Page 36 of A Dance of Water

"I am not surprised." She huffed a laugh, scales glittering on her cheeks as her head tipped back with acidic mirth. "You’re in for a treat."

Luella’s blue eyes grew wide as she stared at the maid’s reflection in the mirror.

Ina was smoothing her small hands over the ends of Luella’s locks, and the female gave a soft smile when she looked toward her. She did not speak, of course, but her soft brown eyes held understanding sorrow.

Luella’s throat tightened. What was going to happen to her?

Ina and Osa did not paint her face or line her eyes with kohl or her lips with rouge. She was left undone and free. Bare and innocent and natural. Her white skin seemed to reflect the faint sheen of white snow as it filtered in through the windows, and her hair soaked up the pureness of everything.

She stared at her reflection, seeing another time and another place: her reflection staring back up at her from the glassy, blue surface of water.

A knock on the door.

"Hello, pet." Bastian strode into the room without care for the state he might find her in. She clutched the towel closer to her body.

Graves entered behind him, his hood over his head, but his cowl was nowhere to be found. She saw the faintest hint of his jeweled eyes, the strong line of his jaw shadowed by hair, with the pale scar cut into the side of his lip and over his cheek. He stood by the wall, watching. She felt the burn of his eyes as they fell upon her exposed shoulders.

Bastian came to stand right behind her, Ina and Osa backing up to give him space. Ina held a small vial of liquid in between her fingers, and she fidgeted, staring at the floor as she waited for Bastian to move away.

The vampire quirked a dark, perfectly groomed brow. "We’ll take over from here," he said, holding out a palm for whatever it was Ina held carefully in her grip.

The silent maid blushed under his attention—Luella knew thefeeling well—and reached out a shaking hand to place the vial in his awaiting palm.

"That will be all, Ina." Bastian gave a charismatic, charming smile to the lithe maid. "Osa." He inclined his head to the tall, broad-shouldered female.

The maids answered his dismissal by efficiently gathering their things and leaving. But not before Ina stopped at the door, a hand notched against the frame with a question poised on her unspeaking lips. Something in Luella’s heart tugged at the thought of someone caring for her. Her brows wrinkled into a soft pout, and her lips parted, wanting to speak. Graves caught her eye, the raven shifter already staring at her. Luella looked down, away from Ina.

The door closed quietly behind Ina as she left, and Luella was left alone with her two captors.

Bastian uncapped the tiny vial in his hands.

"What is that?" Luella inquired softly.

The vampire stepped closer, his chest brushing her towel-covered back. "A combination of ylang-ylang and lavender."

And she realized what that sweet and powerful scent was that had been filling the room. "Ylang-ylang?" she asked.

He pushed up his sleeves, baring his perfect, pale forearms and elegant hands. She breathed deeply, inhaling not the ylang-ylang in his hands but the scent of bergamot and spiced cloves mingling with sweet honey.

Her head swam.

Bastian tipped the vial, pouring some of the viscous liquid on his palms and rubbing his hands together to coat them.

Graves took a step closer; she watched as he reached up with a gloved hand and pushed his hood back, revealing his features entirely. His eyes were dark and deep and held so many secrets that her breath hitched in her chest.

Bastian placed his oiled palms on her bare shoulders, digging his thumbs into her collarbones as he massaged the oil onto her skin. A soft, needy sound left her lips at his firm touches.

"What are you… doing?" She leaned back into him, her head falling to his chest.

Bastian leaned down slightly, breathing over her temples. "Preparing you for the Solstice."

"Why did you send Ina and Osa away?"

Graves finally removed the last bit of distance between them, coming to settle his hip against the edge of her vanity as he peered down at her. He was the one to answer her question. "We wanted to help get you ready."

She swallowed thickly. "Oh," she managed. "What is the ylang-ylang for?" She held back a hiccup of surprise when Bastian tugged the hem of her towel down, baring the beginnings of the swell of her breasts.

The vampire’s expert hands firmly massaged the oil over her chest, his finger skimming along the stitching of the pushed-down towel; she waited for him to go lower, to dip his fingers underneath, but he never did. "Desire," he all but purred.

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