Wraith(63)

‘There’s a pump here,’ the woman said, pointing. My eyes followed her finger and understanding finally dawned. She squeezed the lever up and down a few times and a sprinkling of water appeared from a shower head. The setup was ingenious. Then another more sobering thought occurred to me.

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘The pump is here. The shower is there. Someone needs to be in the room to pump the water while I shower.’

The woman nodded vigorously. ‘Oh yes. There are only three of these showers in the castle and we would never expect the users to have to pump for themselves.’

I suspected there was an innuendo in there somewhere but this wasn’t really the time. ‘Right,’ I said slowly.

‘But don’t worry,’ she continued, ‘we’ll arrange for a servant to do that for you.’

Absolutely no chance. It wasn’t a modesty thing, it was the thought of some poor sap sweating while I enjoyed a hot shower that offended me.

‘Saiya and I will manage for ourselves.’ Gabriel smiled.

Whoa. Absolutely no chance – and this time it was a modesty thing. Forget that he’d already virtually seen me naked; I wasn’t going to shower in front of him. No way.

‘As you wish,’ the woman replied.

I opened my mouth to argue but Gabriel’s hand shot out and squeezed my arm in warning. I glared at him. He ignored me.

‘Dinner will be brought to you at eight,’ she added. ‘We will set it up in the main drawing room.’

I knew that room well; it was where my shadow had been trapped inside the salt circle.

‘Perfect. Thank you very much.’

She stumbled out as if she couldn’t wait to leave. As soon as I heard the click of the main door, Gabriel turned to me. ‘Get your clothes off then.’

My mouth dropped. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re filthier than I am, Saiya.’ He stretched over and tested the shower pump. As a gush of water sprinkled down from above, he lowered his voice. ‘And with the water running, they can’t eavesdrop.’

Oh. A flutter of disappointment coursed through me. Fair enough.

‘I’ll shower after you,’ he said. ‘So come on. We don’t want the water to get cold. Clothes off.’ His tone was business-like; he could have been a doctor performing a routine inspection. It didn’t matter; I still felt awkward.

Turning my back on him, I fumbled with my top. A good amount of Death Worm gunk had dried on it, making the material stiff and unyielding so it wasn’t easy to remove. After a moment or two of watching me struggle, Gabriel apparently had had enough. ‘Don’t move,’ he murmured.

I felt rather than saw him behind me. His warm breath clouded against my neck, followed by his fingers gently edging their way round. I was frozen to the spot.

‘Saiya?’

I squeaked.

‘Don’t forget to breathe.’

All at once I expelled the air I hadn’t realised I was holding. ‘I…’ I stammered.

‘Shh.’ He reached up, brushing his fingers against the soft hairs that curled round my ear. ‘I know. I was there for that kiss too. The connection runs deep, Saiya, deeper than even I could have imagined. I felt what you’re feeling. I feel the same now.’

Good for him. But I didn’t know what I was feeling. Heady lust, combined with something far stronger that could only be because of this stupid Fior Ghal thing. I burned where his skin touched mine but that didn’t mean I was going to let him use me as his baby incubator.

His hesitation yanked me back to reality. I didn’t pull away but I coughed and straightened. ‘We’re both covered in ick and the water’s getting cold,’ I said, recovering the use of my voice and most of my senses. ‘And we have plans to make and a country to save. Just rip the fabric and let’s get on with this.’

‘As my lady commands.’ Gabriel’s voice was barely audible, even though his mouth was right by my ear. With one deft movement, he tore my top apart before stepping back. I peeled the rest of it away from my skin and discarded it then swiftly divested myself of my remaining clothes. Without looking at him, I stepped underneath the shower and hot water cascaded down.

Gabriel’s touch might have been like nothing I’d ever experienced before – but the shower was sublime. I groaned as the water hit my skin; I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a shower, let alone one with hot water. This was orgasmic. I closed my eyes, giving myself to the moment. Then I reached for the soap, started to scrub off the Worm goo and spoke.

‘You were going to confront Ghrashbreg about the Stone out there,’ I said, my voice just audible over the rush of water. ‘If you’d done that, we both would have been dead.’

‘You’re probably right,’ Gabriel conceded. ‘But at that moment it seemed like the right thing to do. I am unused to lying. Concealing the truth or what I’m thinking does not sit well with me or my kind.’

I wondered how he’d react if he knew how many truths I was concealing. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘if you get the urge to spill all again, give me a sign first so I can take over.’

‘It won’t happen again. I understand what’s at stake, Saiya, more than you know. Although we can be grateful for one thing.’

‘What’s that?’ I asked, focusing on a particularly stubborn patch of dried gunk on my thigh.