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“I got you, sweetheart.”
I’m not sure how I can ache with the pain of the damage to my body and still ache with a need for this man. “How many women do you call sweetheart?”
“Only you. Let me help you undress.”
“No,” I say, a lift to my voice I wasn’t capable of minutes before. Could the nectar be helping me already? “This is not how you’re seeing me naked for the first time, Micah.”
His eyes light up. “That statement implies you have plans for me to see you naked another time.”
“When the serpent is gone.”
“There’s no serpent in Elysium.”
“We both know that’s not true. If he’s back when we leave, he’s still inside me. He’s just bound, like my wolf was until we got here.”
“I don’t agree, but that’s a conversation for after you heal. We need to get you in the tub.”
I don’t miss his avoidance of the topic of the serpent. “I can do it.”
“I’m staying.” There’s no give to his voice. He’s made up his mind.
The truth is, I don’t want him to leave. “You have to turn your back.”
“I’ll turn my back.”
“You have to let go of me to do that.”
“I’m afraid you’ll fall.”
“I’m feeling stronger.”
He draws in a heavy breath and releases it. “Lean on the edge.”
I do as he says and lean against the edge of the clawfoot tub. Once he knows I’m steady, he turns around. I try to use my magic to undress, and it just doesn’t happen. What is wrong with me? I try to undress the human way, but I still hurt too badly.
“I don’t suppose you can use your magic to undress me? I don’t seem to have the ability right now.”
“I can,” he says. “Ready?”
“Yes. Do it.”
I blink, and I’m naked, which feels ridiculously intimate considering he used his magic, not his hands. “That must be a skill Nephilim love to possess.”
He laughs low and deep. “It’s not a negative. Are you in the water?”
“Not yet.” I rotate to the tub, and right as I’m about to step in, my knee gives out.
I yelp, and Micah is there, his arms wrapped around me, and I’m pretty sure one of my nipples is pressed to his forearm. “Micah,” I breathe out.
“I’m not looking.” He leans in close, his breath warm on my ear. “I’m also not letting you fall.” He scoops me up again and sets me in the water, my naked breasts between us in the process, but the bubbles consume my body, and the warm water is sweet bliss that has me moaning, my lashes lowering.
“Oh, God. It feels good.” My teeth scrape my lips, and my lashes lift to find Micah sitting on a stool of some sort right next to me, but there are so many bubbles, I’m hidden from his view. “I’m trying not to think about being naked in your arms.”
“I’m trying not to think about you naked in my arms.”
“Thank you for being here.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
