if she was made to be a goddess herself, her hips wide, her stomach smooth… her breasts round and curved with dark, pointed nipples—
Morana’s eyes locked with mine, and she let out a stifled scream before picking up a rock and throwing it at me, as hard and as fast as she could.
Oh. Right. I must’ve revealed myself to her while losing myself in her naked appearance. The words oops didn’t feel too godly, but no other word came to mind as I grinned and ducked away from the thrown rock.
I held my hands up, being careful not to let my gaze dip lower than her collarbone. Heat had begun to gather in my lower half—more heat than I could ever remember being there before—but I fought the sensation as I gave her a mock surrender.
Morana went to pick up another rock, not bothering to cover herself. She did shift those stunning blue eyes toward the other side of the river, where the messenger was a good ways away, currently cooking a rabbit as if nothing at all was going on here.
And nothing was going on here. It wasn’t like I was a bandit or a robber, intent on harming this girl.
“Ah, my brother’s messenger won’t hear you,” I told her, unable to stop myself from grinning. It took every ounce of willpower in me to not let my gaze eat her up, to not memorize every curve on that body, the way she looked in the dying sunlight, her naked form glistening with water droplets.
She blinked. “Your… your brother?” Morana paused, reality slowly dawning on her. Still, it would seem she needed to hear me say it aloud, for she asked, “Who are you?”
Still grinning, I told her the truth, “Your kind know me as Summer, but you may call me Ishan.” It was too late to lie to her, although I supposed I could glamour her and make her forget this whole thing. I did not want to do that, however. Making her forget me… it seemed a terrible, cruel thing.
Again, more blinking, as if she could not believe her eyes. And then, of course, Morana remembered she was naked. Instead of covering herself up, she simply set her hands on her hips and demanded in a tone I bet she considered harsh, “Tell me then, Ishan, do you always make a habit of appearing to women while they’re naked, or am I the only lucky one?” Her tone was anything but grating to me.
In fact, her words only made me grin harder, which I think only furthered her annoyance.
“You know,” I started, taking a step back as she rolled her eyes and reached for the small bits of fabric that would hide her most private parts from me, “you are meeting a god right now. You could show a little more respect.” I meant it in good fun.
“Perhaps it is you who should be showing me more respect,” Morana said, huffing. Now that her private bits were covered, she folded her arms over her chest and cocked a hip. A feisty stance if I ever saw one. “You appeared to me out of nowhere, while I was bathing—”
“Technically, you were done bathing,” I informed her.
She frowned. “So, you were there the entire time, then? You watched me the whole time?”
At that point, I wasn’t sure what to say, what she wanted to hear. If I told the truth, I ran the risk of sounding like a creep, and I knew she wouldn’t like that. However, if I told a lie, I wouldn’t feel right about it. This girl was one I never wanted to lie to.
I decided on changing the subject: “I hear you’re set to marry my brother. And by heard, I mean I watched the whole thing. You volunteered for your sister—admirable, I suppose—but why? Why would you do such a thing?” I stopped myself from asking what I really wanted to: why would you volunteer to marry Winter when you belong to me?
“Why would it matter to you?” she asked. “Why I did it? Why would it matter to a god what I chose?” Morana paused, shaking her wet head. “Is this why you’ve shown yourself to me, to ask me why?”
The grin I wore was no longer wide; instead it was simply a small smile as I told her, “This might be the first time you’ve laid eyes on me, but this is not the first time I’ve watched you.” Her cheeks flushed,