I wanted nothing more than to let his fingers stray south to rub the small nub that would offer me release.
I resurfaced and nodded quickly. “I did. Thank you.”
His gaze locked onto mine, and his aura swelled. For a moment, we both stared at one another.
Not moving, my heart began to pound, and my breaths came faster until the need in me soared to a staggering height.
“I’ll get you a towel,” he said in a gruff voice.
Before I could respond, he strode to the counter even though towels waited on the stool right beside me. When he reached it, he placed his palms on the counter’s smooth stone. For a moment he just stood there, his shoulders tense, his backside taut, his chest rising with deep breaths.
The power of his aura strummed through the room, but with a sharp inhale, he straightened and grabbed a towel off the shelf near the frosted window.
Turning back around, he approached the tub, but he was careful to keep his gaze averted. At the tub’s side, he snapped open the towel and gazed entirely upward, his chin tilting back until he stared at the ceiling.
The need inside me spiraled to an entirely new level as I gazed at his broad chest, strong throat, and square jaw, which he probably hadn’t even realized he’d just revealed in that movement. Since he’d spent so long massaging me, my muscles no longer ached, and the only thing that pulsed now was my female flesh.
Standing, I forced myself to breathe deeply and ignore the curling inside me. Water dripped down my limbs, trailing over my scorched skin.
Jax’s breath sucked in when my fingers brushed his as I grasped the towel.
I hastily wrapped it around myself. He didn’t move. He still stood tense, his body looking entirely on edge.
I was so tempted to glance down and see if there was evidence of his arousal. It would be so easy. One tiny look south of his waistband would confirm if he was as turned on as me. Despite his new, fancy clothes, his slacks wouldn’t hide an erection completely.
But as soon as that thought came to me, it fled. Jax had been nothing but respectful and courteous to me in the time since he’d entered this bathing chamber, and I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but show him the same respect in return.
“Thank you.” I knotted the towel at my front.
He backed up and gave a curt nod. “I’ll leave you to get dressed, if you’re all right?”
I nodded hastily. “I am. Again, thank you.”
He walked stiffly to the door, and even though I couldn’t see his face, I did hear him inhale. His jaw snapped before he strode away, and it struck me that with his sensory magic, it was possible he could detect heightened scents, which meant it was possible he could smell how incredibly aroused I was now.
And had been in Fosterton.
But if he was aware, he didn’t comment. The sound of the door opening and closing came next, and then a fierce emptiness consumed me.
Out of the tub, I sank to the bathing chamber’s floor as conflicting emotions rose within me again and again, pummeling my conscience and making me second-guess and rethink everything.
Because I’d just experienced the most erotic encounter I’d ever had with a male, and it was with a male who was as elusive to me as our distant stars.