Page 185 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

He pulled me flush against his chest, his grip firm. “I just went to all that trouble with the bath salts. It’d be a shame to waste them by splashing all the water out.”

I clung to his neck, anyway, preparing to be dunked. But instead of tossing me in, he lowered me carefully into the steaming water. A long, contented sigh escaped me as the heat seeped into my aching muscles, melting the tension. Bliss. He slid in behind me a moment later, his body fitting against mine like we were carved from the same stone. His legs bracketed mine, his chest a solid wall at my back. Pure, decadent comfort.

We soaked in silence for a while, the only sounds the lapping water and our quiet breathing. His arms rested loosely around my waist, his stubbled chin settling on my shoulder. It was almost normal. Which, for us, was wildly abnormal.

He finally broke the quiet, his lips brushing my ear. “I’m proud of you.”

I turned my head, blinking. “Proud?” That wasn’t a word I associated with Kazimir. Possessive, yes. Impressed, occasionally. Proud?

“You fought,” he stated simply, his eyes holding a rare, unguarded intensity. “Like a cornered shadowcat. And the Lifeweave…” His grip tightened fractionally. “Reckless. Godsdamned, suicidally reckless.” A beat. “But you did it. You survived harnessing that kind of power. Alone.” He shook hishead, a flicker of awe warring with the lingering disapproval. “It’s staggering.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. Annoyingly, a part of me preened under his assessment. “I—” I floundered, sinking lower in the water. “It all happened so fast,” I admitted quietly. “I didn’t exactly have time for a risk assessment.”

I felt the rise and fall of his chest behind me. “I know,” he said, the words rough. “And I’m… relieved you’re still here to assess anything at all.”

My heart gave a painful squeeze. That kind of vulnerability from him was rarer than a snowstorm in the desert.

He reached for a soap and sponge and began lathering up my back. “Did you study the ritual on your own?”

“Yes.” I quickly told him how I’d been memorizing everything in secret, even as he was pushing me toward learning the control that I so desperately needed. “In the end, I wasn’t alone, though,” I said as he ran the sponge over my chest. I turned for better access, but also so I could lock eyes with him. “Without your magic helping me, I wouldn’t have been able to complete it.”

I placed my hand over his heart, fingers splayed. “You could have died.”

“Unlikely,” he murmured. “I had unfinished business.”

With a smile, I took the soap and sponge from him and began massaging his chest and abdomen. “Skyspire?” I prompted, needing to focus on something other than the way he looked at me.

“A mess,” he confirmed, his voice regaining its sharp edge. “The eastern tower is gone, of course. Collateral damage in the adjacent corridors.” He paused. “But the citadel holds. Mostly.”

“And the Guild?”

Shadows flickered at the edge of my vision, Kazimir’s power stirring with his anger. “Thorne is handling the interrogations. He took Sims’s death… personally.”

I swallowed hard. Kazimir placed his hand over mine, to stop it from moving lower.

“There was a spy,” he continued, his tone hardening. “Feeding them information.”

My stomach plummeted. “Who?”

“Unconfirmed. But Pip vanished during the attack, with no trace.”

“Pip?” The image of the nervous, earnest young servant flashed in my mind. The one who’d seemed genuinely terrified of Kazimir but still tried to be kind. “You thinkhebetrayed us?” It felt wrong. Impossible.

Kazimir’s hand tightened around mine before he released it. “I don’t know yet.”

Worry warred with a sudden, icy suspicion. “I can’t believe?—”

He cut me off with a low exhale. “We’ll find out. For now, the Heirloom is secure. Hidden here, in our private tower. Warded to hell and back. Only you and I will know its location.” His voice dropped, possessive and absolute. “I’m not taking chances until I know who to trust.”

“Always the strategist,” I teased, trailing wet fingertips over the runes on his chest. “Even mid-bath.”

“Strategy has served me well,” he murmured, a flicker of that danger returning. “It led me to you, didn’t it?”

75

EXTRACT CONFESSIONS SIDE-BY-SIDE (VILLAINOUS COUPLES SHARE HOBBIES)

KAZIMIR

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