Page 83 of Shadow's Raven

Then I tossed her into the water.

Raven’s startled squeal was cut off when she disappeared under the bubbles. I made quick work of ridding myself of my attire, watching for her head to pop up. I couldn’t see past the dense foam sitting atop the water.

“Raven?” I called. It had only been some 10 or 15 seconds, but still worry seeped into my chest.

I swung myself into the pool, feeling around for her body. She popped up behind me. I spun and she spit a mouthful of water into my face.

I growled, squeezing shut my stinging eyes and reaching out blindly. She giggled bounding away from my clutches. My fingertips slid across the wet skin of her back.

I wiped my eyes, narrowing them when I saw her cheeks storing another mouthful of water. “Don’t you dare.”

Raven’s eyes filled with mirth and a playful challenge.

“If you spit that in my face I’m going to—”

Splat!

“Damn it, Raven! You’ve blinded me!” I roared, smiling broadly. “Now I’ll never know what you look like naked from behind!”

This time she laughed delightedly and my heart thumped with each joyful note. Wiping the water from my eyes once again, I watched her make that sweet, melodic sound—something I’d wanted to behold since the moment she’d produced the sound in my dreams.

“Truce?” I offered, lowering my arms.

“Truce,” she replied from the far corner. “For now.”

With that, I eased further down into the water, doing my best to ignore my aching shaft. I glided to the corner nearest Raven, settling my rear on the underwater ledge just as she had. The seat was just high enough to keep her chin above the suds. I made a mental note to figure out how to raise the bench for her.

“So,” she said, tilting her head.

“So.”

“This is how you take care of me? By tossing me into a pool?”

“Did it help?”

“I’m still sore.”

“No, with your emotional state. Did it help?”

“It appears that way.”

“Good. Now, try to relax and let the healing water do its job.”

Raven leaned back, resting her head in the groove designed for just that. “I don’t know why you’d ever leave this tub,” she stated.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

“Very. Do you soak in here often?”

“I do. Now you can, as well. It’s big enough to seat us both comfortably.”

“It’s big enough to seat ten of us.”

“True enough,” I agreed, closing my eyes, concentrating on the loosening of my muscles. Or, I tried to. The weight of my mate’s stare couldn’t be ignored for long.

I opened an eye. “Everything alright over there?”

“Are we not going to talk about it?”

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