“Yes, she had extremely expensive tastes,” Lexi admitted.
She looked up at the vaulted ceiling, which was painted to look like the night sky. It had tiny silver-white lights imbedded in it that twinkled like stars.
The vast bathing area couldn’t be more different from her own simple bathroom back home. In fact, most of her house could have fit in this one room—it was small but cozy while the penthouse often felt huge and empty.
“Sometimes I feel weird in this big place all alone,” she admitted to the two Kindred in a low voice. “It’s so much bigger than what I’m used to. My house on Zetta Prime is a lot smaller. Just a little pink cottage on the edge of town—I really miss it.”
“It’s not what we’re used to, either. We live in a grotto underground,” Gaze told her. “Everyone in Tranq Prime does, because the surface of the planet is constantly covered in ice and snow.”
“I’ve always been interested in seeing how other people lived on other planets,” Lexi said, smiling. “I just never got around to it—or had the credit to travel before.”
“You could sure as the Seven Hells travel now,” Bound pointed out. “Just the cost of one of those golden faucets would get you passage to anywhere in the galaxy.”
“I don’t think Lady Alexa needs to sell her fixtures to get enough money to travel,” Gaze said, frowning at his brother.
“I know that—I’m just sayin’,” Bound protested.
“I thought about traveling,” Lexi admitted. “But…” She trailed off, not wanting to admit that she didn’t like the idea of traveling alone.
“But what?” Gaze prompted gently.
“Well…” She cleared her throat. “Traveling alone isn’t as much fun as if you have someone with you and I’ve never…I guess I’ve just never met the right one to go traveling with.”
“Don’t females pair off together on Zetta Prime?” Bound asked, frowning as he limped with Gaze’s help towards the pool.
“They do,” Lexi admitted. “I’ve just…never wanted to.” She shrugged. “It’s not uncommon. Some women just aren’t meant to be mated.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right mate—or mates,” Bound rumbled and Gaze gave him a stern look.
“Why don’t we get you into the pool, Brother?” he remarked.
“Gotta get me undressed first,” Bound pointed out.
“Here—let’s lower him down to the bench to get him undressed and then we can all get into the pool together,” Lexi suggested, pointing to the padded bench on one side of the pool.
“You’re uh, coming in the pool with us?” Gaze raised his eyebrows at her uncertainly.
“Of course.” Lexi tried to keep her voice matter-of-fact, though her heart was pounding. “I mean, why wouldn’t I? I’ll keep my underthings on, of course,” she added quickly. “For…for modesty, I mean.”
“Of course,” Gaze murmured, his pale eyes flicking over her body. “Would you like us to keep ours on as well?”
“Oh, that shouldn’t be necessary,” Lexi said airily. How was she managing to sound so nonchalant when inside she was fizzing like a carbo-drink? But aside from the heat in her cheeks—which hopefully wasn’t too apparent—she thought she was doing a good job of acting like this whole taking-a-bath-together thing was no big deal.
“As you wish, Mistress,” Gaze murmured and Bound rumbled,
“Whatever you want, Angel.”
The two of them began stripping but Lexi held up a hand.
“Stop, please,” she told them. “I think I should help you undress—both of you. As I said, I feel responsible and the two of you might have wounds you don’t even know about. Unless…” She bit her lip. “Unless that makes you feel uncomfortable?”
“Hell, no,” Bound assured her from his seat on the bench. “You can strip me naked if you want to, Angel—you won’t get any complaint from me.”
“Do what you want with me, too,” Gaze told her. He held out his arms, his blue eyes half-lidded again. “I’m more than willing.”
Heart pounding, Lexi went towards them. She had no idea why she had suggested that she should be the one to undress them—she only knew she wanted to see them from all angles—to admire their masculine bodies, which were so different from her own and from anything she’d ever known before.
She went to Gaze first. The Light Twin stood silently as she unbuttoned his dark blue shirt and pulled it off his long, muscular arms. His broad chest was smooth and muscular, his skin was a light tan and his silvery hair brushed his broad shoulders. Standing there, half-naked in her bathing chamber, he looked impossibly tall.
Lexi wanted to touch him all over but she restrained herself, though she couldn’t stop looking at him.
“Would you like to take off my flight leathers or should I…Mistress?” Gaze asked her in a low voice.
It was the second time he’d called her that, but Lexi didn’t correct him. Maybe she was acting like a Yonnite Mistress, she thought—a Mistress looking over the merchandise she had bought. But she didn’t really feel like she owned either one of the big Kindred warriors, despite the exorbitant price she’d paid for them. It was more like she was responsible for them—responsible for their wellbeing.