did not understand that other races treated combat differently. I have been paying for that mistake ever since.”
He spoke with a finality that prevented her from asking any more questions. Instead, she found herself relaxing against him. The water did help to soothe the painful burn. Extending a long arm, he retrieved a bottle of water for each of them from a nearby niche in the wall, and that, too, helped.
They sat in silence as the water swirled gently around them, and the little clusters of lights on the ceiling seemed to dim. The scent of his fur filled her senses, musky and curiously soothing. She was half asleep when he finally rose to his feet and carried her out of the pool.
“I think that’s long enough. I will apply a soothing lotion now.”
He placed her on her feet and began toweling her off before she recovered enough to object.
“You don’t need to do that. I’m quite capable of drying myself.”
She might as well have been talking to a brick wall—a large, furry brick wall—as he ignored her and continued running a cloth gently down her back. The thin material didn’t resemble a normal towel, but it removed the moisture from her skin with almost magical ease. She tried to pull away again, but he held her in place by the simple expedient of tucking her against his body.
Her front was pressed to his chest, and as her breasts rubbed against the damp silkiness of his chest, her nipples tightened. It’s just a physical reaction, she told herself as the soft fur teased the small peaks to aching hardness, determined to ignore the sensation. He spun her around and started drying her front, and she almost moaned when he passed the cloth over her now sensitive breasts. His movements slowed, and he lingered, making careful circles around her breasts and gently teasing her nipples.
“Are all human breasts this large, even when they are not with child?” he asked, his voice a low growl, and she could feel his cock hardening behind her. “And are their nipples this sensitive?”
As he spoke, he rolled each tight nub between his fingers. Her body was a confused mixture of desire and trepidation. What he was doing felt good, so good, but she hadn’t chosen this. She wrenched herself away from him, and either she caught him by surprise or he willingly let her go.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
“I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
“Your body was responding.”
Grateful that he would not be able to see her blush with her skin still flushed from the sun, she raised her chin. “That was just a physical reaction. I can take care of myself.”
“You do not need to take care of yourself. You are mine to care for now.”
“I’m not yours,” she said fiercely.
“I fought for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“Would you rather I had left you to Hvach or Goolig?”
“No,” she admitted. “But that doesn’t mean you own me. You…”
A sudden wave of weakness washed over her, and she swayed dizzily. Baralt swore, and then she was back in his arms.
“You will let me take care of you,” he said firmly.
She wanted to argue, but her arms and legs felt almost too heavy to move. As much as she hated to admit it, having him take care of her was oddly comforting.
“I will finish drying you now.”
“All right,” she said reluctantly. “But no more funny business.”
“Funny business? What is humorous about this?”
“I meant don’t play with my breasts.”
“I was only drying them,” he said innocently.
She snorted, but her urge to protest had vanished with her weariness. Instead, she lay quietly in his arms as he finished drying her and then smoothed a soothing lotion over her skin. He might have lingered a fraction longer between her legs and on her breasts than was strictly necessary, but it was too slight for her to call him on it. Her eyelids kept trying to close as a great lethargy swept over her.
She had a brief moment of panic when she found herself being placed on a soft surface, but Baralt’s deep voice rumbled reassuringly in her ear.
“Go to sleep, Isabel. You are safe.”
Before she could open her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t tired, she was asleep.
Chapter Six
A wave of heat washed over Izzie, waking her from her slumber. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, but it was an oddly erotic heat. Her nipples throbbed and ached, and there was a pulsing beat