What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(56)
I eyed the water with desire, wanting nothing more than to submerge in the warmth of it. Even with the steam billowing around me, the temperature had dropped since the sun had set. I bit my bottom lip, considering a way to do it without getting too close to him while I was naked. The spring was big enough for a dozen people. The question was whether or not he would stay on his side.
“Turn around,” I ordered, lifting my leg to pull off my other shoe.
“Well that’s not exactly fair. You’ve seen me,” he said, a smirk on his face that leaked into his voice, but he walked to the opposite side of the pool, resting his elbows on the edge and facing out over the valley.
I hurried to strip my dress off, splashing through the water in my haste to get entirely submerged before he could turn around. Warmth surrounded me, sinking inside and heating the bones I hadn’t even realized were chilled. Every aching joint in my body practically moaned at the feeling of bliss the warmth provided.
I lowered myself until I was submerged up to my neck, not wanting to answer any questions about what he might see. His body was free from scars, flawless in a way mine would never be, reminding me that we weren’t the same, and no matter what the Fae had decided we would become soon, our lives hadn’t been the same.
“Okay,” I said, sighing as I dipped my head back to wet my hair. Letting it soak in the water, I ran my fingers through it to try to get the knots out the best I could without a brush.
“Let me help,” Caelum said, stepping closer to me as I struggled to reach a tangle at the back of my head.
“You and the basilisk in your trousers stay right there, thank you very much,” I said, snapping to attention the moment he came closer.
He stopped the moment I uttered the command, his face lighting with amusement. “I’m not wearing any trousers.”
“And that is the problem. I like my intestines in my stomach and not shoved into my lungs. You just keep that thing away from me,” I said, watching as he chuckled and looked at me as if I’d grown a second head.
“I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that one before. Usually women ask me to introduce them to the Gods,” he said.
“Gross.” I shoved back the surge of jealousy in my veins. “Can you maybe not talk about your previous conquests when you’re trying to get me to fuck you? It’s rude.”
“Jealous, Little One?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me as he took another step. “Why don’t you help me erase the memory of the ones who came before you? We both know they don’t matter anymore.”
I swallowed, ignoring the confusion that came with his words. He took another step, his growing proximity a far more important topic to dive into than why the others didn’t matter. “I swear to Gods if you touch me, I will rip it off and feed it to you, Caelum,” I said, backing away a step.
His grin widened as he took another step forward. “I probably shouldn’t find it so arousing when you threaten me, and yet I get a little tingle every time.” He shrugged as if there was nothing that could be done about it, stepping closer to me with his hands raised innocently. “I promised you I wouldn’t touch you in that way until you’re ready. I meant it, Estrella. You can trust me with your body.”
“I don’t even know you,” I said, my back touching the edge of the pool. He closed the distance between us, hovering just out of reach. The knowledge that he was so close, the feel of his presence drifting to my skin through the water, was maddening.
It pushed at my self-control, testing everything I thought I knew about myself.
“I know, and we have all the time in the world to get to know one another. For now, turn around. Let me help you with your hair. We don’t know when we’ll next get an opportunity like this.” He lowered himself into the water until only his head was exposed, putting it level with mine. Tearing my fingers free from the snarl I couldn’t quite work free, I sighed and turned my back on him. He slid his fingers into my hair, carefully pulling it away from my naked body so that his knuckles only brushed against my skin occasionally as he worked in silence.
“Where is your father now?” I asked, trying to fill the silence that hung between us.
“Dead. Some years ago now.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, knowing the pain of that grief. A commonality we shared, another link between us that gave us an undercurrent of understanding we shouldn’t have felt.
“We weren’t close,” he said, working his fingers through my hair. His words seemed to conflict with the way he’d spoken of the man who’d educated him about the ways of the Fae and their history. “He was dedicated to his studies and his responsibilities. His wife hated that I existed, and she did her best to drive a wedge between us. It worked more often than not.”
I stilled. “His wife wasn’t your mother?” I asked, wondering if his birth mother had died when he was young. It was the only explanation; the alternative of him being the child of an affair but raised by the father was unheard of.
“No. My father had an encounter with a married woman when he attended a party. It was somehow decided it would be my father who’d raise me, but his wife never warmed to me. They never had children of their own, so I became the sole heir, regardless of my status.”
“That’s terrible. To be raised in a home without love…” I trailed off, unable to fathom a life without my family who would have done anything for me. Both my parents and Brann would’ve given their lives for me in a heartbeat.