I know that.” And I did, I realized. Despite everything, I trusted Frost not to hurt me.
“Do you really?” His eyebrow raised skeptically. “I doubt you can stand or walk; I’ll have to carry you all the way there.
He was right, of course. I couldn’t even sit upright without pain, let alone make it to the bathroom. Still, the thought of Frost me naked, carrying me in such a vulnerable state…
But then, he’d already seen me unclothed before, hadn’t he? When Kaius had commanded me to strip in his presence. And later. when he’d shifted to wolf form for our forest run, he’d been naked before transforming.
“Thanks,” I finally said, letting the sheet fall away as I surrendered to the necessity of his help.
His arms slid beneath me with surprising gentleness, lifting me as if weighed nothing. I couldn’t help but remember how easily Kaius had manipulated my body last night, positioning me as he wished. These werewolf merr and their preternatural strength.
Frost carried me to the bathroom, where steam rose from the large marble tub. He lowered me into the hot water with care, his, touch impersonal yet somehow still intimate.
I couldn’t help wondering if this meant we were friends now. The thought seemed ridiculous given our circumstances, yet Frost had
had shown me more kindness than anyone else at Ravenhollow. He’d taken me on that exhilarating wolf–run through the forest, warned me about the marking ceremony, had intervened when Kaius lost control after biting me.
And now here he was, helping me bathe because Kaius had been too rough and left me too sore to move. The whole situation was
absurd.
As Frost handed me soap and a washcloth, I remembered something else–Kaius saying it would be alright for me to be with Frost, as long as he could watch. At the time, I’d been shocked by the suggestion. Now, sitting naked in a bath while Frost carefully averted his gaze, I wondered what Kaius had truly meant.
Had it been merely to provoke me? Or was there something more to the dynamic between these two men–something I didn’t yet
understand?
I studied Frost covertly as he gathered fresh towels. His silver–blond hair contrasted sharply with Kaius’s midnight black. Where Kaius was all barely contained intensity, Frost moved with fluid, controlled grace.
I wondered if Frost had felt those “stronger emotions” from Kaius during our confrontation about Lysandra. Had he known what we were negotiating? Did he know I’d agreed to satisfy Kaius so he wouldn’t go to her?
And speaking of Lysandra… was I better than her? Kaius had been with her recently–the night of the marking. He must have comparisons fresh in his mind.
Yet according to Frost, last night had been “one of the best” for Kaius. Despite myself, satisfaction curled through me at the thought.
་
“You’re smiling,” Frost observed, breaking me from my reverie.
I hadn’t realized, “Just thinking.”
“About last night?” There was no teasing in his tone, just simple curiosity.
I changed the subject. “That time… after the marking. When Kaius almost… when you stopped him. You apologized to me after. I thought you were apologizing for having to interfere, but were you actually apologizing because you knew he would go to Lysandra instead?”
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Chapter 30
Frost’s expression shifted, something like surprise flickering across is features. “You’re more perceptive than I gave you credit for.
“So I was right.”
He didn’t confirm or deny, but his silence was answer enough.
As I finished bathing, Frost helped me from the tub, wrapping me in towel large enough to serve as a blanket. His assistance was practical, without any suggestive glances or lingering touches,
Maybe I really was safe with him after all.
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