if he wasn't willing to at least try.
"Truly?" She laughed and her movements turned from light teasing to tantalizing insistence. "Do you have it in you?"
Her answer came when his body responded reflexively to her intimate caress.
"Unbelievable," she whispered, shook her head, and narrowed her eyes at him. "Unfortunately, I feel as though I would need to heal myself to continue, and that would break the spirit of this test."
"So you would instead stir my passion and leave me with no satisfaction?"
"I am sure you could fulfill that yourself with the mere thought of filling my body in any way you deem most satisfactory," she commented, pushed up from the seat, and climbed gingerly out of the bath.
She looked for a moment like she might fall, but as she stroked her body lightly, Skharr could see a decided difference in her gait. Whatever aches he might have caused, she was more than capable of healing them. He shouldn't have felt in any way surprised by that.
Before she'd gone three steps, she tilted her head, looked around the room, and snapped her fingers again.
This time, the reaction was considerably different. The water on the floor gathered itself and poured into the drain. The bed neatened as well, with the sheets carefully tucked in to make it seem as though there hadn’t been people laying fucking on it.
And, most disappointingly, her dark clothes wrapped around her again like armor.
"Yes," she whispered with a small smile. "I feel two more followers and…oh my."
Skharr looked up from openly admiring her form. Even covered, it was a thing to behold and brought back memories of his hands running over her bare skin. Among other things.
"What?"
"I would appear that Brahgen has found someone and has been thoroughly thanking me for bringing her into his life. But I had little to do with that. Was it your doing?"
"I might have…influenced events," Skharr conceded. "Both were trying to come up with effective and clever ways to approach each other and I indicated that such frivolities were not necessary."
She turned to face him as he climbed out of the bath as well and found a nearby cloth to dry himself with.
"We will not speak of this night," Ahverna said in a tone that would not be ignored. "I have no desire to talk to my brother about bedding his barbarian. He is…possessive of the humans that follow him."
"Bedding his barbarian seven times," he reminded her.
She smiled. "Perhaps another time, we can try for eight. I know you were exhausted already from a long week of traveling and little sleep, so I look forward to encountering you at full strength. But for now, I find myself amidst new responsibilities."
"If you insist," Skharr answered with a smile and looked around to find another, drier cloth that could absorb the water from his skin faster.
"It has been a pleasure, DeathEater."
"The pleasure was…" Skharr paused when he realized that he was alone in the room. He shook his head as he moved to the bed, sleep suddenly on his mind as he finished drying himself.
He climbed onto the bed again and rested his still-wet head on the soft pillows, and his eyes closed almost of their own accord.
"The pleasure was all mine, goddess," he whispered, unsure if she was still around or if she could even hear him. Still, it felt like the right thing to say as he was drifting off into what he knew would be a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Six
"Are you sure you need to leave?"
Skharr narrowed his eyes to study Brahgen. He and Evanessa seemed inseparable. In the few minutes since they had arrived in his room, they hadn’t stopped touching each other. She was the most affectionate and constantly kissed his cheek, ran her fingers over his shoulders, and hugged him.
The youth seemed to thoroughly enjoy all the attention, which begged the question of why they were in his room and not somewhere else, enjoying each other's company in privacy.
"Yes," he answered briskly. "Quite sure."
"Why?" Evanessa asked without looking at him.
"For one thing, I doubt Salah would want me to remain and leech food and supplies from her while I don’t contribute anything to her clan." He raised an eyebrow and watched the two of them with smug satisfaction. "She might feel indebted to me for having brought Brahgen home safely, but I have learned that one must never overstay one's welcome."
"I'm sure we could find work for you to do here," his friend commented and blushed as Evanessa