there gaping at me. “I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it with my own eyes,” he muttered. “You’re not just a girl. You’re…”
Heat climbed my throat and pooled in my cheeks. “Throw me the soap and a cloth.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and then he hurried to do as I asked. “Can I bring them to you or…?”
“Toss them, Bo.”
He tossed the soap, which floated beside me, then balled the heavy rag and threw it, as well. He never took his stare off me. “Your back,” he said, almost politely. “I’ve heard that Drimuti have wings, but not the…the markings of wings. It’s quite striking.” He cleared his throat. “You are quite striking.”
Men were so weird.
“I don’t claim the Drimuti,” I replied, just as politely. “And they don’t claim me.”
“I’ve heard they’re a clannish bunch who don’t much accept outsiders.”
“That’s me,” I said cheerily, though there was an ache inside me. Always the outsider. After he’d gotten attached to us—to my brother Galen, actually—Ilen had called upon the Drimuti leaders to take us in. Two representatives came to look us over, and they found us lacking. They were disgusted by the “wannabe wings” on our backs, and by the “tiniest speck of Drimuti blood” they believed we held. We were beneath them, and they said as much. And then they walked away and left us at Stone Haven.
Fuck them.
“Whatever you are,” Bo said, his voice low, “you’re beautiful. Dexx is a lucky sonofabitch.”
Uncomfortable with his compliments and change in attitude, I waded deeper into the water and began to scrub my hair and body vigorously, and after I submerged myself to rinse and looked back toward the bank, he had his back turned and was giving me some privacy.
He never urged me to hurry once I’d left the water, squeaky clean but freezing, and wrapped my head and body in the huge towel. I dried my hair as best I could without a dryer or at the very least a fire, then finger-combed it and twisted it back into its customary knot.
I dressed in the overly large but thankfully heavy and warm clothing Bo had brought for me. But first, I wound the binding cloth around my chest, not sure the clothes would hide my breasts or that an accidental touch wouldn’t expose my secret.
Lastly, I reluctantly crammed the ugly, itchy hat back on my head, and then I was ready to go. I had to admit that despite the agony of the cold, I did feel better. And not once did another person come to investigate. Not even Dexx.
And if I was a little disappointed by that fact, I wasn’t about to admit it.
“Let’s get you back to the fire,” Bo said, probably alarmed by the chattering of my teeth. “You can brush your teeth there.”
He took my arm gently and solicitously and didn’t do his usual yanking and pulling me wherever he wanted me to go.
I shook my head. “Now that you’ve seen me naked, you treat me like I matter.”
He smiled. “Now that I’ve seen you naked…” He swallowed, then continued, “I am aware that you are truly my boss’s lifemate. I will never again treat you with anything but respect, and I will serve you as long as I am able. I will guard you with my life, as I do Dexx.”
I couldn’t breathe for a moment and had to bite my lip to keep the tears at bay. I, too, was beginning to believe.
He swept his gaze over my battered face. “I am sorry for the abuse you endured at Craeshen hands.”
I touched my bruised cheek. “Growing up a street kid, I’m no stranger to being knocked around.”
He flinched.
Talk about a complete turnaround, my life had just taken one. And in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about how different my life would be if Dexx truly came to love me. I wanted to hold onto this newfound change in my circumstances with all my might.
“I don’t think Dexx will accept me,” I said.
He nodded. “Which is why we will give him a chance to get to know you and to feel more strongly the call inside him before we inform him of your sex.”
But when we arrived back at the camp, we were told that Dexx had given orders to send me and Vihn back to the city—Vihn to the hospital and me to the streets.
We were free.
I stared up at Bo, my heart pounding. I had gone from