The Vow (Black Arrowhead #1) - Dannika Dark Page 0,82

a small rug and admired the claw-foot tub. It had a copper-bronze finish on the outside, which soaked up more of that golden candlelight. Steam rose from the water, the intense smell of roses heavy in the air. The room didn’t have a toilet. That woman in the hall had drawn a bath especially for me.

“I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Wasting no time, I stripped off my shirt and oversized belt. When a hinge squeaked behind me, I hopped around so nervously that I almost tumbled backward into the tub.

Lakota threw his hand over his eyes. “My bad.”

He tried to leave, but the woman outside the door scolded him and slammed the door, shutting him in.

I lifted the shirt and held it in front of me. “If you have to pee, I have some bad news for you.”

Still covering his eyes, he flattened his back against the door. “Some guy practically hauled me up here. I think they want us to bathe together.”

I barked out a laugh before I noticed how every wall had candleholders on it with lit candles. The whole thing had been an elaborate plan, all the way to the two large towels folded on a bench alongside the tub. Then I noticed two white robes on hooks beside the door. The room lacked mirrors or other fixtures that would make it feel like anything less than a retreat.

I dropped the nightshirt on the ground. It seemed silly to cover up something Lakota had touched, tasted, and worshipped the entire night before.

Still, he kept his eyes shielded. “Why don’t you get in,” he said. “We’ll talk.”

“You can open your eyes. There’s nothing here you haven’t already seen.”

“That’s not why my eyes are closed.”

I carefully stepped into the tub. “Enlighten me.”

“I’m afraid if I open them, I won’t be able to look away. You deserve modesty.”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Is there something wrong with the way I look?” I asked, my voice soft so no one could hear our conversation.

Lakota lowered his hand, and when his eyes opened, he gazed at me ardently. “Wait,” he said, extending his arm before I could sit. “Stand there, and I’ll wash you.”

Lakota swaggered toward me and lifted a sponge from the bench. He slowly circled the tub, dragging the sponge along the water as he moved behind me.

I sucked in a sharp breath when the sponge wetted my back, rivulets of water racing down my spine. “If this is part of their mating ritual, they’re a saucy little bunch. I guess it’s safe to assume the bride and groom don’t marry virgins.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said, his voice smoky. “I can see how this would keep a couple from getting cold feet.”

He squeezed the sponge across my shoulder, and I turned my head so he could see my smile.

“Kind of hard to have cold feet in a hot tub.”

He encircled my waist with his arm, then splayed his fingers across my stomach. His very touch weakened me—made all those feelings from the night before resurface. Lakota placed the sponge against my collarbone and squeezed, and the scented water cascaded down my left breast.

His lips weren’t on me, his breath didn’t heat my skin, and his hands didn’t graze my nipples. The absence of his affection made my body ache for him. Lakota gently reached around to the other side, mimicking the same action with the sponge. He caged me within his arms, and a strange, unfamiliar energy hummed between us. I sensed his wolf, but he was unlike any wolf I’d ever known.

“Did you and Tak have a fight?” I asked, hoping to reduce the tension that had me trembling in his arms.

Lakota loosened his hold and ran the sponge down my hip, then back up again. “I don’t want to hear another man’s name while you’re naked, female.” He dipped the sponge back in the water and proceeded to wash my back. “Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, you’re going home. I spoke with Shikoba about the mating ceremony and your negotiation.”

I turned around. “What did he say?”

“He won’t do a deal with you unless you’re tied to one of the tribes, so we’re not getting out of that. But he’ll accept us not living together.” Lakota chuckled as he cleaned my arm.

“What’s so funny?”

“That old man doesn’t believe we’ll stay apart. He thinks the spirits are going to bring us together.”

“Yeah, I got that same lecture earlier.”

Lakota soaked up more water and reverently washed my stomach and hips,