Page 144 of The Heir's Bargain

She was here, standing before me, alive and healing, and yet. . .

"Then why does it feel like I already did?" The question left my lips before I could pull it back.

Dani didn't respond, though.

When I opened my eyes, she was looking at me with sorrow clouding her hazel irises, dimming the gold flecks that once sparkled there.

I took a deep, steadying breath and offered her a small smile.

Her lack of an answer was answer enough as she turned away.

So, I turned, too, taking a step toward the door.

"I'll go get?—"

"Stay," Dani whispered, her voice as quiet as a light morning breeze. I almost didn't believe I heard her until she added, "Please."

Those two words together. . .they were hope.

They were everything.

I returned to her side.

Dani peeled the robe from her shoulders, revealing the bandage wrapped around her torso. Then, the robe pooled onto the floor.

I swallowed, and with some willpower granted to me by the gods, I kept my gaze up. Now was not the time to let my gaze trail down her body despite desperately wanting to after our time apart. I struggled, though. Because at that point, that's who I was: a desperate man.

But Dani deserved better. She didn't deserve desperation.

I offered her my arm. When her fingers wrapped around it as she stepped into the tub, her palm heated the blood in my veins. I wasn't sure if it was because of the soul bond or if it was just her. Either way, she was a magnet, and there was nothing I could do but step forward and get closer.

Her face scrunched up as her free hand flew to her side. I shifted, stabilizing her.

"I got you," I whispered.

When Dani narrowed her eyes at me, I cleared my throat and threw on the smirk that could mask everything stirring beneath it.

"Don't want you to fall," I added, punctuating the remark with a wink.

Dani rolled her eyes. But before she could turn all the way around, I saw the flicker of amusement sparkling among the gold and green swirls in her irises and the faintest twitch of her lips.

Once she was standing inside the tub, she reached for the wrapping and grimaced. "Do you mind?" Dani asked, the question almost inaudible.

"Of course," I said.

With shaking hands, I gently peeled the cotton. As I reached around her torso, Dani stood still. Her hands out wide as if she couldn't bear to touch me.

Swatting the thought away, I kept my eyes trained on her back as more and more skin was revealed. I gathered the stained fabric in my hand, balling it up as I breathed through my nose, my chest rising and falling hard. The closer the cotton fabric was to her skin, the more discolored it was.

I tossed the strip of cotton into the bin in the corner of the bathroom. The bundle made a soft thud as it hit the bottom of the trash bin.

Dani looked down at her side, her eyes watering. "Gods, it's hideous, isn't it?"

The scar ran from the back of her hip to the top of her rib cage. The wound had already closed and scarred over, but her russet brown skin was still marked with bruises.

In that jagged line, though, Dani saw her supposed failure. But when I looked at it, all I saw was a warrior who would give her life to save the ones she cared about.

"No, it's not."

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