Page 209 of A Dance of Water

The mage’s lip curled. "Take her back to her room tonight." He pointed at Luella, and she shrank back into Bastian’s chest, wondering when she had started to find comfort in him. "I’ll see you at dawn, Princess. Try to get some sleep. And don’t let yourself get worked up. I’m not in the mood to be awoken with you landing on top of me like some harlot," Tharen spat.

Bastian started to speak, but she cut him off before he could defend her.

"I am no such thing," Luella protested. "It’s not my fault you tricked me into this deal. If it weren’t for this mark on my chest"—she slapped her hand over her chest, knowing the small red circle was still on her skin, under his shirt that she wore—"I’d never even look at you again."

The words came easily.

Not a lie—not at all.

But why was she surprised by that?

And why did the flash of hurt that flickered in his eyes make her throat tighten?

It was quickly replaced by fury as Tharen snarled, "Then don’t. I don’t need you to look at me to fuck you and fulfill this godsdamned bargain. Maybe itwasa mistake."

With that, he stormed from the room.

As Bastian’s door slammed shut, the vase on his night table rattled, and she flinched.

It was so quiet without him.

"Come, pet." Bastian’s fingers stroked down the length of her hair as he steered her to the door. Tharen’s shirt brushed her thighs with every step, and she tugged the hem down, nervous to enter the dark halls dressed so scantily—it was even worse knowingeveryoneknew what she had been forced to do; she could not hide.

"Let’s get you into bed. You’ll need all the rest you can get."

Luella’s room was quiet as she sat on her bed. Her arms were braced behind her, her head tipped back. She watched the white canopy flutter in the soft breeze blowing through the cracked-open balcony doors.

She still wore Tharen’s shirt.

Az stepped out from within her bathing chambers, a cloud of steam curling around him as his amber eyes immediately fell on her. His bare feet padded across the delicate rugs and cool floors as he came to stand by her bed.

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, shrinking back into the pillows as he stared at her. It was awkward—knowing that he knew where she had been and whom she had been with… As she shifted, Tharen’s shirt slipped off her shoulder, and Az’s eyes fell on the exposed skin.

"Are you cold?" Az asked. The lone candle that flickered on the vanity in the corner cast shadows on his dusky skin, making his horns seem larger in the dim light. His hair was damp, and water dripped from the ends of the messy brown curls, falling onto his shirt and leaving dark patches.

Before she could answer, the door to her room opened softly, and Bastian stepped inside. He had dressed—thankfully—in comfortable garments fit for sleep. Billowy, black silk pants and a matching shirt—it was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, of course, revealing delicate swirls of dark ink on his pale chest. She knew what his bare flesh looked like now.

His red eyes were filled with knowing.

Luella looked away from him.

The vampire stopped by the glass doors of the balcony, a hand resting on the ornate handle. "Do you want me to close it?"

Her chin brushed her knee as she shook her head. "No," she said, "I sleep better when I can feel the wind and smell the rain. It helps keep the nightmares away."

She grimaced at the words forced from her lips. She guessedVale’s order to speak the truth would not leave her until she awoke in the morning—she didn’t know. Magic was peculiar.

The bed dipped as Az sat beside her. "It pains me to know your dreams are haunted," he said.

She released her grip on her legs and traced over the stitching on the thick comforter. "Haunted by whom? The Tenebrae? Or?—"

She trailed off as she looked up and found Bastian staring at her. He stood by the vanity, leaning over the flickering flame with his lips pursed, poised to blow it out. His eyes were half-lidded, and his billowy shirt rose on his waist from his bent position, revealing a hint of his hipbones. His sensual lips curved into a half-smirk, and then, with a soft puff of cold air, the candle was extinguished, leaving the room cast in only the glow of the stars and the moon, blotted out by the swiftly moving clouds outside the windows.

"Or what?" Az asked. He was careful of his horns as he leaned back on her bed, shifting down until he got comfortable. She was still sitting up, and she peered down at him at her side, grabbing his large hand and playing with his fingers to distract herself from whatever awaited her at dawn.

"Or… or you," Luella revealed, lashes brushing her brow as she looked toward Bastian. The vampire prowled gracefully to her bed.

Bastian walked around the other side and parted the swaths of white encasing her bed. Sitting, he adjusted a few pillows, fingers brushing her side every so often as he pulled down the sheets. She shivered from the innocent touches.

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