Page 62 of A Baron of Bonds
I kissed the top of his head, his eyes, his nose, leading myself down to his mouth as my body shook with the release of a woman somehow still upright.
Pushing his hair behind his ears, I smiled down at him. His eyes had never been so blue for so long, and I knew I did that.
I pulled myself off the chair and instantly collapsed to the floor, laughing.
“Okay, no more, Karus.” He bent down, pulling me into his lap. My legs shook, and I wondered how I’d ever stand again.
“We need to get you something real to eat and keep our hands off each other for a little while.”
I nodded, grinning stupidly up at the man I’d happily go back on that agreement with.
He managed to pick me up across his arms and brought me to the washing room, where he himself stumbled through the doorway. We both laughed as lovers who didn’t know when to quit.
He filled the tub, sitting me down inside, and left the room to gather our clothes and bring us both water to drink.
I washed and we talked about what we were craving most, settling on a little tavern in the town square where they served savory meat pies topped with flaky crust.
“But no more ale.” I shook my head and rinsed my neck. “I cannot take another experience like that right now.”
I stood and he was there with a warm white towel to wrap around me as he stepped into the tub to wash.
He brushed my cheek and said, “I’m sorry my actions led you to drink like that.”
“No…no it wasn’t you.” I sighed and dried off the rest of my body, reaching for the copper dress to wear again—the only one I currently had. “It was his hands.”
Rev stopped his scrubbing and turned to me.
“The server’s hands were black. He had the Black Fever, and he must have been very young at the time.” I pulled the towel tighter around me. “When I saw the black tips of his fingers and the black lines that ran down his wrists…” I stepped into the dress and began to tie the ribbons across my chest. “I just felt this guilt. Like I had a part in all of that pain.”
“You know you didn’t.”
I sighed. “I just wish I could have saved everyone. I wish I could tell every one of those victims and their families that I would have gone with Heimlen freely if I had just known what he would do—what he was capable of to get me there.”
He nodded and splashed water over his face, taking the towel I handed back to him.
“What does the world think happened to Heimlen, Rev?”
He dried his hair with the towel, then pulled it across his waist, tucking one end. “I told all of them the truth. All three of the rulers know what he did. Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped to build trust between Felgren and the rest of the leaders of the isle. It’s going to take a lot of work to build that trust again.”
“You’ll do it. I know you will.” I kissed him and continued to braid my hair, pulling the length of it behind me.
He pulled his fingers through his own hair, the black strands curling slightly, wet and shining in the soft afternoon light.
He was a beautiful man, the Baron of Felgren, and I loved to watch him do the most mundane things, like tie his hair back in a gold ribbon. The fact that his torso was bare and I got to watch little trickles of water slide down his chest, toned and sharply defined, was just icing on the cake.
“What?”
“Oh, just admiring the view.”
“Dammit, Karus, you need to eat. So do I. Stop that.”
“Alright, I’ll stop.” I finished my hair and untied the ribbon at my chest. I pulled tightly on each end, forcing my breasts to push further together in two curvy heaps of soft skin.
I glanced up to see if it was working and concluded it was as his jaw twitched and he rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry. I really will stop.”
“More than half of me doesn’t want you to.”
