Winter's Bride - Candace Wondrak Page 0,29

each other.

Was it wrong to be kind of excited to sleep with a god? Not every girl could say they had that chance. Ignoring whatever happened to the other brides, it was kind of exciting in a way, the whole thing made even more forbidden by the fact that I somehow had Summer’s favor, too.

Being with them both… now that was something that made my thighs clench beneath the water. Me, stuck in the middle of a hot and cold embrace, the stark differences between them only furthering to heighten the sensations they made me feel.

Oh, yeah. Maybe it was wrong, but I could go for that.

Call it ironic, or a total invasion of privacy since I was naked and in the tub, but it was at that exact moment when Ishan popped into the room, leaning on the wall opposite me, his arms folded over his chest, a grin on his attractive face.

“Well, well,” he said, flashing me his perfectly straight and white teeth. “Perhaps I should tell you, us gods know when you’re thinking about us.”

Before I knew it, my cheeks flushed and I shot him a frown as I fought the way my body responded to his sudden nearness, and his insinuation that he knew what I was thinking about. That meant Abner did, too—

“I’m teasing,” Ishan said, cutting into my freaked-out thoughts with a shrug. “But the look on your face was priceless.” He pushed off the wall, moving closer to the bath’s edge, lowering himself as he let his eyes wander along the water. “Although,” he went on, “with how you responded just now, it does make me wonder if you were indeed thinking about me, Morana.”

Were my thighs still clenched together? I was pretty sure they were, but I couldn’t do anything other than wonder if he could see me through the water. I’d poured a bit of soap into it as the water filled the tub; there were some suds and bubbles hiding me from him, but I couldn’t know for certain.

Once I regained myself, I frowned at him. “What are you doing here?” I’d been Ishan-free for a while, and not having him near helped with the level of temptation I felt toward him. It was not good to think about another man when you were set to marry another. Especially when they were gods and brothers.

Yeah, that was asking for trouble.

“I came to see you, of course.”

“Why?” I did my best not to move beneath the water, for any movement might stir the bubbles enough and give Ishan a good eyeful of my naked body. Although… if he’d been watching me my entire life, he’d probably already seen me naked, so me worrying about that was pointless.

“Because you are the light of my life,” Ishan answered, grinning.

Okay, at that I had to do something, so I brought a hand to the surface of the water and splashed him, causing him to laugh as the soapy water lifted and hit his face. And then I had to fight the waves of yearning scorching through me as I listened to that laughter. Such a beautiful, warm sound; I could listen to it every day.

“Really,” I started, “why are you here? I’m to marry Abner tomorrow.”

That caused Ishan’s laughter to die off instantly, almost as if he did not appreciate the thought of me wedding his brother. “I know,” he said. “It’s why I came. You’ve been doing well, but… but there is still something my brother has not told you. He’s never told any of his brides.”

The sudden seriousness of the conversation made the butterflies in my stomach cease their fluttering, and I felt a lump begin to form in my throat. “What?” My voice barely came out. I knew there was something Abner wasn’t telling me, but somehow… it felt wrong to hear it from Ishan and not Abner himself.

Ishan stood straight, the water I’d splashed onto him already dried. “I would prefer to show you, actually, when you’re done.”

Show me? For some reason, that sounded almost worse than simply telling me what it was. He wandered out of the washroom and into my bedroom, leaving me alone to finish the bath. It wasn’t as if I’d be able to relax at all now, so I hurried up. After draining the tub, I got out, reached for a towel and dried myself off before putting on the same dress I’d worn earlier.

By the time I emerged from the washroom, I found Ishan