Page 103 of A Dance of Water

She shook her head, a damp strand of hair falling into her eyes.

"I think I… f-fainted," said Luella.

"Do you remember what you were doing before you fell?" Az tried to distract her from the crescendo of thunder and lightning that pierced their fragile quiet.

Gods, he had missed touching her.

"I was trying t-to take a b-bath." Her chin quivered, eyes welling with tears. Her nose and cheeks were flushed with cold, and he pressed a kiss to the side of her head, careful of his horns.

He eyed the bathing pool. The surface rippled, yet nothing disturbed it. Tiny waves reached for her as she sat near the edge. She was careful to keep her toes away from the water, he noted, curling them close to her body as she shivered.

Her hand absentmindedly brushed over her delicate neck, and he felt his own eyes burning with tears at her obvious pain.

"What’s wrong, angel? Why do you cry?"

"I can’t do it." Her voice broke.

Az brushed a few strands of hair away from her face, relishing the soft feel of her skin against the rough pads of his fingers. Gods, he could break her without a thought. He would bring nothing but ruin to her. "You can’t do what?"

"Get in the w-water…" she cried.

All at once, Az understood what tormented her. He knew her better than his own soul, after all. She owned him; he was utterly and unequivocally hers. And nothing of his would hurt.

"Lu," he murmured, "have you…" How could he ask her this without embarrassing her? "What happened on the beach, does it make you fear the water?"

Her eyes squeezed shut, and she burrowed into his chest, nose pressing against his neck as she breathed him in. Softly and quickly, she nodded as if the action pained her.

"Yes," she whispered, still not looking at him.

And his heart broke for the fragile female in his arms.

If Az must touch her, he would make it worth something, would help her through this.

"How can I help you, Lu?" Az mumbled into her hair. She smelled of strawberries and faintly of saltwater. Had she truly bathed since the disastrous end to the Solstice celebrations? She shook her head, unable to answer. "Let me help you, you don’t have to be afraid of the water. Not with me."

The demon reached forward and gently dipped his hand into the bathing pool, feeling mellow warmth against his fingertips. He took his dripping hand and trailed it over the line of her shoulder, letting the droplets wet her skin. She shivered against him, but her eyes opened. Beautiful blue.

"It’s just water," Az said. "And I would never let anything hurt you."

She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, shifting against him. He was acutely aware of her—small and soft—pressed against his large, hard body. The call of the Vincire bond was melodious; he wished it were always like this. Quietly calm and quietly sweet.

"C-can you stay with me?" Luella shyly peeked up at him, lashes casting shadows on her pale cheeks.

He swallowed thickly. "If that’s what you need, it’s yours. Always."

"I do need that. I want you to stay."

"Okay." He could barely hear his voice over the sound of his thundering heart.

Az kept her close as he stood, steadying her. The towel was thin and clung to her misted skin, revealing hints of soft curves.

She clenched the edges of the towel so hard, her knuckles were white. "Will you go in the w-water with… me?"

Az hated that she reverted to the meek, stuttering female he had first met in the dungeons. "Of course, angel. Do you want to keep this on?" He ran a finger over the thin towel against her chest. She nodded fervently, a small flush on her skin—more than embarrassment or shame, butdesire.

Fully clothed, Az stepped into the water with her in his arms. Her hands locked around his neck as she held on, legs hooked around his waist. He sat gingerly, letting her get used to the water’s warmth. Though her eyes were red and shiny with tears, limbs quivering, she didn’t seem like she would faint again, so he settled back against the side of the bathing pool. She sat on his lap, soft and trembling.

He let a hand graze over the water and brought it up, droplets trickling over her skin, soaking the ends of her white hair, turning them a deep silver. She shook, but a quiet resilience shone.

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