Chapter 17 #3
I cock my head, my brow furrowing in confusion. “A cursed bear?”
“No, a normal one.” There’s dark humor in his voice. “There was a village that kept losing all their livestock. They’d convinced themselves it was a Leshen. Do you know what—”
“They’re forest spirits,” I cut him off. “I know. I’ve read about a lot of things even if I haven’t actually seen them. I thought Leshens weren’t usually dangerous, though.”
“They’re not. Not unless you fuck with them, then they’re vicious. Never heard of one that went after livestock, but our alpha believed it was possible.”
I smile as I run my fingers through my wet hair, combing out the tangles. “But it was really just a bear?”
“Yeah. Good thing too. If it had been a Leshen, I wouldn’t be here.”
I giggle. “You’re saying there’s a monster you’re afraid of? I’m shocked.”
He scoffs. “‘Course I was fucking afraid. I was twelve.”
The smile slides off my face. “You said before that there are a lot of deaths.”
“There are. It’s something that you get used to.”
My stomach twists. He’s so direct about all of it, seeming unconcerned by his own potential death or the deaths of friends, but I know he can’t really be so indifferent to it. I want to comfort him somehow. Reach out and…do something.
Fox clears his throat. “Do you want the soap now?”
I startle and flip over in the water. “Sorry?”
“I’m finished with the soap.”
“Oh, alright.” I bite my lip. “I don’t know how to take it from you without, uh, looking.”
He makes a sound in his throat that I can’t interpret—not quite a growl and not quite a whine.
“What was that?”
He clears his throat. “Nothing. I’ll leave it on the rocks in the middle, then you can go get it.”
I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “Alright.”
The prickling awareness on the back of my spine starts up again as I hear the water shifting and him moving toward the center of the pool behind me.
The sound of his breathing grows heavier, more distinct.
My skin burns where I imagine his gaze might land, and I have to lock my muscles in place to keep from turning around.
I wonder if Fox is thinking the same thing? Probably. I’m sure he still wants me, at least physically, and if I turned around right now and announced I wanted to go back to how things were before, I doubt he would say no. But how long would that work before I couldn’t do it anymore?
I’ve never been the type to hide how I feel.
As embarrassing as all this has been, I don’t think I would change it.
I wouldn’t want to continue our casual relationship while secretly wanting more.
But now that it’s not a secret…now what?
Maybe as long as expectations were clear I could keep my feelings separated?
“You can get the soap now,” Fox says, his hoarse voice sounding like it’s coming from the other side of the pool again.
“Oh, thanks.” I glance back very quickly to see that the soap is now lying on the bank, then swim over to grab it, returning to my original side of the pool.
I work the soap between my palms until it forms a thin lather, then drag it across my collarbone, down over my breasts and across my tight, sensitive nipples.
I wonder if he’s watching me. Part of me wouldn’t be upset if he were. Part of me even wants it. I want to think that he’s as distracted by me as I am by him, and that it’s difficult for him to keep from looking at me.
“What happened to the bear?” I ask.
Fox’s voice comes out strained. “What?”
“Tell me what happened to the bear that was eating all the livestock.”
“Oh. I killed it.”
“Of course you did.”
“It was dangerous.”
“It sounds to me like it was just hungry.” I say offhandedly, as I lift my heavy wet hair off my neck to wash behind my ears. “Did you ever think that maybe giving it something else to eat could fix the problem? Maybe it had babies to feed.”
Fox makes an outraged choking sound. “You’re unbelievable. You probably would have tried to make friends with it.”
I make an indignant sound and before I realize what I’m doing, I spin around to glare at him, sending ripples through the pool and tiny waves slapping against the rocks. My breath catches in my throat, and the incessant throbbing between my legs becomes impossible to ignore.
Just like he promised, Fox has his back to me, and I quickly take in everything from the defined muscles of his back, to the black tattoos across his shoulder blades, to the water lapping at the dimples just above the curve of his perfect ass.
My splashing must draw his attention, because Fox turns his head just enough that one ice-blue eye meets mine over his shoulder. His pupil dilates in the split second before we both freeze.
For a long, silent beat we just stay there, watching each other.
Fox’s eyes linger on mine, then slowly, deliberately, his gaze slides downward—tracing my throat, my collarbone, my breasts—before snapping back up to meet mine with a question and a challenge written plainly across his face.
It’s if he’s asking if I still want this, and in the same breath, daring me to do something about it.
My heart pounds too fast, too heavy, making my chest ache.
Instantly, I’m thrown back to that first time I went to his room, and the thought makes the throbbing between my legs so intense that I have to press my thighs together beneath the water.
My entire body is screaming at me to say something—or better yet, do something—but there’s still this little voice in the back of my head who knows it’s a bad idea.
I break his stare, heart stuttering, and dunk my head under the water as if to rinse the last of the soap from my long hair.
I break the surface of the water with a gasp, droplets cascading from my hair, only to find Fox has retreated to the far edge of the pool, one hand already gripping the rocky bank like he can’t escape fast enough.
“Sorry,” he says flatly without turning to look at me.
“Don’t be,” I gasp.
“Are you ready to leave?”
I murmur in agreement, turning to my side of the pool and also climbing out of the water. The cool air immediately clings to my wet skin and I shiver as I reach for my clothes.