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"Do you want me to turn my back?" Dex raised one eyebrow and that side of his mouth and looked speculative.
"Um." I ran the tip of my tongue over my lips.
Dex grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.
For a second I thought he'd start pulling off my clothes and throwing everything aside.
Instead, he held the back of my head gently and pressed his mouth to mine.
His kiss was softer than I expected. Contained, like he wanted so much more, but wouldn't push me into anything. Not yet at least.
He broke off the kiss and gave me a smile as gentle as the kiss. "How about I leave you to it? I'll sit out there so I can hear if you need anything. Just give a shout, okay?"
"Right, okay." If I could get my brain in gear after that kiss. I'd been kissed before, much more passionately, but for some reason, the touch of his lips made my toes curl. It wasn't just about sex, or his desire to possess me in any way.
It was about more, somehow. It wasn't something I could put my finger on, or get my head around, but it was there.
And now I needed my vibrator more than ever.
Fuck.
"I should be fine," I said, my voice higher than usual. "As long as no shark shifters come up through the plug hole."
"They'll get one Hades of a view if they do." Dex grinned.
"Jealous?" I teased.
His grin widened. "No. I just have to be patient. When you're ready, you'll give yourself to me."
He seemed sure of that, but he ducked out the door before I could respond.
He left it ajar. Enough that he could peek if he wanted to, but his scent moved away, so I knew I was alone for now.
I shook my head to myself and stripped off my clothes before I dropped them in a corner. I sighed, remembering how Czari would have scooped them up and carried them off to be washed. Dex probably assigned me another maid already, even though I could wash my own clothes.
If I knew where the laundry was, which I didn't. I seriously needed a map of this place.
I climbed into the water and exhaled as the heat enveloped my body. It was slightly hotter than I liked, but it would cool fast enough.
One eye on the door, I grabbed up the soap.
Maybe Dex wasn't watching, but my imagination ran away with me anyway, and pictured his gaze firmly on me.
I ran the soap up one arm, across my chest and down the other. A few times, I did that, until the soap began to lather on my skin.
I put the soap aside and leaned back so my nipples stuck out of the water. I pictured Dex swallowing hard as I spread the lather over my now firm peaks.
I ducked my breasts under the water to rinse and picked up the soap again to wash one leg, then the other.
While I rinsed those, I thought back over the attack. It all happened so quickly a lot of it was a blur now. The tiger's golden eyes and the fear on Nico's face stuck hard in my mind.
I don't think the young shifter knew what he was getting into. Whatever they said they'd pay him, it wasn't nearly enough to lose his life for.
That begged the question—were they all paid? The hemitheos seemed… I don't know… In it for himself. Like he had an agenda and he was there to make sure it was carried out.
If so, then what was it? I wasn't sure I bought that it was just about pitting shifter against shifter. For one thing, he wasn'tjusta shifter, and if Helene and Luther were any indication, hemitheos tended to be dogmatic.
I couldn't shake off the feeling they didn't want me dead. If it was another kidnap attempt, I'd be pissed off. Once was one time too many.
