noticed. Having him express his approval was huge and she hugged it to her. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Very much. It looks completely natural, as if it has always been here. It is efficient and does not take up too much space. You have a good eye. For someone who had no idea she could do this, you created the pool like an expert, which I suppose, technically you are.”
He floated into the pool with her in his arms and sank into the heat of the water. It felt like heaven, exactly what she needed.
8
Isai allowed Julija to move out of his arms to the other side of the pool. Before she got there, he waved his hand and she had a comfortable seat, just the right height for the blanket of warm water to hit her just above her breasts. She looked beautiful, all flushed and tousled, as if she’d been thoroughly made love to—and she had.
He’d grown to know her through their telepathic connection. He caught glimpses of her life and it sickened him that he’d been in the world and hadn’t been able to protect her. She blushed when he kept looking at her.
“You have to stop. I can’t think when you’re staring at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. A hungry wolf. You look as if you might devour me any minute.”
He flashed a small enigmatic smile at her. “It is a possibility.”
“I’m sorry I doubted you, Isai. Or even acquainted you at all with the likes of Barnabas or my father. I should have believed in my own ability to tell truth from lie.”
“Do not apologize to me, my little mage. They conditioned you to doubt everything. You will soon believe in yourself again and in us.”
She went underwater to rinse out her hair. He watched the strands floating across the top of the crystal-clear pool. She looked like a sexy water nymph. It was difficult to watch her and not have his body react in spite of the fact that he had just had her. One of the cats mewed and pushed against his arm. Without thinking, he bit into his wrist and offered his blood to the animal. The two had to be hungry to ask so soon. He didn’t mind. He wanted his bond solidified.
The shadow cats had shields preventing Anatolie from accessing either one. That gave Isai the necessary time to build the bond, so their loyalty would be absolute. He would also know what they were doing at all times. He couldn’t afford one or both cats to go after human or Carpathian blood. They would have to get used to taking what they needed from either Julija or him.
Julija watched him feed the big male. “He genuinely likes you.”
She sounded surprised, and he deliberately shot up an eyebrow. “I am likable.”
She made a face at him. “I don’t know, he hasn’t felt your hand on his rear.”
He knew she was teasing him, but after discovering the things Barnabas had done to her, he didn’t want anything that even came close to reminding her of that poor excuse for a human being. He let the cat finish and then closed the puncture wounds with his tongue.
“I must apologize to you for my behavior,” he said. “I had no idea you had this man treat you the way he did. I did not mean to resemble him in any way.”
She looked genuinely horrified. “If you think that, you need to look into my mind. I didn’t want you to see the things he did to me, but your ridiculous little spanking wasn’t even in the same league. Believe me, I never thought that at all.”
He stared at her, somewhere between shocked and amused, and with an urge to repeat his “ridiculous little spanking.” His woman had a mouth on her. He let the silence between them grow heavy until she realized what she’d said. Rather than react the way he expected, with chagrin or at least some tiny bit of remorse, she burst out laughing. He couldn’t help liking the sound. It filled the chamber, a soft, sexy little masterpiece he could listen to for the rest of his life. The sound also made him want to smile. It took a few moments to recognize that the unfamiliar emotion welling up in him was happiness.
He sent a wave of water at her with the flat of his hand. Instantly she retaliated, turning her back and throwing up water with both hands.