Page 51 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"Don’t suppose you can conjure us new clothes after we shower?" he asked.
"I’m a witch, not a magician. So, no." Moments later, hand under the water spray, she grinned and did a butt wiggle. "Warm water. Get in."
She grabbed the bar of soap off the sidewall and scrubbed him while muttering, "Send back the evil put upon us. Send it back to where it came. Wash away evil. Wash away blame. Wash away hatred. As I speak, so shall it be."
As she continued washing, uttering the words over and over he felt a weight he hadn’t realized existed lift. That necromancer actually left an evil residue? He hadn’t believed himself affected, until now. Maybe his disbelief reduced the power of the necromancer’s magic. Maybe many beings left this damaging energy or whatever it could be called—impression, force, aura—on him. Her cleansing words washed away what felt like decades of filth.
Her hands gentled over the areas with today’s injuries that were already healing and almost gone, but still sore. Every part of his body tingled, his veins pumped with need, and his heart hammered rapidly.
When she moved to his back, she pressed a kiss between his shoulders. The area tingled. Had to be over the angle tattoo. "Thank you for watching over him."
Another kiss. His muscles twitched under her touch. His teeth ground together. "Madeline…"
The soap dipped lower down his abdomen…
He grabbed her hands to stop her and got the soap from her, not willing to let this get any more difficult.Trying to be good here, but I’m no saint.
Her turn. He began washing her, going lightly over the deep gashes on her stomach. He uttered the healing words along with her.
When the warm water began to wane, she said, "I think we’re good." Yet she didn’t turn off the water. Her hands roamed the contours of his chest and down his abdomen.
The energy shifted, heavy with need. She looked up to meet his gaze and what he saw stole his breath. Tortured eyes. Pained past their limit. He could feel the anguish racing through them.
"What’s wrong?" he asked. "Did we not get it washed off in time? Is it hurting you somehow?"
"I’m sorry you got hurt today. It’s my fault that you’re forced to do this kind of thing. That you keep getting hurt."
He enclosed both her hands in his and brought them to his mouth. "This, today, wasn’t your fault."
"If I hadn’t cursed you, you wouldn’t be out facing this kind of evil."
A harsh laugh escaped him. "Yes, we would. The need to purge the world of evil is in our souls. It’s what we do. It’s what I do. It’s why we willingly agreed to work with the monarch on a consultant basis before she screwed us, but we forgot the single truism my father taught us:never trust humans.Things like today don’t bother me. Someone has to stop those things and we’re uniquely skilled." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "This isn’t your fault."
She blinked.
He said again, "It’s not. But I don’t like being told what to do and how to do it by humans who sit in their golden tower never getting their hands dirty to help. I despise being forced to bow to someone who can say do this but don’t do that when it’s possible the task we’re ordered not to do might be the one that needs doing most."
"I’m sorry. I swear I’m going to fix it. I’ll lift it for you."
"You will. There’s no option."
She tugged his mouth to hers. He kept his mouth closed because one taste of her and he’d lose his grip on control.One, two, three…He continued slowly counting in his head to distract himself from getting lost in the feel of her.
Her fingers teased along his shoulders.
"This is too much," he whispered hoarsely as he pulled away after the kiss. He caught her roaming hands. "You have to stop. I can’t… I’m trying to be good here."
"Me too," she whispered. "But this is hard. Everything is hard."
"Yeah," he struggled to get out. She was killing him. Literally dying. He dragged a finger across her shoulder down to her breast. He cupped one, letting the weight float in his hand. Her head fell forward as he massaged, using his fingers to roll her nipple.
She moved closer so his long, hard erection was trapped between them. "Demon, I need to be sure this is only Shane right now. Let me have him alone for a little while."
Baku receded as if tamed by her words. For the first time in too long, he didn’t feel the demon pushing to be the one running the show. In fact, he didn’t feel his presence.
"How’d you do that? Is he gone? As in out of my head?"
"No. It’s still there." She stared deeply into his eyes. "I wanted this to be only you and me. Glad it listened. I’m not into demons. Only you." Her gaze bounced over the angles of his face. "Tell me you dream of this. That you want this right now. If you say no, we’ll get out. We won’t kiss. We won’t do anything. We’ll deny ourselves." Her hands traced the ridges of his back. "I want you so much. If you need an excuse to say yes, our passion will drive out any evil left."
