Page 48 of Magic Hunted
“Ahmen will take you to the bath-house.” Taredd opened the door and ushered someone in, giving them instructions. The guard looked as imposing as ever but hovered a respectful distance away. I didn’t realize I was so tense until I felt my shoulders lower when he put his hands behind his back and stood to attention.
I reached for the clothing but tensed again when Ashir and Savvas reached for the basket of soaps on the table.
“You didn’t think we were going to let you go all by yourself, did you?” Savvas said.
My heart thundered in panic as well as something a lot deeper than I was willing to admit. “Give them to me.”
“You don’t have to do everything yourself,” Dias said, winding his arm around my waist pulling me against his much larger, harder frame. I over-balanced, my palm planting on his pec to stop myself face-planting and licking his skin.
“I don’t need anyone,” I said, my heart fluttering a panicked beat.
Dias’ gaze softened, glass-green deepening. It wasn’t pity I saw there. Nothing like it. It was the understanding that made my breath hitch. “Wewantto help you, magic. Don’t take that away from us.”
“This way,” Ahmen said, disappearing through the door.
I caught Shanyirra’s smug gaze before Dias led me after Ashir, Savvas coming behind us as we followed the elf along the pathways between the huts. The land opened to large swathes of fruiting trees and rows of vegetables.
A river wound around the edges of the fields, where we headed to a bend before it snaked between trees. Rows of huts were situated along the banks. Well-worn paths meandered toward the huts where several elves watched as we approached.
Ahmen strode to the end hut, opening the door and peeking inside. “You can use this hut to bathe. I’ll keep guard to ensure you’re not disturbed.”
Dias led me after Ashir when he disappeared through the door. We stepped onto smooth stones, cobbled together to create a floor safe from gritty sand sticking to wet feet. The walls of the hut extended over the river. Large stones had been placed to create a pool that lapped near my toes. The trickle of water echoed gently off the walls.
Blue stones shone at the bottom of the pool, no doubt spelled to warm the water. Steam rose from the water and my skin instantly moistened with the damp air. The stones illuminated the room with a cozy blue light that made it feel far too intimate. Especially with the panther alphas filling the room and sucking the oxygen from the space.
Ashir placed the clothes on a table built for the purpose. Savvas closed the door, shutting Ahmen and the outside world off, putting the basket of soaps next to the clothes. All three shifters turned to me, hedging their massive bodies around mine. The humid air mixed with their pure scents made me dizzy. Oranges, fresh earth and fragrant cinnamon surrounded me, filling my lungs and infusing into my already overloaded system.
Ashir caught me, his large hands wrapping around my biceps as I swayed toward him. My head tipped back and I was pulled into his intense gaze. His light blue eyes turned to steel as his thumbs made little circles on my skin. Goosebumps flashed over my arms and a heady pulse throbbed between my legs.
Ashir leaned over me, his lips so close if I tipped my chin, I’d kiss him. My gaze dipped to his full lips, desire scratching under my skin. This wasn’t what was meant to be happening. I was meant to be pulling away from them and setting them free. My nipples weren’t supposed to be beading and aching, practically begging to be touched.
I was meant to be saving them. Turning them away and polishing off memories to last me in the bleak years ahead without them. I wasn’t supposed to be burning up inside, every sense attuned to them. I was meant to be strong. To be single-minded enough to resist them. I was meant to be…
“Now, little mate, it’s time for us to tend to you as males wanting their female with nothing but our own minds and hearts. Nothing is clouding our judgment. Nothing is forcing our hand or twisting our actions. Nothing but the fact that we want you and we’ll do whatever it takes, however long it takes, for you to understand that too.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I…” My eyelids fluttered and my skin tingled as Ashir’s hands drifted to the hem of my sheath. Heat washed over my body, every sense locked onto the barely-there glide of his fingertips over my waist. I sucked in a breath when his fingertips skimmed my thigh before they caught in the material.
If he undressed me, any defense I had would dissolve as though it was never there to begin with. My past, everything I’ve done to keep them safe, every word I’d said would disappear as though I didn’t utter them.
I flattened my palm on my thigh and his gaze turned serious. “We won’t take anything you’re unwilling to give. We’ll only help you wash. Nothing more.”
But he was going to take more than I was willing to give. They already had and I didn’t have an ounce of restraint around them.
Dias brushed my hair off my nape and I shivered as warm air circled over my flushed skin. “Trust us, magic.”
“If you want us to bathe you dressed we will. Can’t say I like wearing wet pants, but if it makes you more comfortable, I’ll go in wearing a suit of armor,” Savvas said.
His bare chest was on full display. His focus wandered over the smooth shadowed dips and defined ridges of muscle. I licked my lips, my fingers itching to glide over acres of warm skin.
“I’ll lead the way,” Dias said. He tucked his fingers beneath the waistband of his pants and slid them off his hips, kicking them to the ground when they fell around his ankles. My eyes fell to his thighs, taking in his swelling cock before he turned and waded into the water, giving me an excellent view of hard thighs, rounded buttocks and muscular back. He stooped and turned when the water lapped his waist and held his hand out to me. “The temperature is perfect. You’ll like it in here.”
I wasn’t shy. Living under Titan meant I had no privacy. No autonomy over my body. Hells, we’d shared more intimacy last night than I’d shown anyone, and yet now I was undeniably shy under their intense focus. They watched everything I did. Took in every flinch, every twitch as though it was their life purpose. I wasn’t just seen. I was laid unapologetically bare.
Ashir nudged me toward Dias. “Go in, Haera. Go and relax in the water. You lead us. Always.”
He was asking me to trust them. They’d never taken advantage of me. Or the bond, even though it rode them as hard as it had me. I ignored the yawning emptiness inside me where the scarred barrier lay surrounded by darkness.
