Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ash
I was still shaking as we stepped inside my room. I would have been able to tell it’d been gone through even if Jora hadn’t said that the Brid had it searched. Things looked slightly out of place, though whoever had been in here had tried to do a good job of putting everything back.
Sucked for her that there’d been absolutely nothing of mine in here anyway.
I exhaled, pushing the thought from my mind as I turned to Lonan.
“Did I do okay?” I asked in a small voice, twisting my hands in the hem of my shirt.
“Yes.” He stepped closer and cupped my face. “Perfect. I’m proud of you.”
I relaxed at that, leaning forward to kiss him. Arousal flared instantly, now that we were finally alone in a room where we wouldn’t be disturbed, but I forced myself to break the kiss.
“Shall we have a bath?” I took his hand and led him towards the attached bathroom. “The tub here is fucking massive.”
He chuckled quietly, glancing around at my room before we stepped into the bathroom. “This is nice.”
“What’s your room at the Carlin’s palace like?” I asked as I released his hand and went to turn on the tap over the enormous sunken tub in the centre of the room. “Well. Your old room.”
“Cold.” As I glanced over at him, I saw his lips pulled down into a frown. “I wish I could get the warming potion you made me from there. I don’t care about anything else.”
He had the dagger I’d given him at his hip. I gave him a little smile and nodded at the acorn necklace round his throat.
“At least you have that. I’ll make you another jar of the warming potion.” Then I grinned at him. “But I’ll keep you warm every night anyway.”
I’d hoped to make him smile, but he bit his lip and strode forward to throw his arms around my neck as he kissed me hard.
“I love you,” he mumbled shakily against my mouth. “I’m sorry for everything. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I promise.”
I frowned, stroking a hand through his hair. “You don’t need to keep apologising. And you don’t need to make anything up to me.”
“I do,” he said hoarsely, pulling back and averting his eyes. “And I will, if you’ll let me.”
“I…” That confused me, and I wasn’t sure what to say. “I mean… I guess I can’tstopyou. But you don’t need to.”
He shook his head silently and started unbuttoning his shirt as the bath filled. I watched him for a moment. His face was tense. The dark shadows had gone from under his eyes, and he wasn’t grey anymore like he’d been after the Carlin tore off his leg. But he looked withdrawn—even more withdrawn than normal.
Not really knowing what to do, I went to the bath and poured in a few drops of oil. It was jasmine scented, which I didn’t mind, but I hoped I’d be able to get the rosemary one I preferred here. The hot water rushed out of the tap in a furious torrent, filling the bath quickly.
We got undressed in silence, which made my belly churn with nerves. Lonan looked tired, I realised as I glanced over at him again. He was limping on his branch leg as he walked over to the bath, and my chest tightened at the sight of it.
“My arm ached for ages even after it healed,” I told him as I climbed in after him.
The nerves dissipated a little when Lonan immediately moved closer. The bath was big enough that we could have both sat in there without even touching, but he slid between my spread thighs and leaned his back against my front. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, pulling him even closer. My dick twitched against his lower back at the feel of his warm, slippery skin.
We lay there in silence for a while, until I leaned forward to turn off the tap once the bath was full enough. I kissed Lonan’s shoulder before sitting back, my shoulders pressed against the smooth wall of the tub.
“You’ll be a good king,” Lonan murmured, tangling our fingers together beneath the water.
I ignored the flash of nerves and pressed my smiling mouth against the bend of his neck. “So will you.”
It was kind of wild to think that Lonan was going to become the unseelie king one day. Probably one day soon. We had the Carlin’s name. We had the only way to control her, which meant we’d be able to kill her.
And Balor.
I didn’t bring them up, though, not wanting to ruin this with thoughts of them.