An Origin Story
Being alone in the bathroom with Ezra was a little too like being alone in the grotto. The light was dim and warm from candles burning, the water steaming and swirling with the touch of Ezra's arm, but when he wasn't touching me, it was hard to feel I wasn't alone.
"Ye don't have to get in," he said, and I stiffened my muscles to keep from jumping. "I could bathe you like this, if you'd rather."
His voice was thick and simple and human compared to the strange echo of the wraith, and my shoulders relaxed at the sound. I shook my head and lifted my chin.
"Brave little lass," he murmured. "Step forward and I'll hold you. Or to the left and you can move into the water on your own."
That was nice, the clear direction and the choice laid out for me. I stepped forward, toes accidentally stumbling on Ezra's, and then I was caught up in his arms again, sighing.
"You don't have to, you know," I said. Ezra hummed in response and I continued, "The cuddling."
He huffed, and one arm scooped under the back of my legs, making me gasp, seemingly suspended in air. He climbed into the water, holding me above it. "What makes you think I was done with ye just because I had my way with yer pretty little pussy, hm?"
My lips fought my own smile, and I glanced down at the water, amused by the obvious holes of his feet. "That's funny. Like boots. Do you think—"
Ezra cut off my question by sinking down into the water.
"Oh!" I said, sliding out of his arms and turning in the large tub to face him. It was still strange and eerie, this odd emptiness in the water, like the hollow of a statue, but it was the first hint of a glimpse I'd gotten of Ezra, and I was fascinated. "You're big."
Ezra laughed and spread his arms out, sinking down a little further so I could see the full breadth of his chest. It was all warped and wavering, and probably a little larger looking from the lens of the water, but it was definitely the breadth of muscle and man I'd felt against me. His legs were spread around me, bent so that the knees were just above the water, two odd hollows in place. I reached out and hovered my hands where they ought to have been until they touched.
"I hope that witch madame of yours makes good on her offer," Ezra rumbled. "I want to savor that moment when our eyes meet at last."
Warmth stirred in my chest. That was…a better kind of reassurance than the offer of a cuddle. I slid my hands down the thick expanse of Ezra's thighs, to the murky confusion of his cock and balls below, mapping them more easily with my touch than I could make sense of them through the water. Ezra grunted and sighed, sinking into the touch until I could just make out the impression of his neck and chin at the far end of the tub.
"Much as I'd like to pick up where we left things, puisín, I meant what I said in front of the doctor. I'm not happy with how I left ye. And I don't think getting my cock wet in the water is the right way of making it up."
In spite of his claim, he was growing hard in my hand, but it was more flattering to know he was ignoring his arousal than that it was there in the first place. I sighed and shifted forward again, Ezra sitting up so I could rest my cheek on his shoulder.
"I don't think you can help but get your cock wet in water," I answered, avoiding the obvious meaning.
"Very clever… I told you I'd be back soon."
I nodded. "You did, but…" Ezra was quiet, one hand stroking my back and the other lifting my legs gently to drape over one of his. "Not all men come back for seconds."
"If a man is coming back, whether it be second or thirds or more, and ye know it's a matter of how many times he wants his helpings before he goes for good, he's not worth what ye have to offer."
My eyes widened at that and I lifted my face, wishing I really could see Ezra's face.
He chuckled, and a damp kiss pressed to my forehead. "I can't say I've never been one of those men. But I can say that I knew long before I found my way into your bed that a place there would be a privilege I wouldn't give up lightly."
"Are you being sweet because I nearly drowned?" I teased.
Ezra grumbled, and the hand resting on my thighs scooped through the water to swat my ass. "Tell me the truth. Did the sphinx have anything to do with your doubts?"
I frowned and glared down at the water, but Ezra just hummed. "Maybe…it makes a little more sense to me that the others pay, so they come back," I admitted quietly.
"If they thought they could have ye for free, you'd never see the back of them," Ezra answered.
I opened my mouth to say that they certainly could have me for free, and Ezra raised a wet finger to my lips. "Shh. Let us all earn you a little more, puisín. Then you can give them the good news. Now, sit up, and I'll wash every inch of you."
I grinned at that and followed orders, expecting Ezra's version of washing to lead somewhere…dirtier. He surprised me again though, his touch gentle and thorough, but not teasing or stirring. He was delicate with my twisted ankle, tender with my sex, and thoroughly strong on my shoulders and neck, right up into my hair, until I was a limp and happy mess in his arms. A tiny bit aroused, but also shy of the feeling too, aware that I'd been aroused in the water with the wraith and now a little ashamed of the fact that it came so quickly and with so little consideration.
Ezra either knew of my conflict or assumed I was sore and shaken, because he ignored any sexual temptation and only lifted me from the bath, drying me off with a fluffy towel as I balanced on my good foot.
"How did Auguste end up offering to cover your membership?" I asked as Ezra swept a long embroidered silk robe off a hook, floating it through the air to drape over my shoulders.
"He and the doctor stormed into the bedroom not long after we'd just gotten you up here. Magdalena told them I pulled you out, mentioned something to me about making arrangements for my membership, and then the two of them argued over the privilege of paying for it." Ezra lifted my hand to his shoulder so I could feel him shrug. "I think I might grow fond of playing the hero if everyone's going to be so cheery about it."
I laughed and used my grip to tug him closer, lifting my chin and sighing as his mouth met mine. Ezra's kiss was sweet and tender too, gentle but thorough.
"When I feel better…" I murmured, as his mouth brushed back and forth over mine.
"I'll throw you onto the nearest surface and fuck ye until you can't walk or think straight," Ezra growled, squeezing my ass briefly. "But right now, I'm a little shaken too, and just glad to see you're not quite so blue as you were when I pulled you out."
Ezra lifted me off my feet, and both Dr. Underwood and Auguste blinked at the sight of me bobbing along in midair as we entered the small extra room of the suite.
"That's one way of keeping her off her feet," Auguste murmured, lips quirking.
"Aye, but she'll wear me out at this rate, so some other lucky bastard had better take her," Ezra grumbled, returning to his crass self.
"Me," Auguste said immediately, pushing a chair back from the table. There was a large plate of food in front of him, and since he certainly wasn't eating it, he must've been planning on feeding me from his lap. He took me from Ezra's hold carefully, and Dr. Underwood lifted my leg over the arm of the chair, setting about rewrapping my ankle.
I studied the plate in front of me, piled high with thin cuts of tender, bloody meat and a dense pile of fragrant steamed greens. There was fruit too, dark cherries in juice, and crisp potatoes doused in a thick gravy, sprinkled with nuts.
"You need nutrients," Auguste said, picking up a slice of braised meat first on a fork and bringing it to my lips. "Iron especially, given my plans for our trip together," he whispered in my ear.
Iron was just a hunk of dark machinery as far as I was concerned, but Auguste had said it was in my food before, and my blood, and was important to replenishing when he wanted to drink from me. And I definitely wanted him to drink from me.
I took the meat between my teeth, humming at the richness and the salt. Jonathon and Ezra were helping themselves too—an amusing sight as food vanished when it met Ezra's mouth—and it was a scene that was somewhere between domestic and formal, neither of which I was very familiar with.