Page 25 of Sheltered in the Storm

I did not know how to explain the situation to Poe in a way she would understand. She clearly wished Calla and I to become a mated pair. Calla’s rejection and the reasons for it—much less my own decision to keep her at arm’s length—would be beyond Poe’s comprehension.

Poe barreled into me with enough momentum to make me stagger. “Poe,” she said with finality in her tone. She turned back to her garden with a huffing sound.

Left with no choice, and as angry with Poe as I was with myself, I went back inside. I took my time toweling off in the kitchen, though I was likely to be at least partially in the water again momentarily…with Calla. The thought was a dream, and a nightmare.

Was I stalling? I was no coward. I did notstall. With a scowl, I tossed the muddy towel into a bin and strode back into the bedroom.

Calla saw me and set her pan-weights aside. “What’s wrong?”

Gods, she was beautiful.

Everything is wrong, I wanted to say.Everything is wrong but you.

“Poe is busy working on her garden,” I said instead. “Are you content to bathe with my help?”

Her gaze searched my face. A myriad of emotions flashed in her eyes—among them, sadness.

“Not if it bothers you,” she said finally. “I don’t think you want to help with that. I can wait for Poe to get done.”

She had offered me a way out. All I needed to do was agree to wait until Poe came inside. The bathwater would stay hot thanks to the thermal spring beneath the house, and as stubborn as Poe could be, she would give in and help Calla…eventually.

For days, my determination to keep Calla at arm’s length had not wavered. This would be the most significant challenge yet to that resolve.

“It will not bother me,” I said.

Calla’s mouth twisted up at the corner. She knew that was a lie. And she knew I had not made much effort to hide the fact I had lied. Because I could notreallylie to her. My hearts would not allow it.

She held out her arms. “Then we’d best get to it. I’m ready to be clean and less achy, and I’m sure you have better things to do than be my bathtub lifeguard.”

I might, but at this moment I could not think of a single one.

“How is your pain today?” I asked as I scooped her up and carried her sheet-wrapped body to the bathroom.

Her smile made my hearts skip a beat. “I feel better today.”

After her anguished reaction to my confession that I had used my blood to save her life, I had not raised the topic again. If my decision to share blood with her still upset her, I did not see it.

“I am glad.” I sat on the side of the tub with Calla cradled in my tentacles. “I do not know if my blood has continued to heal you or not, since I have never used it to heal someone else.”

“You haven’t?” She blinked up at me. “Then how did you know it would work?”

“I did not know. It simply had to work.” I tested the water’s temperature with my hand. “Is this too hot?”

“Vos.” Calla reached out, as if she intended to put her palm on my chest, then lowered her hand back into her lap. “Thank you for saving my life. I know I was angry when you told me how you managed it, but I need you to believe me when I say I’m grateful.”

“I do believe you.” I let myself rest my hand on her much smaller one. “Do you believe I am sorry that my choice upset you?”

“Yes.” Her smile returned, and it was like the clouds parting. “I don’t know why I feel like I can be so honest with you, or why I seem to believe you when I’ve always assumed anyone who talks to me is lying.”

Before I could ask her why she felt that way, she cleared her throat. “Anyway, bath time.” She touched the water and yanked her hand back. “Ooh, hot.”

I reached for the cold water spigot. “I will cool it.”

“No, no.” She stopped me. “It’s perfect.”

I frowned. “Your reaction indicates the water will not be comfortable for you.”

“I want to be pink when I get out,” she said, adding to my confusion. “I need a good scalding. Just go with it, Vos. It doesn’t have to make sense.”

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