Page 67 of A Soul to Keep

“Well, I thought if the Demons got in the house because the ones I couldn’t get to were probably withered, that it might keep them out of there.”

His eyes flashed bright yellow. “That was very smart of you. I’ve never had to do that, but I’m sure it would have worked.”

Reia blinked, her brows drawing together.

“I thought your eyes only turned yellow when you were curious or thoughtful.”

He brought one of his hands up to cover a glowing orb.

“No, the colours can mean various things. It also changes to yellow when I am happy or feeling pride, like just then.”

Her cheeks heated.He was proud of me?

Damnit. He makes it so hard for me to dislike him.She scooped the last bit of fruit into her mouth with a pout, both because of that fact, and because now she had no other excuses not to have a bath.

Reia felt much better after having a good few sleeps and being comforted in his embrace and their conversations. He’d eased her about her guilt and how she’d been called a harbinger of bad omens all her life.

Now... now she would have to face the feelings that had caused her to run in the first place. She wasn’t looking forward to that. She didn’t want to face them. She’d much prefer to bury them under a façade of ignorance.

She still didn’t know if he truly understood what he’d been doing to her when he licked between her thighs. That he’d made her come and what that meant.

How insane would it be if I felt desire for a creature that can’t even feel it?He obviously knew enough, but she wasn’t keen on the idea of being attracted to something that may not even have genitalia.

He didn’t seem to react the same way to her, and that made her feel inherently foolish.

Ugh, why do I even care so much?No one, besides him, was around to judge her. So what if she felt desire and he may not? It’s not like she was asking for these feelings.

Screw it, let’s just get this over with.

She was going to have to learn to get over it. Bath time was going to keep happening, and she just needed to teach her body not to react.

It seemed much harder than it sounded.

“Reia,” he warned after she’d placed her spoon in the bowl and sat there for a while.

“Alright!” She shoved away from the table to get to her feet. “Let’s go get rid of my human scent.”

She watched him as he prepared the area, lighting the candles that made the crystals twinkle with its reflections. He added new dried herbs to the crudely made metal bowl to create a sweet incense in the air. Then he used his claw to cut into his wrist, giving a few drops of his blood in sacrifice to conjure the bathwater that was already steaming once it filled the tub.

He knelt behind the head of the oval-shaped, long, wooden tub that was large enough to fit his gigantic frame. He was waiting for her to gain the courage to strip and hop into the water, staring at her with his blue glowing orbs that always made her think them prettier when he was in a darker environment.

It’s a bath. Just a bath.There was no reason to get excited.

She quickly pulled off her gown. Covering herself with her arms to shield her nudity, as if he wasn’t about to touch and see it all, she walked over and stepped inside the water. She crouched inside, submerging herself before she slipped her legs out so they were slightly bent.

Delectable heat surrounded her, trying to ease her worried and anxious filled muscles.

“If you are not bothered by my body, would it be alright if I rolled my sleeves up?” he asked, before his voice filled with an awkward kind of humour. “It is bothersome to change in order to dry them once we are done.”

Her heart nearly palpitated in her chest.

“That’s fine,” she answered with a shaky voice, dipping her head back to wet her hair in preparation.

She heard his clothing rustle, and then the familiar squelch of his fingertips dipping into the thick oil.

She could tell how hard her heart was thumping by her left breast floating in the water, jiggling lightly with each beat. Taking in a deep breath, Reia tried to calm herself.

As he always did, he started with her shoulder before moving down her arm with light massaging fingers. She’d never realised just how sensitive the muscles in her arms were, how they leapt to this kind of stimulation, until Orpheus had started working his fingers into them.

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