Seduction (Curse of the Gods #3)(41)
“Would you like to clean up?” Yael asked me, his eyes looking darker than usual in the muted lighting.
I found myself unable to speak. There was an intimacy and tension ricocheting between the three of us, and it had something tightening low in my gut. I knew they were waiting for an answer, so I quickly nodded my head. Not speaking at all seemed like the safest option.
Rome was the one to stride to a darkened wall and open a door I hadn’t even seen there. “The bathing room is in here; I’ll help you with the controls.”
Swallowing hard, my feet were moving before my brain even registered what he’d said. Yael followed close behind me, for once his overly-brash arrogance tucked completely away. Stepping into a large and brightly lit room, I noticed that there were small illumination domes on the walls, and I watched Rome stop beside a huge, rounded shape on the floor as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. My brow furrowed as I crossed to him and stared down into it.
“What is this?” I asked.
He smiled, an actual real smile, and it was so shocking that I stumbled forward and almost fell head-first into the big bowl.
“This is a bather, we can fill it with water and you can relax in there.”
I gave the bather another suspicious stare. “Where does the water come from?”
Rome lifted his head and stared at the ceiling: I followed his gaze but couldn’t see what he was looking at. Then water started to fall, like rain, sprinkling the bottom of the bather. Glancing back at Rome, I noticed his hand against a panel on the wall.
“It’s all controlled from here,” he told me. “But you don’t have to worry, I’ll set you up and then you can call when you’re ready to get out.”
I nodded with enthusiasm; suddenly, I could think of nothing better than crawling in and letting the water wash over me. “It’s like climbing into a well while it’s raining, just … smaller,” I decided out loud. Which was lucky, because I couldn’t swim.
Yael chuckled. “Yes, but this is warm, and the water has natural minerals to help clean and refresh your skin.”
“Not drowning is probably the main benefit,” Rome concluded.
Shaking my head, I ducked down and grabbed my right shoe as I started to hop around in an attempt to pull it off. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t drowned even once, and I’ve fallen into at least three wells.”
It had been close that last time: Emmy had been forced to loop all of our bed sheets together to get me out—but they didn’t need to know that part. “So, you don’t have to worry about me,” I finished, hopping a few more times before losing my balance and tumbling over.
Yael had me up and off the ground in a fraction of a click. “Why do I not believe you, Willa-toy? Something tells me there will never be a time where we don’t have to worry about you.” He deposited me on a small chair I hadn’t noticed in the corner of the marble room. “Foot!” he demanded, holding his hand out.
I lifted my right leg, the red dress riding up even further so that my new, Siret-fashioned underwear was very clearly on display. Yael’s eyes briefly moved up my leg, but he didn’t say anything as he caught my ankle in his firm grip. He rested the ball of my foot against his abdominals, before sliding his hands down to the top of my boots. Fingers brushed against the skin which showed between my dress and boots.
I shifted in my chair then, forcing myself not to reach out and pull him to me. With slow movements, he slid the top of my boots down, before lifting my foot completely. My mouth was dry by the time he finished the second boot, and I was starting to think that he had done it to me deliberately.
“Bather is ready,” Rome said, and I sprang to my feet.
Somehow, I managed not to trip and slam into Yael, who still stood close by, and I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved by that. I was one big ball of tension by the time I crossed the bathing room. The bowl was about half full, and water still trickled in gentle streams from the ceiling. “Do you need help with the dress too?” Yael grinned darkly. He was still holding my boots in his hands.
I shook my head quickly. “No … I’m good.” I probably wasn’t. Siret fitted everything so firmly to my body that it was nearly impossible to get it off without help, but I would be damned if I ended up naked in front of them again this sun-cycle. There was only so much a girl could handle.
Eleven
As it turned out, Siret hadn’t just moulded the ridiculous dress to my body—he had finished off the design without a single fastening. No zips. No buttons. He was trying to keep my clothes on by making them impossible to take off. Unfortunately, that also made it impossible for me to clean myself. I considered my options as the sound of slowly-trickling water drew me to the bather. I could call one of the guys in again, but things were already tense enough without me asking them to rip the dress off my body. I might have accidentally flashed them a lot, but I wasn’t going to deliberately torture them. Not when they had made the girl-brother pact to keep the dynamics of our group intact. I could feel the lines slipping already, but I could also see how uneasy it was making them. I almost suspected that they were each torn between wanting to act before anyone else did, and wanting to maintain distance so that the others would do the same.
As for my feelings … I didn’t even know what they were. I didn’t want to mess up the dynamic of our group either, but I completely lost all cognitive function whenever one of them touched me. I wanted them. All of them. Equally.