Chapter 8
Rayna
In the five-plus hours Dominic slept after Ash had put him under, Rayna had packed a suitcase at her house, while River had collected clothes roughly in Dominic’s size from the lab wardrobe.
Then she’d driven herself to the farmhouse she and Dominic would be calling home for the next four months before he too was transferred there in his state of slumber.
She was sitting in a navy, velvet armchair next to the wooden bedside cabinet and double bed placed in the corner of his bedroom when he awoke groggily. But the moment he spotted her, his eyes glowed wolfish and bright, and he flashed her a lopsided smile.
“Well, this is a lovely surprise,” he purred so damn huskily that it vibrated in her belly.
He didn’t seem to think it was as lovely, though, when he wobbled to push himself upright as she let him know he was in the farmhouse.
After which she gave him the option to eat or wash, and then laughed when he asked for a servant to run him a bath.
She delighted in the way his expression slowly dropped as she explained there were no servants.
“What you mean to say is that you would like me to do everything I have always had done for me by myself?” he confirmed in humoured disbelief. “I would be the joke of the ton if anyone caught word of this, little witch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s a good thing none of them are going to find out then. And I didn’t say you’d have to do everything by yourself.” She pointed a warning finger at him. “But I won’t be ordered around like a servant, so don’t even try to, or we’re gonna have serious problems.”
He leaned into her and grinned with playful exaggeration. “Ah, but I wouldn’t dare do so.”
His ensuite bathroom was tucked in an alcove at the end of his bed, along with a built-in wardrobe. She instructed him to drink the glass of water on the cabinet while she prepped his bath and put out the shaving kit he asked for.
When she came back out as the water was running, Rayna watched as Dominic struggled to get himself up from the bed. She might not have felt remorse when Ash put him to sleep in the lab after the way he’d acted, but her skin pinched from the inside in that moment.
It wasn’t just that the anaesthesia hadn’t worn off properly, but the past two weeks hadn’t been easy for him, and it’d clearly taken a toll on his body.
But he was a man who’d grown up in an environment where his pride was everything.
He didn’t and wouldn’t ask for help, especially not from her. Neves forbid a woman see him as human.
So rather than waiting or offering, she announced her assistance under a guise so he couldn’t argue.
“I’m going to help you bath this once because you have no idea what anything is in there, and by the time I finish explaining everything, your bath will’ve gone cold,” she said, digging through the chest of drawers along the wall of the bedroom door.
“You’ve got five minutes to put these boxers—I mean, smalls—on and get in the tub while I wait outside. ”
Of course, he was shocked. By both her offer and the size of the black boxers she dangled in front of him.
He tried to argue that it wasn’t right for her to bathe him, suddenly deciding he was actually an easily scandalised nobleman rather than a flirtatious oaf, but she walked out of the room, ignoring him.
Fifteen minutes later, Rayna was sitting on a little black stool to the side of the white bathtub in the white-tiled and grey wood bathroom, while Dominic was sitting in the tub, the soapy water rippling against his upper abdomen.
She was trying to shave his foam-painted jaw, but she’d made little to no progress.
He was more interested in yapping away questions like a starry-eyed child about the “glass cuboid in the corner with the watering can in it” to the humming of the fan in the background, and the blue shaving gel turning white in the palm of his hand.
“But what causes the chemical reaction?” he asked, dipping his chin just as she brought the razor to his face.
“Dominic,” she snapped.
He lifted his wide, curious gaze to her. Two clean-shaven streaks exposed a permanent shadow on his chiselled jawline.
She brandished the blade. “Sit. Still.”
He grinned sheepishly. “Apologies, sweetheart.”
Washing his unbandaged hands in the bathwater, he faced her again, then crossed his bulky arms over the flat rim of the tub with all the laziness of a big cat.
She held his chin and began shaving the rest of his cheek, trying and failing not to sneak appreciative glances at him every time she washed the razor in the small bowl gripped between her knees.
It irritated her that she couldn’t tame her own eyes, but she told herself most people would have struggled not to notice the masculine nakedness of him.
And there was a lot of him. A lot of attractive parts.
Not that her belly hummed at his attractiveness. No, no. Just...objectively speaking.
The stark contrast between the white of the bathtub and his bronzed skin spoke volumes for how much time he spent in the sun shirtless, because the tan blended evenly from his thick neck all the way down his chest. With how close he was, his shoulders seemed twice the size of hers.
And she could try to count each indent of muscle, but she’d be counting for ages.
He was hairy too—a nice kind of hairy all over.
The fleece she’d glimpsed on his arms and chest earlier in the day painted what she’d seen of his legs too and down his torso to under the soapy water.
She absolutely hated that she knew the colour of his nipples, but with the hair on his chest wet, it was impossible to miss the distinct flat pebbles of copper brown.
She was almost thankful for the distraction when he started talking again.
“No woman has ever shaved me before,” he muttered as she cleared the last strip of white foam from one cheek.
“I am beginning to wonder why. It is rather pleasant watching you concentrate so sweetly, while your delicate fingers touch my face.” He sank closer.
“Then again, I doubt it would feel thus if it were anyone other than you, sweet Rayna.”
Her eyes flattened into unimpressed slits, making him grin. She pinched his chin and jerked his face away rougher than necessary, so his other cheek was visible. He hissed a little discontented sound, but his gaze never left her.
“You’re a lot happier about this now than when I suggested it,” she said.
“Well, how could I not have some reservations when this is an entirely unnatural situation? That is not to say I did not want it. But while you have no concern for your virtue, I am still inclined to consider your modesty. I am not a man who takes pleasure in ruining women.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he beat her to it.
“But ruin is not possible, is it?” He defied the grip of her fingers and faced her.
“Which is why I am shamelessly basking in your attention like a feline under the sun.” He traced a single finger against her jaw and tucked it under her chin.
“You are as temptingly warm and as beautiful as a summer’s sky, Rayna. ”
He chucked her chin lightly, and she couldn’t help grinning with her brows pinched.
His flirtatious words were so disgustingly poetic. The kind of romantic, cheesy nonsense that Rayna didn’t care for, which made it all the funnier and cringeworthy.
“Shameless you are,” she agreed with a shake of her head. “And warm I won’t be if you don’t turn your head and let me finish.”
Technically, she should have been discouraging him from flirting with her. But it was harmless entertainment, and it wasn’t as if it would lead anywhere, so she didn’t see the point of telling him to stop. She doubted he’d go down without a fight anyway, which wasn’t worth the effort.
Once Dominic turned his face, she finished shaving his cheek, upper lip, and under his jaw. Then she took the razor, bowl, and can of shaving foam back to the sink by the door and soaked a small flannel in warm water before taking it to him.
“Close your eyes,” she instructed.
He didn’t, instead choosing to watch her closely as she wiped his face of any residue. And damn him, because the weight of his piercing stare was impossible to ignore, and it made the simple, innocent task feel unnecessarily intimate.
It wasn’t until she pulled the towel away that she noticed the murky look of concern and regret dimming his irises, his attention falling below her chin.
She knew what he was looking at and dipped her head. “I’m fine,” she said, swivelling to stand.
Dominic caught her around the elbow, holding her in place with a bitter twist on his lips.
“You are not fine. You have marks on your neck that I…” He swallowed like it pained him and shook his head.
“I should never have…I did not think—I did not even take a moment to look at you, but if I had, I would not have hurt you. I should not have hurt you. I apologise, Rayna. I deeply regret what I did.”
He meant it with all his being. From the way his brows were drawn down to the little croak in his voice as he apologised. And if she’d needed to forgive him for strangling her, she would have right then and there.
“I meant what I said, Dominic. It’s fine.
I’m fine. I completely understand your reaction.
You were scared and angry, so you lashed out, and I can’t fault you for that.
Neither am I pitying you, so don’t try to act all big and tell me that wasn’t the reason for it.
You did what you did to protect yourself.
” She shrugged and stood up, his hand slipping from her arm.
“And anyway, it’s not as if I didn’t know that you might react like that before I went in. ”
His jaw shifted several times, and his brows twitched like he was struggling to process what she’d said. Leaving him in his bemused state, she headed to the sink to dump the flannel.