The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,94

would be more than happy to see me like this, but this was bold.

I liked being bold.

Grinning, I planted my cheek against my knee and closed my eyes. It was only a minute more when my heart skipped a beat. I sensed Luc’s return, and it had nothing to do with any alien DNA in me. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the intensity of his stare, heavy and as hot as the water.

Opening my eyes, I saw him standing in the doorway, an old-fashioned white pitcher in one hand and a large plastic storage container in the other. He didn’t move. I wasn’t even sure if he breathed as he stared at me with pupils that shone like stars.

Heart still thrumming, I said, “I didn’t want to wait.”

“I see.”

He spoke only those two words, but they were full of so much want and need that I shivered. I took a small breath. “I thought you could help me wash my hair.”

All Luc did was place the pitcher on the vanity, the container on the floor near the tub, and then he backed up again, returning to the doorway.

“And I thought since you heated up the water, you should get to enjoy it while it’s warm. The tub is big enough.” And it was. The tub wasn’t a Jacuzzi or anything like that, but it was definitely wider and longer than a normal tub. He still hadn’t moved. I lifted my cheek but kept my knees to my chest. “If you want to.”

His mouth opened and then closed. He took a moment. “I don’t know if I can.”

I had not expected that response.

At all.

A different kind of flush swept over my skin, having nothing to do with the heat of the water or the fact I was completely super-duper nude. Oh, man, I’d made a mistake. A big one. A big old naked mistake, and I was going to drown myself—

“You misunderstood. Or I misspoke,” he cut into my thoughts. “I don’t think I trust myself to just share that bath with you and wash your hair. There’s going to be a physical reaction. From me. For you. It’s going to be obvious, and that should probably embarrass me, but it doesn’t. You could be wearing a hazmat suit and covered in cow dung and I’d still have a physical reaction to you.”

My lips twitched. “Cow dung? Seriously?”

He met my eyes, and it was then when I realized Luc wore many masks. He’d let this one slip, and stark need swept across his features, sharpening them. Heat licked his eyes, intensifying the amethyst hue and turning his pupils a brilliant white. “Seriously.”

A flush crept into my cheeks, and something far warmer and headier slipped through the rest of me. “Wow.”

“Indeed,” he growled, and the fire in his eyes lit up my veins. “So, as long as you know I’m not going to be a detached caregiver giving you a bath and you’re okay with that, I’m more than willing to help you.” One side of his lips curved up. “Like, you have no idea how willing I am.”

“I don’t want you to be a detached anything,” I whispered. “I want you to be you.”

“Thank God.” Then, without further ado, he reached around to the nape of his neck, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and pulled it over his head. He dropped it where he stood.

My gaze was greedy as they swept over his broad shoulders and defined chest, lingering on the lean length of his torso.

He made me want to do really irresponsible things—

I suddenly recalled Grayson’s taunts. “Can you and I have, you know…?”

“Have?” He propped his arms up on the threshold of the doorway, and when he leaned in, the movement did interesting, sinuous things to the muscles along his arms and shoulders. I was confident he was aware of that. “Have what?”

Keeping my arms around my bent legs and my gaze above the shoulders, I frowned. “Any other time you’re reading my mind, but now you’re not?”

Amusement curved his lips up farther. “You’re not being loud.”

I wasn’t sure I believed that. “Can I get pregnant?”

“In general?”

My eyes narrowed. “From you, you asshole.”

Dipping his chin, he bit down on his lower lip. “No, you can’t. I was not designed for potency to bring anything other than a release. Husher believed that the ability for an Origin like me to father a child would only hinder growth of my physical or mental abilities.”

Designed? I hated how