I turned back to the main living room and went to the door, spotting Carrow as she stood. “There’s a bath here, if you like.”
“Oh, that would be amazing. We haven’t been here long, but I feel filthy.”
I left the room, giving her privacy.
The bookshelf called to me, and I strolled to it, selecting a volume at random. As soon as I sat down on the couch to read, I heard the first splash.
Images of Carrow in the bath, her golden skin bathed by firelight, flashed in my mind.
I looked down at the brown leather book. Suddenly, it was laughable that I might be able to distract myself with seventeenth-century literature when Carrow was naked in the other room.
I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling. How was I going to bear this?
“Grey?” Her voice filtered out from the bedroom. “Do you want to join me?”
Yes.
“The tub is very large,” she said.
I drew in an unsteady breath. Most of my brain cells seemed to have perished as soon as I began thinking of Carrow in the bath. The few that had survived did their best to sort out whether it was wise to join her.
We’d been trying to avoid the thing between us, but why?
The curse had already sunk its hooks into us.
Unable to help myself, I rose and walked to the door, leaning against it so that I could see Carrow.
As I’d expected, she lounged in the bath, the water lapping at her collarbones. It was a bloody large bathtub, sufficient for at least two. I didn’t recall using it with others while I’d lived here initially, but the sight of Carrow made my blood run hot.
“Join me?” she asked.
“I’m not sure it’s wise.” My voice sounded raspy to my own ears.
“I think we’re already in trouble,” she said. “If we’re going to survive this, we will. If we aren’t, we won’t. But I think, tonight…” She shrugged, the gesture nonchalant despite the heat in her eyes. “Seems worth it.”
Fates, did it ever.
“I don’t want to think about the terrible things to come,” she said. “And if this is all we’re going to get, then I want it.”
I did, too. So badly. Desire surged inside me, making me go uncomfortably hard.
And she was right. Terrible things were coming. We’d try to stop them, but we might not manage.
I didn’t want to waste tonight.
I stripped off my shirt. Her gaze moved over me, heating more with every second. My blood rushed through my veins, and my muscles tightened.
Being surrounded by evidence of my past only highlighted how lucky I was to have her. Everything had been so dark for so long.
And now she was here. Light.
Last time we’d been together, we’d been in a dream. It had still been real, somehow. A product of her magic. But there had been a vaguely filmy quality about it.
This was clear as day, and it made it all the more intense.
I kicked off my boots and stripped out of the rest of my clothing, trembling slightly. I stepped into the bath, the water warm and welcoming. She smiled up at me, pulling me down to join her. Heat enveloped me, and she climbed onto my lap.
“Grey,” she whispered, wrapping her legs around me.