water before starting on the other one. I floated happily on the surface, then let my ass drop to the bottom and opened my eyes.
Through the steam, I watched the Leopard Lord come around the left side of the tub, his chest glistening from condensation and his eyes half-lidded. Locks of hair, turned dark by water, clung to his chest and face, but he didn't brush them back; he was too focused on me. His hand, strong but elegant, trailed through the water as he stepped behind me again. The Leopard Lord smiled smugly when he caught me watching him.
“Sit up, we need to wash your hair.”
I sat up, still so sleepy but starting to wake up. Starting to realize where I was. What was I doing? I shouldn't let him bathe me; this was weird. I glanced over my shoulder at Kardri—ugh, I mean the Leopard Lord. Oh, who am I kidding? The man was bathing me, I could fucking call him by his first name. Kardri took a bottle from the shelf and poured a little of its contents into his hand. He rubbed his palms together before setting them on my hair. I faced forward, feeling awkward but unable to protest.
His fingers worked the shampoo into my scalp and hair, relaxing me again. “You even have tiny pebbles in your hair,” he chided me gently, as one might a child.
“Yeah, well, you know . . . debris and shit.”
“Hopefully not shit.”
I barked out a laugh at his dry delivery of the joke, and Kardri chuckled.
“You never know,” I said, significantly more awake after that laugh. “I could have landed in some.”
“Thank you for ruining this for me.” He pushed me away. “Rinse.”
I snorted and ducked underwater again, shaking my head and scrubbing at it to get the shampoo out. I came up and wiped off my face, then took the dry cloth he handed me. “Thanks.”
“Here, you seem more awake now. I'm sure you'd rather wash the rest of your body yourself.” Kardri handed me the soap.
“Uh. Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry about that. It's been a long night.”
“I know. I was at your side throughout it, Tryst.”
Damn, did that man not know how to speak normally? I felt heat rise in my cheeks. The flush made me sway. Fuck, I was on the edge of passing out again. I needed to get some sleep. But the bath felt so damn good. I got to my knees and washed my middle, trying to ignore the Leopard Lord's presence behind me. The tub was so deep that I had to shove the cloth underwater to wash my junk.
“I'm good if you want to go to bed,” I said over my shoulder.
Kardri was staring at the top curve of my ass that peeped out of the water, and he wasn't the least bit embarrassed about being caught. In fact, he grinned before he drawled, “Oh, I certainly want that.”
“I mean, I'm awake enough to finish in here without drowning myself,” I amended.
“I know what you meant.” The Leopard Lord crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the stool until he was propped against the shelf. “I think I'd rather wait here.”
“Fine. Whatever,” I mumbled. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen everything already. Speaking of which . . . I stared down at my chest as I soaped up my cock. Was it bigger? I mean my chest, not my cock.
“What are you doing?” Kardri asked.
“I don't remember having so many muscles,” I muttered as I flapped everything about underwater to rinse. Then I headed for the rim; I decided to give up on the bath since my attendant wouldn't leave. I crawled out before I realized that I had to go back to where he was to get a towel.
“Becoming fae has a lot of perks,” Kardri's voice had gone strange.
I turned toward him and found his hot stare locked on my chest, his throat working as if it were dry and difficult to swallow. His gaze ventured down, and I could feel it almost like a physical touch, tracing the water that dripped down my stomach and over my dick. A thrill rushed up my body.
“I got muscles from turning fae?” I whispered, part in curiosity but mostly in desperation to get his eyes off my cock.
Kardri lifted his gaze to mine. “That and an extra hit of handsome. Not that you weren't attractive before. But now . . . well, here.” He