Page 42 of Going to Hell
But not for long. After all the practice I had ignoring him, it wasn’t a problem for me to pretend he wasn’t there while I bathed with my clothes on. Rinsing away the sweat and grime from wandering around Hell felt amazing. The sounds he made when I tipped my head back and washed my neck were the ones I wished I could make.
When he leaned a little too close, I sank lower and splashed water at him without looking his way.
He laughed, and it was a nice sound. Deep. Relaxed. Not the least bit crazy.
I ducked under the water to stop that train of thought and proceeded to scrub my cleavage then my hair. He raptly watched every move I made. Other than a few small noises, he didn’t speak. There was no rambling about my skin or any nonsense.
Too soon, my fingers began to shrivel, and I knew I needed to get out. Rinsing the soap from my hair was a chore, and I missed my shower at home. But feeling clean made it worth the effort.
The weight of my water-logged dress made standing difficult, and I wondered how I was going to dry the thing without taking it off.
C’adon fell to his knees beside the tub.
“Look at her perfection. Limbs I once spread for my kiss.”
Say what now?
I looked down at myself. The thin material plastered to my skin showed every detail, including the hair between my legs. Heat exploded in my face, and I quickly plucked the material free.
“She wishes it gone,” he said.
No, she doesn’t!I thought frantically.
It didn’t do any good, though. The dress vanished along with the key.
C’adon howled like a wounded animal then stood and ran straight at the wall much harder than the last time. He collided with the stone with so much force that it cracked. He bounced off of it, but didn’t fall. No. That crazy Adonis shook his bloody head, looked at me, made another tormented sound and ran himself into the wall a second time.
Face first.
Things audibly crunched.
He fell backward after that, a limp crumpled heap.
Naked, I stood knee-deep in the cooling water for a shocked second and stared at him. His nose was crooked and his mouth a mash of meat and blood. More red ran across his forehead to pool on the stone under his temple.
It didn’t matter that I understood the underworld was for souls and creatures already dead. My heart stuttered with fear that he wasn’t going to get up, and I’d be all alone. I took a step in the water, and his eyes opened.
Our gazes locked. An unnatural red light flared in his eyes, and all the damage he’d caused began to reverse. The blood ran back into his head, nose, and mouth. His nose cracked and straightened. His mouth and forehead mended. It all happened between one blink and the next. Not that I could blink when I was standing there, transfixed.
Heart pounding, I couldn’t move as he slowly stood and prowled close.
“You see me,” he whispered.
I started to shake.
“No, no, no,” he crooned, reaching for me.
I flinched.
He growled, his expression erupting with rage, before he spun away from me and ran his hand through his hair. Gathering my wits, I glanced around the room. I needed my dress, but it was gone. The linens hanging over the bed would work.
I bolted from the water, almost tripped over an animal skin on the floor, then played tug-of-war with the linen for a minute before it tore free. Through it all, C’adon didn’t make a whisper of sound.
Chest heaving from panic and exertion, I quickly wrapped the linen around my torso then stood there with my back to him. I wasn’t entirely sure which was worse. The fact that he’d seen me naked, or the fact that I’d made direct eye contact. Could I pretend neither one happened? Would he believe it if I just walked out of the room?
Something lightly touched my hair.
“With one look, you steal my wit and the air I breathe. Yet, I would have it no other way. Look at me, my love.”
