Chapter 15
RUVON
Ruvon closed the bathroom door behind him and groaned.
What a coward he was. He'd left Arezoo standing there in her white bra and panties. On their wedding night, he'd left his bride standing nearly naked in their bedroom while he fled to draw a bath, as if that was the most important task he had to perform tonight.
She was so beautiful.
And so brave.
She'd dropped her arms to her sides and let him see her, which he hadn't been sure she'd be able to do.
The girl who'd flinched at the brush of his fingers not too long ago had stood in his bedroom in skimpy white lace underwear that covered next to nothing, and instead of telling her how beautiful she was a thousand times and pulling her into his arms, he'd said it only once and then asked if he could draw her a bath.
He should have taken her in his arms and kissed her. That was what he'd been supposed to do in response to her courage.
Instead, he'd fled to the bathroom.
Ruvon leaned over the bathtub and turned the tap, adjusting the temperature until it was just right.
He should go back and apologize for fleeing, and then he should kiss her. It was a simple plan, and all it required was to remove his hand from under the spray, straighten up, and walk out of the bathroom.
Ruvon didn't move.
The door opened.
He turned.
Arezoo was standing in the doorway, still in her white underclothes, with one arm now across her stomach, looking uncertain.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
"For what?"
He got up and crossed the bathroom in two steps before his brain could stop him, and took her hands, lacing his fingers through hers.
"You are so beautiful. I should have told you that over and over again. I should have kissed you instead of rushing to fill the tub. I'm sorry."
Her eyes went wide. "You did tell me that I was beautiful, and I asked you to draw the bath for me."
He'd been the one who'd offered to do so, but he was not going to argue about semantics.
"It could have waited for a few moments while I told you all the ways in which you are beautiful.
You're beautiful in your white dress, you're beautiful out of it, you're beautiful with your hair down, and you're beautiful with it up.
There is not a single moment in all the time I've known you that you were less than perfect. "
She opened her mouth, probably to say something about not being perfect, but he didn't give her a chance to do so. He leaned down and kissed her.
It wasn't a careful kiss. It wasn't the polite, contained kiss they'd shared at the altar that afternoon in front of their guests. This was the kiss he'd been holding since they had stepped out of the cart in front of the house that they were going to share as a married couple.
Arezoo made a surprised sound, her hands threaded into the front of his shirt, and she pulled him closer.
He hadn't expected that, and it undid him.
Letting go of her hands, he circled her waist. Her skin under his palms was warm and soft, and she kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm.
Her mouth opened under his. His tongue found hers.
One of his hands slid up the line of her spine, and she shivered, and he felt the shiver in his chest more than in his hand.
"Ruvon," she whispered against his mouth, and it didn't sound like a request to stop.
"Yes."
"The water."
The water?
The haze parted just enough to register the sound that had been building behind them while he'd been busy losing his mind. The bathtub had overfilled, and the water was lapping over the rim and onto the bathroom floor.
"Damn."
He let go of her and lunged for the tap.
He hit it so hard that he probably damaged it and slapped the drain lever.
Water gurgled angrily. The level inside the tub dropped slowly, and the puddle on the floor stopped expanding.
There was perhaps a centimeter of standing water around the base of the tub now, soaking the edge of the bathmat and creeping toward the door.
Behind him, Arezoo emitted a small, choked sound of laughter, and then broke loose into full giggles, the helpless kind that happened when she was already strung tight and got pushed past the point where holding still was possible.
She was bent forward with one hand pressed to her stomach and the other braced against the vanity, and her shoulders were shaking, and Ruvon, who was standing in the puddle in his tuxedo trousers, started laughing too.
"I drew you a bath," he said, gesturing at the disaster. "Welcome home."
"It's a flood."
"I guess I over-delivered."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Yes, you did."
She shook her head, pushed off the vanity, and walked over to him.
Suddenly, Ruvon had trouble drawing in a breath again.
Arezoo stopped in front of him, looked at the tub, then the puddle on the floor, then looked up at him.
"Is the water still warm?" she asked.
Her hair had come loose from the elaborate wedding style, and the dark waves framed her face, cascading down over the white lace of her bra.
"I don't see why not." He bent and tested it with his hand. "It's good." He plugged the drain.
"Wonderful. I can't wait to soak in it."
She reached behind her back and undid the clasp of her bra with a quick, economical movement. As the straps slipped down her shoulders, she caught the bra with her free hand and set it on the vanity counter.
He was trying to remember how to breathe when she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties, slid them off in a single motion, and stepped out of them.
While Ruvon was still crouched next to the tub, too dumbfounded to move, Arezoo straightened, gathered her hair up in both hands, and twisted it into a knot on top of her head, securing the end into the knot she'd made.
His brain had registered that his bride had just removed all her clothing in his bathroom, and his lungs were screaming for oxygen he'd forgotten how to draw.
She was—
He didn't have words, even though he spoke five languages.
None of them was available to him in this moment.
She smiled at him, a little shyly, but without fear or hesitation in her eyes.
"Help me into the tub? I don't want to slip on the puddle."
He didn't remember deciding to move, but he was on his feet in an instant, reaching for her hand and steadying her as she stepped over the rim of the tub into the water.
Arezoo lowered herself slowly, probably because the water was still slightly too hot for her, but when her shoulders went under, she tipped her chin up and closed her eyes. The long sigh she emitted was followed by a total relaxation of her muscles and a small smile curving her lips.
"This feels so good," she murmured.
Ruvon stood beside the tub, not sure what he was supposed to do next.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Will you wash me? I'm too tired to lift a finger."
He swallowed, and without the ability to make sounds, all he could do was nod.
She closed her eyes again and tipped her head back against the rim of the tub.
He turned, pulling a washcloth from a stack by the tub and reaching for a bottle of liquid soap.
He uncapped the liquid soap and squirted some onto the cloth.
The smell that came up off it was faintly herbal, and as Ruvon held the cloth in his hand, he considered the geography of the exquisite female body in the tub in front of him and chose, after a long moment of consideration, to start with her foot.
It was the safest spot.
Sitting on the edge of the tub, he lifted her right foot out of the water.
It looked so small in his hand, her tiny toes were tipped with nails that were painted with pale pink polish. The dainty foot reminded him that his bride was very small compared to him, and that he needed to handle her with extreme care.
As he passed the cloth gently over the arch of her foot, she made a small, contented sound and didn't open her eyes.
He worked the cloth between her toes, one at a time, and cleaned the small space under her ankle.
Turning her foot over to wash the heel, he noticed a small blister that had formed where the strap of her wedding shoe had cut into the side of her foot.
If everything went well, the blister would be gone by tomorrow morning.
His venom had healing properties.
The mere thought of that had his fangs elongate and punch out over his lower lip in under a second. Thankfully, Arezoo's eyes were still closed. He forced his fangs to retreat.
Ruvon moved to the other foot, taking longer with it than with the first.
Arezoo's smile got wider.
"Are you enjoying this?" he said, just to check that he could still form words.
"It feels wonderful."
"I'm glad."
"But at the rate you're going, the water is going to get cold before you are done."
He froze with the washcloth draped over her left heel.
She opened her eyes, looking at him from under lowered lashes with that smile still curving her lips.
She was teasing him.
His shy virgin bride was teasing him while lying naked in their bathtub on their wedding night.
It was ridiculous.
He was a one-hundred-and-thirty-seven-year-old immortal, had been a soldier in the Brotherhood army, which was probably the most savage army in the world, had been a fugitive on two different continents, and now he served as head of security for one of the most brilliant and dangerous males in the world.
And yet here he was, more nervous on his wedding night than his nineteen-year-old, virgin, human bride.
He set her left foot gently back into the water, soaped the cloth again, and moved on to her left calf. Arezoo sighed as he began to draw the cloth up the curve of it and settled deeper against the rim of the tub with a small, contented smile on her face.