Page 85 of The Secrets of Roan Island

“I will. First, let me take care of you.” Undoing the remaining clips from my hair, he carefully picks out the pearls his sister placed there earlier. “All the way in,” he orders.

I sink under the water, and it cleanses more than the blood. The worry, the fear, the pain all slip away when I resurface.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says, his hands framing my face as his eyes bounce around my features, taking me in as if he needs to memorize me. He gives me a quick kiss before working soap into my scalp, scrubbing away the dirt and blood, massaging away the tension. My eyes slip closed as I lean forward, arms wrapped around my knees, letting him care for me in a way no one else has before.

“When I saw you walk in with my father…” His words drift and his hands continue to work through my hair.

I open my eyes to look at him. “What?”

“I never wanted to kill him more in my life. Seeing you with him terrified me.” He tucks a finger under my chin, brushing his thumb gently across my lips. “Rinse,” he says, tilting my head back. Using clean water, he washes the soap from my hair.

I sigh as the fresh water pours over my head. “Noah?”

He hums and soaps a cloth before applying it to my shoulders and neck, the skin completely healed from the night’s trauma.

“Are you sad about your father?”

“Sad?” An incredulous sound flits through his nose. “No. Any love I once had for him died with my mother. He changed.” He slides the soapy cloth across my back and around to my front.

I adjust, straightening my legs and leaning back.

He washes my breasts, my stomach, the cloth moving lower until it’s rubbing between my thighs. My lips part on a sigh, and I spread my legs as his touch makes my insides quiver. I place a hand over his. “I think it’s time you join me,ta’ari.”

I don’t miss the way his hearts speed up, the thumps knocking together inside his chest.

“Ta’ari?” he asks with a smile. He lets the rag float to the surface and replaces it with his fingers, circling my clit.

I whimper, every heartbeat a song in my head, every shift in his scent an aphrodisiac of longing inside me. “Get in.”

I pick up the cloth and rinse it under fresh water as he strips from his soiled clothing. I admire a view that’s still becoming familiar to me. The lines and sinew of his body. The gentle peaks and valleys of his chest as they give way to his abdomen, driving my eyes down to his hard cock. It’s beautiful. He’s beautiful.

“If you keep looking at me like you want to eat me,ta’ari, I won’t be responsible for what comes next.” With a chuckle, he climbs in, sitting opposite me.

Water sloshes over the lip of the tub as I move to straddle his long legs, his hard cock pressing against the crease of my ass.

“I thought you needed time,” I tease.

He smiles as he scrubs at his face. “It’s been plenty long enough.”

I use the rinsed cloth to catch what he hasn’t on his cheek and jaw before moving it down his neck, across the width of his chest to each shoulder.

He lathers the soap, covering his skin. “You’re in my way.” He grins as he bucks his hips under me, then leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips.

I rise onto my knees to give him room, my breasts in his face.

He takes the rag from my hand and uses it to scrub the rest of himself down, his tongue and mouth grabbing a nipple as he does. Then, releasing my nipple, he drags the soapy cloth overhis hair before sinking below the water to rinse. When he rises, water pouring from the dark strands of his hair, he wraps his arms around me, drags me closer, and kisses me, all teeth and tongue, his fangs sharp.

This isn’t a reverent kiss.

This one is filled with vulgar promises.

In a rush of water and need, with my body still wrapped around him, he stands, carries me into the bedroom, and tosses me down on the bed. A squeak leaves my lips as I bounce on the mattress.

“There are things about Mavarri you still don’t know.” His voice is deep and sensual. “Things I think you’ll like a great deal. Things I couldn’t show you when you were so fragile and human.” His lips slide into a sinful grin. His body grows. His fangs elongate, sharp points that promise dark pleasure.

I saw all this during the new moon, but now I realize he was holding back. As my eyes rove over him, I notice something else changing. His cock swells larger, lengthening, thickening more than it had at the new moon.

He was definitely holding back. I gasp. “How is that going to…”

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