Page 85 of Rook of Ruin
“I’m coming. Give me a minute!” Simon replaces the dagger and grabs clothes from the armoire. I watch him, and I’m salivating as he begins to dress himself. “Don’t look at me like that, O. I won’t be able to leave you again.”
“Look at you, how?” I bat my eyelashes.
“Like you want to consume me.” Simon finishes buttoning his pants and sits on the chaise to put on his socks.
My eyebrow lifts. “But I do.” Completely naked, I walk over to him. He drinks me in, like I knew he would. I kneel down before him, pluck the socks out of his fingers, and pull them onto his feet. Then I push open his legs, set my hands on his thighs, and lean forward as I stand, deliberately making sure I brush against his chest. Simon grabs a hold of me and takes me into his lap.
CRACK!
Then we’re falling. Simon pulls me to himself to protect me as the whole chaise collapses loudly around us.
“Are you okay?” we say in unison, checking each other over. “Yes,” we say together and laugh.
A concerned voice muffled by the door shouts, “Sir, are you both alright?”
Simon laughs. “Fine. We’re fine. I’ll be out in a minute.” He goes to stand but pauses. “Oof, maybe I did tweak my back.” My brace glows, and I heal him. His dimples grow.
“Can’t have your back hurting for later. I need you, remember?” I click my tongue.
“Goodness, I love you.” He kisses my nose, opens the door slightly, and walks out.
I squeal and twirl around our room, plopping back onto the bed. Happy.
I’m happy.
Pulling the lever of the shower, the warm water runs over my body. I slowly wash, enjoying the rain. My mind drifts to Simon and this morning, when we broke the chaise. I chuckle to myself. My husband is wonderful. He’s more than—
A wave of debilitating fear overcomes my heart. My brace glows softly, and bile rises in my throat. I try to breathe through the emotion again, but like the last time, I’m on my knees and then lying on the tiles of the shower floor. Drops of water fall softly down my face. The fear is desperate. It’s creeping its hand around my heart.
Please stop.
It grips my heart tighter, fingers pushing tiny holes in my heart.
Colors swirl, and my vision changes.
Stop!
It pulls back quickly. I sit up shaking and pull my legs up to my chest. I need to tell Simon.
In my mind, a faint whisper rumbles through.“I’m sorry.”
After a long shower, I find Nora in our room. I smile, but when she turns, my smile falters. Deep concern is all over her face. “Did he hurt you?”
Stunned, I can only manage to squeak out, “What?”
She motions around the room—the drops of blood on the bed, the chaise. “Did. He. Hurt. You.”
“Oh! No, Simon would never hurt me.” Something flashes across her face, but I’m unsure what it is. Sadness? “We were sitting on the chaise, and it fell beneath us.” I laugh, remembering how it originally broke and how it completely collapsed.
“As long as you are okay . . . ” Nora says slowly.
After watching my face for confirmation, she lays out a beautiful yet simple dress of royal blue and silver, then helps me into a royal blue sheer corset. I question the purpose of sheer underwear, and then we look at each other and laugh. It’s not for us; it’s for men. We roll our eyes as she makes up my face. Thenshe braids my hair loosely and places a white gold and sapphire tiara on my head.
Excitement bubbles in my chest. “Nora, I have to show you something.” I take her into the bathroom, thankful that I had the mind to put my jewelry and our crowns on the vanity. My white dress is still dripping wet, draped over the bathtub. “Isn’t it neat?” She walks in, looking for some strange and wonderful thing. “The shower!” I hold out my hands.
Nora looks at the glass. “Yes? It’s very interesting?”
I open the door for her. “It rains. A rain shower!” She walks in, seeming very uninterested, and I try not to be disappointed. “You have to pull the lever for it to work, but—” Nora pulls on the lever and screams bloody murder. “Oh shit! Turn it off!”
