His gut clenched at the unintended insult he'd given her. "I didn't mean to offend you with it. I-"
"I'm not offended, sweet. Just surprised and concerned. It's not like you, and it tells me exactly how sick you really are. I can't believe you came here when you're so ill. Someone should have kept you at home and tended you better than this. I could beat them senseless over your lack of care."
Styxx held her hand against his lips and savored the softness of her skin and the precious scent of it. Then he kissed her palm. Gods, it felt so good to be with someone who wasn't hating him.
"By the way, I was surprised by your messenger."
"Galen?"
She nodded.
"How so?"
Bethany ran the cloth over his chest, raising chills in her wake. "It struck me as odd that such a high-ranking officer would bother running an errand for a foot soldier."
Styxx cringed as he realized Galen would have given rank out of habit. Damn ...
"It is odd," he admitted. "For reasons that mystify me, too, the old buzzard took a liking to me. When I became ill, he actually returned from leave to check on me, and he was the only one I trusted to get word to you. I'm very lucky he agreed." There, all of it was honest truth.
She wrung out the cloth. "I don't find it odd that other people see the greatness in you that I do."
"You and Galen are rare. Most people have little use for me."
"That's their loss." She paused in bathing him as her wrist brushed against his hard cock. Her right brow shot north.
"I know your intent was to cool me down, akribos, but your tender touch has the opposite effect on my body."
She shook her head. "You're not well enough for that."
"I know, and it's not really why I came here today. I just needed to be with someone who cared about me for a little while."
Bethany's stomach lurched at the sincerity in his voice. "Your family loves you."
"No, they don't. I sometimes pretend they do, but I know better. You and Galen are all I have in this world. And you're the only one who has never hurt me."
Tears pricked her eyes at the raw pain he unknowingly revealed. "I would never hurt you."
"And that's why I came even though I'm fevered. For two weeks I've been with people tending me because they had to. It's very different than being with someone who tends you because you matter to them."
"Hector-"
He placed a finger to her lips to silence her. "I don't want your pity, Beth. I want the fire in you that warms me. I live for your insults and taunts."
"I don't mean them."
"I know. Believe me, I can tell the difference between your good-spirited teasing and the barbs that are meant to bleed me." He pulled her against him. "Just let me hold you for a little while and then I'll leave you in peace."
She set her cloth aside and closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of his fevered body against hers. Her Hector broke her heart and yet he held so much quiet strength that he never ceased to amaze her. She didn't understand the bits of his life he shared. How could his family be so reckless with their care of him?
His heart was so gentle and sweet. He tried so hard to please and take care of others. Why would anyone be unkind to him? But the scars on his body and the inner ones his words betrayed told her exactly how careless and heartless the people around him were.
And she hated them for that.
The mere fact he'd come to her when it was obvious he wasn't fit to travel, and no one had stopped him, said it all. How could they have left him alone in this condition? For even a heartbeat?
She ran her hand over the muscled ripples on his stomach. The heat from his skin was searing. "Have you eaten?"
"Mmm."