Page 67 of Lifebound

He turned. Looked at the pitcher near where I’d folded my clothes. Then turned to me.

He saw me standing therecompletely nakedand wet, my arms to the sides. This time I wasn’t trying to hide anything, God help me.

He froze just like I had a few minutes go. Exactly the same way.

Oh, delicious, delicious revenge.Some said it was a dish best served cold, but I liked it warm. I liked it fucking steaming.

It took him almost as long as it had taken me to get himself moving. His eyes never left my face as he slowly went to grab the pitcher and brought it to me.

I must have lost my fucking mind—or maybe those incubi I’d seen during the day had affected me much more than I’d realized—but I said, “Warm it up for me, will you?” And I turned around.

I fuckingturned around,turned my back to him so he could seeeverything—my back and ass and legs. I wasn’t sure whether I did it to tease him or just because I couldn’t face himlike that for much longer, no matter how much I liked to play this game—but it didn’t really matter.

He stopped behind me and I could tell he wasn’t even breathing.

White light brightened up the room for a second, and then water, warm and heavenly, poured on my head.

I sucked in a loud breath from surprise because I thought he’d pour it over my shoulders first. But it felt so good, sosmooth,that for a moment I forgot where I was and what the hell I was doing.

When I remembered again, heat gathered in my cheeks, in the pit of my stomach, and between my legs. My eyes were closed, and my traitorous mind imagined what it would be like if I turned around right now, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a kiss.

It would be a release, and God, I needed a release. Just to get this awful attraction I seemed to be having to him out of my system, so then I could focus on where I was going and how to survive.

Just one time.

Yes, I wasthatidiotic that I actually considered doing it. I considered turning around and trying to kiss him—and then Rune moved incredibly fast.

The water stopped coming. The pitcher hit the wooden box where he found it again, and the door suddenly opened—all within the same minute. I turned with my hands over my breasts to find him halfway out of it already.

“Get dressed,” he said, then walked outside and closed the door behind him.

I felt soexposedthe moment that door clicked closed, the very moment I was actually alone. I looked around me at the empty room, and my eyes fell on the broken mirror. I saw myself, my body wet and naked, glistening silver under the nearest lights. My eyes were wide and my cheeks flushed and my lips parted—I definitely looked just as turned on as I felt.

And there was no doubt in my mind that Rune had seen it just as clearly.

* * *

When I walkedout of the bathroom, dressed and with my clothes slightly wet—because I only found a small towel near the basin to dry with—I didn’t even look at him. Rune had been waiting outside, hands in the pockets of his pants, shoulders leaning against the wall, perfectly unbothered once again.

I said nothing, didn’t meet his eyes at all. He said nothing, either, just held the door of the room open for me to enter.

We lay down, me on the small bed that was incredibly uncomfortable, and him on the ground, just there. No blanket, and he had his arms underneath his head as a pillow. He lay on his back, eyes open and on the white ceiling.

I lay the same way, trying to gather the courage to tell him to get one of the blankets—I had two. They were both thin, but it was better than nothing. Pretty sure nights would get cold here, even though there was glass in the window in this room.

My hair was wet and I hated the feeling, but I pushed it up all the way as far as it would go. The sheets didn’t smell good or bad, for which I was thankful. The mattress was too hard, though, so I was feeling the discomfort ten minutes in.

When I thought Rune would already be asleep, I slowly turned on my side and went closer to the edge of the bed to look at him.

His eyes were still open.

My stomach fell but I didn’t dare turn back. I didn’t even blink, afraid he’d see it and ask me what the hell I was doing.As ifhe didn’t already know that I was lying there andoglinghim like some mentally ill person.

Just that he was so beautiful.

I’d always understood the appeal of beauty, of course—I was human. But I’d never been quite socontrolledby it before. I’d never had an urge to just sit there andlookat something beautiful, take in every single detail, and feel so much pleasure and comfort from it. It was honestly insane.

The lights hanging on the walls were just bright enough so that I could see the ink on the side of his neck. It made me wonder how much farther below his shirt it went.

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