Page 50 of Galadon
“Wet your hair while I get the cleanser,” I said, moving toward the shelf.
She did as I asked, but when I returned holding the bottle, she blushed. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.” She had no idea how hard it was to keep my hands off her. “But if it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t.”
She stared at me as if she was reading the depths of my soul and trying to find answers. A long minute passed as I stood waiting for her answer.
“You can do it,” she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest as she adjusted her position so I could reach her head more easily.
I wondered what she’d read in my expression to agree.
Opening the bottle, I poured what I estimated to be enough for her hair. It wasn’t as if I had a lot of experience in such matters. I’d kept my own hair short for several centuries now after I got tired of trying to keep it clean. If I stayed in my dragon form, it hardly grew at all.
I began rubbing the cleanser into her scalp. At first, Rayna sat stiffly in the tub, but as I worked it in with a gentle massage, she slowly relaxed. Her arms fell away, and her pert breasts poked out of the water. My body grew hard at the sight, and I had to remind myself she wasn’t ready yet—not physically or mentally.
Instead, I focused on working out all the dirt and grime, pouring a little water over it several times until it appeared clean enough. Though it took a while, I wished it could have taken longer. Her sighs of contentment made the effort more than worth it.
Reluctantly, I withdrew my hands. “I’ll do a full rinse now.”
I lifted the pot, feeling her gaze on me. There was amusement in her eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“The best way to rinse me fully is if I stand, you know.”
That hadn’t occurred to me until now. I’d planned to just pour it over her head to fill the extra basin while she sat, but the water was dirty after her bathing, and she needed a complete rinse. The pot was large and too heavy to lift herself in her weakened state.
“What do you wish me to do?”
“Just rinse me,” she said, rising to her feet as she faced the other direction.
I could still see her shapely rear and feel myself growing even harder at the sight. Why was it that no other human body tempted me like this? One glimpse, and I wanted to take her no matter the circumstances.
“Very well.” My voice came out in a rasp.
I began pouring as she worked the remaining cleanser from her hair. Concentrating on my job, I tried hard not to notice how she moved. The damn woman was alluring in every way possible. I couldn’t even see her as the enemy anymore, despite her being created to murder my kind.
To make matters worse, I could make out the mottled and jagged lines of freshly healed wounds that covered her. Most would disappear, but some of the deeper ones would remain. Anger and guilt twisted inside me that she had suffered because I failed to accept what she meant to me sooner.
The water finally ran out, and she was clean. I hurried to set the pot down and grab a towel. Rayna took it without a word and wrapped it around her body. I breathed a sigh of relief when all her most tempting parts were covered. She braced one handon the tub as she carefully got out. I stood close to be safe, but backed up once she regained her footing.
She took slow, measured steps to the waiting clean tunic. There was no wobble this time. I was glad she appeared to be doing better, though I wouldn’t have minded carrying her again. I got one more look at her backside before she pulled the black tunic over her head. This one was slightly shorter and barely reached the top of her thighs. She turned to look at me with a frown.
“Most of my shirts are cut this way so I don’t have to tuck them into my pants,” I explained.
She nodded. “Alright.”
I stayed by her side as we slowly journeyed back to my lair. Rayna took one look at the bed with clean linens and tucked herself into it on one side. I wanted more than anything to join her, but I didn’t trust myself. She needed rest. I was so hard right now that I wouldn’t be able to resist touching her. That would lead to things she couldn’t handle, so I left her in peace and set about doing a few chores instead.
Chapter 22
Rayna
She was finally starting to feel better. Except for a minor headache and some soreness in her legs, the worst of Rayna’s pain was gone. She could walk without being in agony and winded, and she needed fewer hours of rest. The only lingering problem was weakness. It annoyed her that her slayer strength hadn’t returned like she expected once the wounds healed. In fact, that had never happened before, but she originally assumed it was because of the severity and duration of her torture.
Now, Rayna had a sinking suspicion it had to do with the elixir stifling her hunting instincts. She recalled them mentioning something about that at the Taugud fortress. She couldn’t be upset with Galadon and his mother giving it to her because otherwise, she would have been forced to go out and hunt when she could hardly walk—or risk attacking her hosts. Considering she’d rather die than harm them, the elixir was the better option this one time. She wouldn’t be taking it again after it wore off, though.
With Galadon out doing one of his patrols, Rayna had been left to her own devices for the last hour. She’d wandered his lair, looking at his belongings. There weren’t many personalones, but he had the odd trinket here and there he must have collected.
