7. Kiaran #2
Tonight, I asked her to not track so much dirt in after her evening dip in the pond and she responded by asking me to come with her.
I started to remind her that I am confined to the walls of this cottage, but before I could she called out, “Oh, that’s right!
You can’t.” Laughing her way to the water.
She was driving me insane.
But as I watched her waltz in for dinner, I noticed she left her boots on the porch.
I saw the tub in the bathroom steaming with candles lit around it. Fern had perfected the art of romanticizing everything.
Amelie floated in that direction. Deciding against my better judgment and with absolutely no plan in mind, I followed behind her. When my chest met her back, she spun and took in a sharp breath .
“I’m going to clean up before dinner. Did you need something in here?”
At a loss for words and knowing that I hadn’t been able to piss her off yet, I went with being territorial. “That bath is for me. I asked Fern to run it just moments before you came inside.”
She pinched her brows together and looked up at me through her dark, thick lashes. “You bathe?” Her tongue lingered on her lips as she taunted me.
Fucking hell. I’m going to kill her.
“I do, and this one is mine. Move, or I’ll move you.”
She’d cemented herself in the doorway so I picked her up by her shoulders and set her to the side, then walked into the bathroom.
“Can we share the bath?”
Coming to a complete stop, I replayed the last thirty seconds in my mind because I couldn’t recall giving her any illusion that bathing together would be appropriate right now.
“Sorry?” That was the best I could come up with because this woman was unbelievable.
“I’m dirty. I don’t want to show up for Fern’s exquisite dinner in this filth. My brothers and I had to do it all the time when we were young so we could all have hot water.” She was sure of herself, as if bathing together wasn’t an extremely intimate act.
Trying to remain as cool and in control as possible, I let out a long breath. “Fine, but don’t get any ideas about this. Keep your undergarments on, and I’ll keep mine on.” I hoped that would set a clear boundary between the two of us.
Then, I undressed for a bath that I didn’t need.
She started back up again as I dropped my lounge pants on the floor hesitantly. “Duh, Kiaran. No funny ideas from me. I’m not sure losing my virginity to a Witch would earn me points in Heaven.”
This time, she dropped what felt like an explosive in the room and I considered grabbing the towel and throwing it over her body. “If you’re a virgin, then we should definitely not bathe together.”
She laughed, throwing her top on the floor and sank one leg into the tub. I stood at the sink, trying to gain any semblance of control.
“I thought we weren’t getting any ideas, magic man.” She tried to give me a wink, but failed miserably. So, she blinked, basically.
“Don’t call me magic man.”
Her body was on display to me, and it was taking everything in me to not wrap my arm around her waist and pull her leg up over my hip. What I would do with a fist full of her hair and my mouth on–
Oh fuck. Get it together, man. She’s a virgin.
But–
Stop ! I shouted at myself inside my own head. Thank her God she couldn’t hear my thoughts like I could hers.
I’ll chalk that up to being forcibly celibate for two centuries.
She plopped down on one end of the tub and rested her hands on the lip. “Get in Kiaran. Stop making this more than it is.”
I did as I was told because, apparently, people could tell me what to do now. Or at least she could. But not before stretching the tub with a snap of my fingers so there was little chance of any stolen touches below the bubbles.
Sitting on the opposite end from Amelie, I stared at the outline of her jaw as she relaxed against the tub’s edge. This woman was nothing like the ones I knew at home. She was celestial but in a way that held no magic at all.
Craning her neck back upright, she broke the silence. “Why were you cursed?” She lazily played with the bubbles floating across the top of the water.
“Story for another day. My turn, where did the bruises you showed up with come from?” If she wanted to ask the questions she knew we both didn’t want to answer, then fine.
Her shoulders tensed. Fear etched her face, making my skin heat, remembering her bruised face when she first arrived. She let it all roll off her shoulders and into the steam hovering over the bath, letting out a long breath, “Next question.” Her voice was a broken whisper.
I reached through the bath water and took her trembling hands in mine. “You know you’re safe with me, right?” If the answer was no, I wouldn’t blame her. I haven’t exactly been welcoming.
When she lifted her gaze, her eyes were full of unshed tears. I felt a crack form in my heart.
Her head nodded slowly, as if trying to convince herself it was true.
“Tell me about your family.” Fuck, I hope her family didn’t put those bruises on her face.
Amelie’s watery smile appeared, endearing whatever thoughts flitted through her mind.
“I have three little brothers, Wren, Hansel and Tildan,” she started. “Wren is a cranky old man in a thirteen year old’s body, Hansel’s a dreamer—happiest seven year old you’ll ever…” She stopped. Swallowing thick and wiping a traitorous tear away.
“Hansel and I are the most alike. Then Tildan’s the baby. They all have my dad’s pretty brown eyes.” She stared at her fingers beneath the suds.
“You have pretty eyes.” I kind of blurted it, but I meant to say it. Her eyes were fucking gorgeous.
“Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “What about your parents?”
Amelie chewed on her lip. “Next question.”
Knowing that she used levity to break up her sad thoughts, I leaned back to my side of the tub. “I think it’s strange that the books that pique your interest the most are about alchemy.”
She smiled at that. “That’s not a question, Kiaran. ”
“I know. But you seem like a girl who would much rather enjoy a steamy romance or fairy tale.”
Her cheeks flattened her eyes, a sweet smile replacing the sad one. “I do love fairy tales, and a steamy romance story, but I don’t need books for that.” She had fire pulsing through her eyes. “Every night while I sleep, I dream?—”
“Everyone has dreams, Amelie,” I deadpanned.
She rolled her eyes. “But not everyone can remember them like I can. I used to ask the girls at school. Usually, they’d forget them when they woke up,” she explained.
“Okay. Continue.”
“So, I get to be all kinds of fairy tale characters. I’ve been a ballerina, a princess, a fairy, and even a huntress who protects the woods from bad guys.
Then, at the end of the dream, my knight in shining armor comes and whisks me away.
We always live happily ever after, and because of that, I’ve never wanted to read another romance. I just replay my own.”
“Aren’t you a little old to be wishing on knights in shining armor to come to your rescue?” I tried to relax into the unfamiliar situation a bit, but her eyes kept teasing me. Her gaze continued to trace the bounds of my face and every time she did, I felt my heart skip a little.
“Not when you grow up the way I did. You never stop dreaming of someone coming to save you.”