her against his chest. "You forgot to breathe, kessake. It helps."
She was fairly certain nothing was going to help, but she took a breath anyway. "I can't . . ." She gestured vaguely. There was not going to be sex. She couldn't go that far, could she?
"I can't either," he replied, amusement in his voice.
She relaxed a little, comforted by his humor. He was much like the man she had conjured up. Patient. Relaxed. Content with who he was and who she was.
"You look like you could," she pointed out.
His gaze flicked over her and there was definite amusement. "I feel like I could. You are not ready, no matter what your body says. And I have vile parasites in my body. I cannot take a chance that I would pass them to you." He stepped into the basin of water.
She caught at him. "The water's cold."
His eyes went deep emerald. "Would I allow my lifemate to be cold when she is exhausted and wounded? I see to your needs, minan, at all times."
They sank into the blessedly hot water. She didn't care how he'd managed it, but every cell in her body thanked him. The heat surrounded her, easing the terrible strain on her muscles that the physical exertion of the day had brought, as well as the tension of meeting the man she believed she'd made up. She ducked her head under the water, but when she emerged and reached for the shampoo she kept tucked into a small rock ledge, his hand was there before hers.
"Let me. It gives me pleasure."
Maybe if he didn't sound so completely sexy all the time she could handle being with him. It was the tone of his voice. His choice of words. Pleasure. She could see his hands, big and strong like the rest of him. He dealt in death, just as she did, but there was knowledge in his eyes--knowledge of her, of what she craved and never believed she would have.
He just took up so much room. He filled the entire chamber with his presence. She felt petite beside him, and she was a sturdy woman. He made her curves seem lush and sexy instead of too much. Everything he did was deliberate and precise. He positioned her exactly as he wanted her, turning her back to him, fitting her snugly in his lap so that her head could rest against his chest. She could feel him, hard as a rock, long and thick, unashamed against her buttocks.
She desperately tried not to think about sex. Her cat wasn't close to heat, and she never thought about a man touching her. It would be unthinkable to allow a man's hands on her body after all the terrible things she'd seen that men did. Yet, lying in the water, her body warm and surrounded by liquid heat, her head back, her breasts floating and his obvious erection in mind, she had to struggle to keep erotic thoughts from her mind. He gently rubbed shampoo in her hair. His fingers settled into her scalp, beginning a slow, magical massage that sent her body into a near hypnotic state of relaxation. She felt the tingling in her scalp spread through her, a pleasant sensation that grew into pure pleasure. He took his time rinsing her hair thoroughly before his hands dropped to her neck, those strong, marvelous fingers massaging every knot and tight muscle.
Solange sighed, shocked at how good she felt. The hot water, his hands and feeling clean eased most of the tension out of her.
"Aside from the entire naked thing, why is it so difficult to talk to you?" She heard her own voice musing aloud, and was slightly shocked at herself. It was his magical hands, now working on her shoulders, that seemed to make her less inhibited. "I talked to you all the time before."
"You were safe. The man you believed you conjured up couldn't expect anything from you."
That made her seem such a coward. Was she a coward? She didn't think so. But she was afraid. He lifted her arm out of the water to begin using his strong fingers to ease the tension from those muscles as well. Defined muscles. Ropes of muscle beneath her scarred skin. She could see the hundreds of white indentations, tiny ones that reminded her of the painful stabs from her father's knife as he worked over her entire body in his determination to provoke her cat into revealing itself.
She hated looking