Page 41 of Tower of Tempest
“If you say so,” he said with that teasing tone I was becoming so familiar with.
“What is that?” I pointed to the lines, a sudden urge to trace them with my fingers taking over me.
He cleared his throat. “That’s a long story, and the water is growing cold. You can go into my room and get dressed—unless you want to stay and watch me get out of the tub. I can put on a good show for you.”
I quickly whirled, though my knees went weak at the thought of seeing his full naked body. “I’ll go change,” I said quickly.
He gestured out the door. “Use whatever you’d like. I have clean shirts in my wardrobe. The staff dropped them off earlier. Take one until you get to your room and can get some freshly laundered clothes.”
Blood and skies. It was time to get a grip on myself. I strode out of the bath chamber. I couldn’t fall for the playboy prince and his charms. I very much doubted I was the type of woman he’d fall for, and I was not about to open myself up to that kind of heartache. Because I had a feeling if I fell for the prince, it would be my undoing.
Chapter Eighteen
LOCHLAN
This woman would be my undoing. When she’d appeared naked in my doorway, I’d almost drowned right there on the spot. Blood and fucking water. That sumptuous body, those curves, her pale skin, unmarred by a single mark or scar other than the freckles dotting her cheeks. Her shiny brown hair cascaded down her waist like a waterfall, grazing her perfect, round breasts. I wanted so badly to rock up into her, slip inside and fill her completely. My cock throbbed as I sat in the now-cool bath, my body still hot enough to bring the water to a boil.
I’d been so consumed by Poppy, by finding her, these last few months that I hadn’t had time for flings, for my usual fun activities.
Now I had found her, and I was still consumed, but in a very different way, a way I didn’t like.
I leaned back in the tub, water splashing up into my face. “Fuck.”
I couldn’t cross that line with Poppy. Our relationship was easy, fun. Over the last three weeks, we’d flirted, smiled, laughed. We’d traded stories that were lighthearted and fun. Every other woman I’d bedded, I could escape from. Not Poppy. Our destinies were intertwined, of that I was sure. If I took this too far, I wouldn’t be able to run, and I wasn’tready for that kind of commitment. Not when it had the potential to cause strife between us. I was better off without serious relationships, always had been. That wouldn’t change because of some random woman who’d started appearing in my dreams.
A voice whispered that she wasn’t random, that even though she’d only been with me a short time, she saw through me in a way most didn’t. I pushed the voice away, then stepped out of the bath, wrapping a towel around my waist, throwing on a tan shirt, and emerging from the bath chamber.
I halted in surprise.
Poppy sat there on the edge of my bed, wearing one of my navy tunics, which hung down to her knees.
Fuuuuck.
I cleared my throat. “Glad you found something to wear.”
She gave me a shy smile and lifted her wet hair, a few water droplets falling to the tiled floor. “I wanted my hair to dry out a bit before going back to my room. I hope you don’t mind?”
“A half-naked woman in my room?” I shot her a smile. “I’ll never say no to that.”
There was that look, the one I was coming to crave. Amusement danced in her eyes, but her mouth flattened like she was trying so hard to act as if she disapproved yet couldn’t help herself.
“You’re insufferable.”
“You like it,” I said.
She rolled her eyes again as I sat next to her on the bed. I was acutely aware I could rip this towel from my waist and then there would be nothing between my aching cock and her. If only my cock wasn’t doing so much of my thinking these days.
“Sorry about that whole bath incident.” She waved her arm. “It’s not enough that you were trapped on some island, have had your shadow taken, don’t sleep well, but now you have me barging into your room when you’re trying to relax...” She trailed off as if she realized what she’d said. I stiffened, and she must’ve noticed because she quickly said, “Leoni mentioned something about the island. You don’t have to talk about it.”
I rubbed my stubbled jaw. “To be honest, I haven’t talked about it with anybody.”
Mainly because I didn’t want to think about it, but also because no one had actually ever asked me about my experience in Sorrengard. I’d come home, and the few days I was there were spent mediating between Gabby and Mother and Mal and Mother. I was so busy trying to mend the tension between them all, that I just shoved my own trauma, my own problems, away.
Poppy reached out a hand and placed it over mine. “Well, you can tell me. If you need to.”
Spirits help me. “No.” I shrugged her comment off. “No need to burden you with my troubles.”
“You do that, you know.” She held my gaze. “You drive the conversation away from yourself. You make jokes to lighten the mood. It’s okay to be sad sometimes. It’s okay to let others help lift your own sadness, just like you do for everyone else around you.”
