Chapter 34
Emmy stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom with her makeup, and realized her belly button piercing had closed up. She’d had it on for the Robber Bridegroom. When had it come out?
She’d brought three different rings, but they were in her room, along with the needles.
Deciding to figure it out later, she brushed some powder on her face and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She really needed to shower and wash it, but she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to manage that much yet. She was clean enough thanks to the baby wipes. It would have to do for now.
She went to the suite’s office and sat with the chair positioned so the blank wall served as her backdrop.
Rhea’s face came onto the screen, then Felix slid his face into the camera’s view, too, and Emmy gave them a big smile.
“Holy shit, you really are alive!” Felix said, his grin huge.
“Barely,” Emmy admitted. “How are you guys?”
“Better than you, by the looks of it,” Rhea said, but her expression was fond.
“You look like you got hit by the same truck as the rest of us,” Felix noted.
“Multiple times,” Emmy agreed. “But I’m eating solid food now. Scrambled eggs this morning.”
“Fancy.” Felix leaned closer to the camera. “The nurse said you got hit worse than everyone but Jake the snake, and he nearly died. The rumor is that it was a dragon poison, and it just happened to hit the other reptiles?”
“That’s what Zander says. Means if I’d gone aboveground to change, it would’ve killed me.”
“But you’re okay now?” Rhea’s eyes were searching Emmy’s face, and Emmy knew her friend was seeing more than just the illness.
“Getting there. Another few days and I’ll be back to normal.” Emmy shifted in the chair, suddenly aware of how different she felt — not just physically, but emotionally. She supposed nearly dying would do that to a person. “How’s everyone else?”
“We’re good,” Felix shrugged. “I’ve been doing a lot of changes so I can make tons of money, but I’ve taken myself off the availability schedule a few days.
Never thought I’d say I was completely fucked out, but…
” Another shrug. “Maren’s organizing a ‘we survived the poisoning’ party for when everyone’s healthy. ”
Emmy laughed, the sound genuine. “Of course she is.”
Rhea tilted her head, studying Emmy through the screen. “You look different. Good different. Like…” She paused, searching for words. “Like something changed.”
Emmy’s cheeks heated, and she hoped it could be blamed on the fever. “I thought I might die. I’ve never confronted my own mortality before. I’m supposed to live until someone kills me, and I guess I just didn’t expect that last part to actually ever happen.”
“Mm-hmm.” Rhea’s smile was knowing. “My birdie vision tells me that’s part of the truth.”
“It’s a big part of it, but…” she shrugged. “Spence has been great, and Zander took care of me while Spence slept. It’s been surreal, and I have no idea what that might mean, but other than brushing my hair and feeding me ice chips, nothing’s happened.”
They talked for another twenty minutes — Felix telling her about the Friday the 13th feeding frenzy the day before, with the flock dressed as Knights Templars, and the vampires as the King’s men.
Rhea updated her on the Versailles Carnival preparations and asked if anyone had come down for her costume fitting.
“No, but Spence promised me I can go, even if I’m still weak. He says he’ll put me on a throne so I can watch, and still have a reason to get all dressed up.”
When they finally disconnected, she opened her messages to see who’d texted her, and was surprised to see it was from Chase.
“I hear the reports of your death have been greatly exaggerated.”
She laughed at his goofiness and responded. “Thankfully, yes. How are things in warm Anchorage?”
“Freezing, of course. There are other rumors flying around. Are you prisoner or guest of the Master?”
“Patient might be the more accurate term. I’m being treated as guest, but I’m not actually sure they’d have let me leave until they figured out who poisoned us. So possibly a little of both.”
She considered making a joke about Zander keeping her alive so her father wouldn’t kill him, but that would be avoiding the facts, and he deserved her honesty.
“You know my big secret, that I need both a Dom who won’t submit and yet respects my dominance, and a submissive who needs pain. Turns out, there’s one of each of those down here.”
“Yes, I suppose there is, and I’m delighted for you. I’m also beyond relieved to hear you are okay after being poisoned.”
They texted back and forth a few minutes before saying goodbye, and she was about to make her way back to the bed when Spence appeared in the doorway. “How do you feel?”
“Tired but good.” Emmy stood carefully, testing her legs. They held, but she was pretty shaky.
“I’ve asked for one of the stools in the kitchen to be brought down. It’ll be fine in the shower, so when you’re ready, you won’t have to stand the whole time.”
He put his hands in his pockets and suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I can help, if you want. I know how to wash and condition hair.”
Emmy’s first instinct was to say no, that she could manage, but something in Spence’s expression stopped her. He wasn’t offering out of obligation. He wanted to help.
“Yeah,” she said softly. “That would be really nice.”
“Okay,” he said, and he seemed relieved. “Let’s get you back into bed so you can rest a little before we get started. I’ll set everything up, and once the stool gets here, we can get started.”
Emmy watched more of Buffy while she waited, and twenty minutes later, Spence walked her into the bathroom wearing only shorts, and he took them off before he helped her out of her clothes.
It was so fitting for a submissive to bare himself before helping her, but she didn’t mention it. She wanted to, but couldn’t figure out how to say it without being awkward, so she merely said, “Thank you.”
But he merely said, “It’s all part of taking care of you, and I want to thank you for letting me into your life enough to help.”
He supported her back while she sat on the stool, and then placed the handheld shower unit in her hands before he turned the water on.
“I’ll set it to what I prefer,” he told her, “and you can let me know if you want it cooler or warmer.”
It was fine from the start, the perfect amount of warm without being too hot.
Spence wet her hair before shampooing it, his strong hands massaging her scalp, working the lather through her hair with practiced efficiency.
Emmy’s eyes drifted closed, her body relaxing under his skillful fingers, soothing her while they worked her scalp.
“You’re really good at this.” Emmy’s voice came out quieter than she’d intended, but werewolves have excellent hearing.
“I like taking care of people.” His fingers moved to her temples, applying gentle pressure that made Emmy sigh. “It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am. Now, as an adult, I’m happy to have been trained in all the ways to pleasure people, both sexual and nonsexual.”
“I’m sorry you were forced into it as a child, and I’m glad the ones who did it are dead.”
“Some are enslaved now. Not all are dead.”
“Even better. I’m happy for you, that you’ve found a life that fits your needs.”
Because for service submissives, the act of serving was everything — and by offering his service to her, he was offering part of himself.
“I honor your service. I’m not in a place to show you that yet, so I’ll have to just say it.”
“I like that yet in there. You should know that Zander’s given me permission to service you in any non-sexual way I feel is appropriate for now, and he feels I’ll be given permission to service you sexually once you’re fully healed, should you wish for me to.”
“Permission? Not an order?”
“No, not an order. My only orders regarding you have to do with the nurse’s instructions, which are mainly about keeping you hydrated, what I can and can’t offer for food and drink, taking your temperature, and noting any changes to your heart rate or respiration.”
“Do you know what happened to my belly button ring?”
“Yes. We took it out when you were unconscious. The nurse said the silver content was fine when you were at one hundred percent, but with you so sick, any extra stressors were unacceptable.”
“Thank you, and I’m sorry you had to do that.”
He sighed. “I tried, but it burned my fingers pretty badly. Zander put gloves on and took it out. Burned him, too, but he pushed power into his hands and healed them, after. I suggested bringing Felix down to do it, but Zander can be kind of hardheaded, sometimes.”
Emmy felt genuinely bad that they’d hurt themselves taking care of her. Vampires and werewolves are some of the most sensitive, when it comes to silver.
Spence rinsed the shampoo away, then applied conditioner with the same methodical care, working it through her hair from root to tip. He let it sit while he soaped a washcloth and handed it to her.
“For your face and neck,” he explained. “And chest. And wherever else needs it.”
And then he went to his knees before her and washed one foot and calf up to her knee, then the other. He did the tops of both thighs, and finally moved around behind her and washed her back.
Emmy washed her boobs and stomach with the face cloth, and figured she’d do her groin once she stood.
Spence rinsed all the soap he’d put onto her, and then took his time rinsing the conditioner, his fingers gentle against her scalp.
When he finished, he handed her the shower unit, and then held her when she stood and propped her left leg on the stool.
She cleaned her crotch first, then her butt crack and asshole, and finally rinsed it all, with a final rinse of her shoulders and front, another of her face.
She turned the water off, and Spence took the handheld unit from her, settled it back into place, and then wrapped a towel around her body, rolling it down and tucking it just above her boobs so it stayed.