Page 73 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Then I will stay,” she said.
Dimitri was too grateful to force it.
The following morning she was back again with a smile on her face, a spring in her step, and a bouquet of roses for his dresser. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had flowers in his room, but he suspected that people had stopped bringing them since he smashed several vases in succession.
He ate his breakfast beside Adeline, and tried not to stare at the flowers—or her—too much.
After he’d finished, she inspected his wounds, marvelling at how fast they were healing. He tried not to shiver under her touch.
“Am I hurting you?”
“No,” he said, unable or unwilling to explain.
Her soft fingers worked down his spine, brushing skin and fur. “I think you need a bath,” she said. “There are some parts I didn’t quite manage to expunge the other day…”
At this, Dimitri did buckle, thinking that there were hopefully, desperately, some parts of him that she’d ignored altogether. He’d started conveniently timing his baths for her days off, because even though she was excellent at assisting him and never purposefully made him feel awkward, certainchangeshad started to occur whenever he was naked in her presence and it was only a matter of time until she noticed.
Well, he didn’t have to be naked. It was bad enough now, just easier to conceal the hot, liquid feeling at his centre with clothes on.
Adeline withdrew her hand, and he wondered if perhaps shehadnoticed after all.
He hugged the blankets round his middle, and wondered what was worse, her leaving, or her seeing.
“I can probably bathe myself, now,” he insisted. “In fact, I should probably try out this new dexterity sometime, right?” He grinned, pinching the fingers of his left hand together, ignoring how stiff and unnatural they felt.
“If you’re sure…”
“Quite sure.” His voice came out much higher than expected. “If you could just lay out everything for me, I’d be much obliged.”
“All right,” she said, holding up her hands. “Not trying to get rid of me, are you?”
“No, nothing like that. If you remember, I’m more likely to bark than ask nicely.” He swallowed, hard. “I am asking nicely, right? I’m working on my tone.”
Adeline laughed and leaned over to tug his left ear. “Yes, Dimitri, very nicely.”
She was patting him like some kind of dog. Great. Maybe heshouldlet her bathe him. He wasn’t sure quite what he hoped to accomplish with that display, but he was fairly sure it would place him above ‘pet’ in her estimations.
“Make it a cold one,” he instructed. “Please.”
“Not feeling hot, are you?” Her hand went instinctively to his head.
“No! No, I’m fine, I promise, I just… a bath. A cold bath, Adeline. Please.”
She shrugged and ran the bath, laying out his clothes for him, and exited the room. “I’m right outside if you need me,” she said.
I will always need you.
But just for a moment, it was good to sink beneath the water, and not have to worry about what he did there.
Before long, the Autumn Festival was upon them, and Dimitri found himself being readied by Thomas, preparing to head into the village for the first time in five years.
“Nervous?” said Thomas, buttoning his waistcoat.
“I’ve been out in public before, you know.”
“I was talking about you and Miss Adeline stepping out together, but all right.”
Dimitri froze. “We’re not… that wouldn’t be appropriate… is that what everyone is saying? Isshecalling it that?”
