In Gentle Hands
Aurora POV
Oh.
My face erupted in flames. I slapped both hands over my cheeks, desperately hoping the eight years of dirt and soot were thick enough to hide the violent, crimson blush that had just taken over my entire body.
I hadn’t meant to project that! I didn’t even fully understand how the mate bond worked yet.
I thought it was just a tether, a magical string connecting two souls.
Not… whatever this was. Some unshielded current of magic flinging my most scandalous, sleep-starved thoughts straight into the Alpha King’s head.
I watched him practically flee toward the bathroom, his broad shoulders tense and his movements rigid with forced restraint. Even retreating, the man was a masterpiece of lethal grace.
I groaned softly, burying my face in the heavy wool of his cloak.
My body was absolutely humming. It wasn’t just a flutter of nerves; I felt like I was literally on fire.
The heat pooled heavy and insistent in my lower belly, sending a cascade of sparks along every nerve ending.
The air in the room felt thick, charged with the sweet, heavy scent of my own arousal mixing with the lingering storm-and-cedar musk he had left behind.
Is this what it meant to find your mate?
The elders back in Argentis had taught us the theory of the Spark.
They spoke of the bond in hushed, reverent tones, describing it as a “profound alignment of souls.”
But theory was a dry, dusty thing. No one had warned me that the reality involved your blood turning to lava, your wolf completely losing its mind, and your mate’s eyes going pitch black just because you had a passing thought about the thread count of his sheets.
For nearly a decade, my body had known nothing but cold, hunger, and the sharp spike of adrenaline that came with fighting for my life. I had shut down every soft desire just to survive.
Now, in the span of a single hour, all of it had come rushing back in a tidal wave. The sheer intensity of it was terrifying, overwhelming... and completely intoxicating.
I lowered the cloak slightly, listening to the sound of water rushing from the heavy brass taps in the adjoining bathroom. Steam was already beginning to curl out of the open doorway, catching the warm light of the lanterns.
My wolf stretched lazily in my mind, immensely pleased with the chaos she had just caused, and nudged me forward. Go to him.
Taking a shaky breath, I made a decision and let the heavy travel cloak slide from my shoulders, pooling on the floor, and forced my trembling legs to stand up. He was going to see me naked anyways at some point, might as well be now.
----
Kieran POV
I was gripping the edge of the marble tub so hard the stone was threatening to crack under my fingers.
I had the brass taps turned on full blast, letting the steaming water fill the massive basin while I desperately tried to rein in the feral, pacing beast in my head. Control, I chanted to myself. She has been living in a war zone. Be a King. Be a gentleman.
Then, I heard the soft, heavy thud of my wool cloak hitting the bedroom floor.
I froze, the breath catching in my throat. I turned my head slowly toward the doorway just as Aurora stepped into the warm, lantern-lit steam of the bathroom.
Naked.
Bless the Moon Goddess, I prayed silently, my heart slamming against my ribs like a battering ram. My mate was going to make me lose my absolute mind.
I had a feeling she would be beautiful beneath the ash and the grime, but seeing her now, stripped of all her defenses, stole the very oxygen from the room.
She was more perfect than I could have ever imagined.
Despite eight years in the lethal, unforgiving wilderness of the Forbidden Lands, her skin seemed flawless beneath the dirt.
Her Argent healing magic had left her without a single blemish or scar.
My eyes, completely betraying my attempt at gentlemanly restraint, traced every inch of her. Her brilliant white hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing full, heavy breasts, a dangerously tight waist, and soft, flared hips that looked like they had been sculpted specifically for my hands.
My body reacted instantly, a heavy, undeniable surge of heat rushing south. I went hard, my arousal pressing uncomfortably tight against the thick fabric of my trousers. The mating bond hummed with violent, electric approval.
Aurora stopped in the doorway. She felt the spike of my desire through the bond, her eyes dropping instinctively to trace the rigid line of my tension.
For a second, I thought she might panic or retreat.
But the girl who had stared down a siege beast didn’t flinch.
Instead, a slow, incredibly pleased smile curved her lips.
The sweet, heavy scent of her arousal spiked in the steam, a siren song daring me to close the distance and throw my restraint out the window.
A ragged groan tore its way up my throat.
No, I told my wolf, who was currently howling in victory. Not yet. We take care of her first.
It took every ounce of willpower I possessed, the kind of discipline it took to rule a kingdom, to step away from the edge of the tub and hold out my hand.
“Come here,” I rasped, my voice thick and unrecognizable.
She walked toward me, the sway of her hips an exquisite kind of torture. She placed her small, soot-stained hand in mine. Her skin was shivering, the cool air of the castle finally hitting her bare form.
Keeping my gaze locked firmly on her eyes to preserve what little sanity I had left, I guided her toward the edge of the tub. “Step in. Slowly. It’s hot.”
She lifted one delicate foot over the marble edge and dipped her toes into the steaming water. Instantly, she flinched, her shoulders jerking up as the unfamiliar sensation of actual, heated water shocked her system after nearly a decade of freezing rivers and rain.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, keeping a steady, supportive grip on her hand. “Just breathe.”
She nodded, biting her lower lip, and lowered herself fully into the massive basin. The water rose to her collarbones, enveloping her in a cloud of lavender-scented steam.
The moment her body submerged, the fight left her. The rigid tension that had held her spine straight for eight years simply dissolved. She let out a long, shuddering sigh, her eyes fluttering shut as she melted completely into the warmth.
I knelt beside the tub, grabbing a soft linen cloth and a bar of soap, perfectly content to be the Alpha King brought to his knees, just to wash the war from her skin.
The water was already starting to turn a murky grey from the sheer volume of soot and dried mud clinging to her, but within seconds, the purification stones lining the bottom of the enormous basin flared with a soft, pulsing luminescence.
The magic went to work immediately, cycling the grime out and filtering the water back to a pristine, crystal clear state, leaving only the fragrant steam and the heat behind.
I dipped the cloth into the hot water, letting it soak up the rich, lathering soap before I reached out, my touch feather-light as I began to wipe away the streaks of dirt from her slender shoulders. Her skin was smooth and pale.
“I had almost forgotten,” she murmured, her voice a rough, sleepy rasp that sent a fresh jolt of heat straight to my groin. She let her head loll back against the smooth marble rim, exposing the long, delicate line of her throat. “How good this feels. The heat.”
“You’ve been bathing in the rivers, then?” I asked, my voice dangerously low as I dragged the warm cloth down her arm, mesmerized by the way her pale skin emerged, flawless and glowing, from beneath the grime of the Forbidden Lands.
She offered a small, self-deprecating laugh that vibrated through the mating bond.
“Rivers. Lakes, waterfalls if I was in the mood for a massage.”
She cracked one eye open, her gaze pinning me with a look of pure, unadulterated exhaustion mixed with lingering wonder.
“I didn’t really mind the cold. But after eight years... this feels like magic. I don’t think I’m ever getting out.”
“You can stay in here as long as you like,” I promised, shifting closer to work the soap across her collarbones, my knuckles brushing agonizingly close to the swell of her breasts.
The water magnified the sensation, the slick glide of the soap against her skin nearly undoing me.
“We have endless hot water. Enjoy it as much as you want.”
She let out another long sigh, the sound vibrating right through my chest via the bond.
The tension in her muscles, the phantom armor she had worn for survival, was finally, truly melting away, leaving behind a profound, aching vulnerability that made my wolf whine with the desperate need to protect her, to spoil her, to give her everything she had been denied for so many years.
I moved to her back, gently scrubbing away the dirt.
The purification stones hummed steadily beneath the surface, ensuring the water remained perfectly clean as I worked.
We fell into a comfortable, intimate silence, the only sounds the soft splashing of the water and the ragged, uneven cadence of my own breathing.