Chapter Seven
Evelyn
I expected to feel more shame.
Maybe it hadn’t hit yet, or maybe it was because Asher was the winner, but I expected to feel dirty and used and trapped and helpless. Like there was never any choice in the matter.
Part of me still felt a little like that, but because of Killian. If he hadn’t found my stash of money, if he hadn’t been an abusive piece of shit, if I hadn’t let him cut me off from my entire support system, if I had managed to leave earlier.
Which was bullshit. I splashed the bubbles in front of me in a way to push the thoughts away. I did what I could. I was getting out. All I needed was that final check, and he’d never see me again.
“How are you feeling?” Asher said, horns poking around the door before his face came into view. “Water still a good temperature?”
“Yes.” He nodded and his horns started to back out, so I blurted out, “Do you want to join me?”
His eyes came back into view. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He pushed the door open and stepped in, closing it behind him to keep the steam locked in the room, and began undressing.
It was difficult to look away from him as he bared his body, so I didn’t.
Absolutely beautiful minotaur, his body perfect as he stepped out of his shorts, his cock hanging heavy between thick, furred thighs.
I was a fucking idiot to ever let him go.
I scooted up in the massive tub, obviously built for massive bodies, and waited for him to settle in behind me. Hands around my waist pulled me back into his chest, and we settled in the warm water.
“There’s a celebratory dinner tonight,” he said after a beat of silence. “It’s a private one with the participants and the organizers, and then a massive afterparty with anyone who wants to join. The winner doesn’t usually join that one, but if you—”
“The dinner sounds nice,” I cut in, “but I don’t want to do anything big or around a lot of people.”
He nodded against my hair, some of the tension washing out of him.
“When do I get my payment?”
“At dinner. They’ll present you with a check and a basket filled with sponsored gifts and fun things you might want to use.”
A sex basket. Huh. This really was the oddest tradition now that I was seeing it from the inside.
“You’re supposed to check out tomorrow morning, but I have my room through the weekend,” Asher continued. “We can keep your things here if you want, or…well. You can tell me where you’d like to go.”
Weird, to think about all the options I had at my disposal now. The money wouldn’t last forever, but I had a lot of things I could do with it before it ran out.
“I wasn’t originally planning on staying past the race,” he continued, his voice evening out the way it used to when he was unsure and trying to cover for it. “Stay through the dinner and then head out when it was over. But I also was planning to lose and…”
My being the runner had thrown a wrench in a lot of plans. “Where’s home for you now?”
“Milos, currently. I’ve been there about a year and a half, but it’s not keeping me. I was thinking I’d give it another couple of months and then see where else there was to visit.”
Asher had always had a hard time settling. Not that he couldn’t, but not much caught his attention enough to keep his hooves in the same spot.
“Have you ever been to Kavala?”
His body jerked against mine before stilling. “No.” His voice was a little gruff, his surprise at the question apparent. “You’ve always wanted to go and after…I couldn’t look at the name and think of anything but you.”
He was right. I’d dreamed of visiting for years but had never made the time or money to go. Now, though, maybe it was the perfect time.
“Would you want to go?” I asked, throwing it all out there. “With me?”
Asher’s entire body eased, almost like the breath he blew out took every stitch of tension from him, and then his arms tightened around me and his muzzle pressed into my shoulder. “I’d love nothing more,” he said. “Are you wanting to go right away, or can I pack up my home first?”
“Can I go with you?”
His teeth closed over my lobe and tugged, a small reprimand that I loved. “Funny that you think I was going to leave you.”
Honestly, considering how everything ended between us, I wouldn’t have been surprised. He really was the more emotionally stable one between us. “I was an idiot.”
“Maybe.”
I smiled at him, loving that he was still comfortable being honest.
“But I don’t think either of us would have grown into the people we are if we hadn’t split.”
I arched to look at him, really seeing if he believed that. “You think it was for the best?”
“I don’t know about that,” he answered quickly. “I don’t think anything about your current situation is the best of anything.”
I settled, agreeing.
“While I wish the separation never had to happen, I’m glad to be given this second chance.”
I was, too. So very glad.
“When do you want to leave?” I asked. “We can still leave after the dinner, like you planned.”
“We could.” He hummed, his hands sliding down to my hips. “As much as I’m tempted to stay and use this room to the fullest extent, I don’t want to put you in any danger. How long do you think you have?”
“Tomorrow, if he’s only just found out,” I said. “Tonight, if he discovered anything before the race started.”
“Then we’ll leave after the dinner,” Asher said easily, as if that’s all it was. “We’ll finish our bath, go pack up your room, eat and play nice like we’re supposed to, then get the hell out of here.”
I guess it really was that easy.
Except there was a solid ridge pressing into my back, and I wanted to feel him stretch me out again. “How long until we need to be drying off?”
“Ten minutes, or so,” he answered. “That way we won’t have to rush.”
Mmmm, that wasn’t enough time, so we were definitely going to be rushing while packing. Which worked for me—I’d packed up everything before the race today. I just hadn’t told Asher that yet.
Arching, my breasts broke the water’s surface, and I shifted up so his cock slid between the cheeks of my ass. “Is that all we’ll have time for?”
“Aren’t you sore?” he growled, hands on my hips squeezing, but not stopping me.
“Just means I’ll really be able to feel you through dinner,” I said. Also, the bath had helped some, as well as the stretching that I’d done before the race. I could handle another hard round before it really took its toll.
He hoisted me out of the tub, not caring for any of the water that flung out, and threw me over his shoulder. “We’re doing it in a bed this time.”