Page 40 of House of Malice
“You scared me to death!” Alecto snapped. “What happened to always knocking, huh?”
A playful smirk curled the corner of his mouth, and his gaze freely roamed her almost-naked body. She braced her hands on her hips.
“Would you believe me if I said that I did knock, but you didn’t hear me?”
“I wouldn’t.”
Blaze chuckled. “Well, then, no need for this conversation to go on. What I am curious to know is where my invitation is.”
Alecto crossed her arms. “Invitation for what?”
Blaze’s eyes darkened. “That lovely bath you are drawing.”
“You have to earn the invitation with good behavior. Have you been a good boy lately?”
In the blink of an eye, Blaze was on his feet, standing in front of Alecto. He tilted his head to the side, looking down at her. “I can be a good boy for you, baby.”
Alecto’s toes curled at the tone of his voice. “Oh yeah?” she asked, willing her voice to sound innocent, as if she had no idea what his tone or the intensity of his gaze promised. “You sound a little cocky. I hope it’s not just all talk and no—”
Blaze swooped her up into his arms, and Alecto laughed, surprised.
“It’s insulting,” Blaze said, carrying her into the bathroom, “to doubt me this way. But that is alright. I know that while you like to be mean, you always mean well.”
Alecto pursed her lips, humming. “I would not be so sure about that.”
Blaze chuckled and shook his head. He lowered Alecto onto her feet next to her bathtub. It was steamy and toasty inside the bathroom. “Let me show you how good I can be, baby.”
Alecto clicked her tongue but didn’t argue. She let him remove her bra and her panties. When he offered her a hand so she could climb inside the tub, she took it.
She watched him strip out of his clothing and admired every single inch of his naked skin. All of it washers.
Hewas all hers.
Blaze climbed inside the bathtub and sat down on the other end of it so they would face each other. He scooped up her feet from the water, braced one foot against his chest, and held the other in his hands.
Alecto moaned when he started massaging her feet, his fingers pressing all the right spots.
“That right there is my favorite sound in the world,” Blaze said with a smirk.
Alecto sighed and relaxed into the bathtub even more.This might be even more perfect than a relaxing bath alone.
“So, this weekend there is a party at the Leveau penthouse,” Blaze said.
Or maybe not.
“I know,” Alecto said. “Val told me we’re all going.”
Blaze nodded, his eyes focused on her feet between his hands.
“We will pretend to be strangers,” she said.
The moment those words left her mouth, sadness washed over her. It shouldn’t matter that they had to pretend like nothing was happening between them for the event. It was onlyoneevening.
But that one evening was enough to remind Alecto that despite them finding peace within each other, this relationship didn’t have a future. Not unless things were going to change.
“I don’t want to do that,” Blaze said. He squeezed her feet. “I hate even the idea of it. That I will be in the same room as you, and I won’t even be able to look at you because if my father suspects that something is going on, he’ll lose his shit.”
“I know,” Alecto said. “I understand why we have to do this. I signed up for it, remember?”
