CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT（Untitled）Wranth

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Wranth

Instead of a heart tree cottage, the baths are in a long rectangular building built over natural hot springs. The main pool is relatively empty this time of day, with only a couple of villagers soaking in its hot water. But a couple is still far too many. The thought of anyone seeing my bride naked, when we’re not yet fully mated, when I haven’t yet knotted her… A growl rumbles through my chest. No. I cannot.

I return their greetings with quick nods as I stride past them, heading for the door at the end of the room. It opens on a smaller room with a stone-lined private pool. A short, wide window at the top of the wall lets in plenty of sunlight, and buckets of clean water wait in front of a wooden bench piled with cleaning cloths.

I set Naomi down on the bench, my fingers trembling slightly as I undress her.

Brawling through the worst of my anger with Sturrm let me see what truly caused it. Fear. Fear of losing her.

When she collapsed in front of me on the village green, I couldn’t stand the way it made me feel. The thought of losing the one person who might finally be mine…

“Hey.” Her soft hand cups my cheek, tugging my gaze up to meet her beautiful brown eyes, which brim with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I am now that you’re all right,” I say. “Although I’m sorry I let you get hurt.”

Her brow creases. “You mean me passing out?”

“Yes.” I nod. “I should never have let you take the risk.”

“Hey, I love that you worry about me, that you care, but you’re also not the boss of me.” She taps me on the shoulder. “I’m a big girl. I get to make decisions about what I want to do, and they’re my decisions, my responsibility. So stop beating yourself up about it.”

“My earlier injuries came from Sturrm.” I frown in confusion. “I did not strike myself. Is this something humans do as a form of self-punishment?”

“I mean mentally beating yourself up.”

“Ah.” I drop my eyes. “That I cannot promise, for I would never want to lie to you, my bride.”

“Nope, not good enough.” She brushes her fingers over my cheek, making me look up at her. “I need you to be okay with this, to respect that I’m going to use my powers, even if it’s hard.”

“I do respect you.” I capture her hand and bring it to my lips for a kiss. “Yet I also feel a burning need to protect you that overwhelms me at times. It’s tied to the very heart of me, the primal beast lurking in my soul.”

“I kind of like that primal beast,” she says. “But not for this. I know you’ll protect me—look at the way you fought the kelpies and soul stealers! But some things are going to be outside of your control, so you need to stop the self blame.”

“Thank you.” I press another kiss to her fingers. “I’ll try.”

Naomi offers me a soft smile, welling with tenderness. “Good. You should be kind to yourself, Wranth. You deserve kindness.”

She means it. She means it with everything she is, and it’s so full of care it makes my heart ache in the very best of ways.

I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. Naomi isn’t precious because she belongs to me. She’s precious because of who she is. This bright, beautiful woman who truly cares for others, who sees past my prickly edges to the man I am within.

Another realization strikes me—I love her.

I love her with every mote of my being. I love her with all I am or ever will be.

Goddess, I’ve never been good with words, and today is no different. So I let my touch speak for me.

I peel her clothes from her body with tender hands, kissing her lovely skin as it becomes visible. I wet a cleaning cloth and wash her softly, stroking the magical fabric over every inch of her body.

She giggles and kicks as I touch her feet. “Ticklish, remember?”

“How ticklish?” I grin up at her and pick up her other foot. Happiness fills me. I’ve never done this before, never played and taken my time. No one’s ever wanted me to—I was a quick roll in the furs, someone to scratch an itch, not someone to linger in bed with. It makes this time with Naomi all the more precious. I run the pad of my finger across the sole of her foot, making her laugh all over again, the sound ringing through my soul.

Naomi helps me with her hair, showing me how to be especially gentle as I run the cleaning cloth over it. As her fingers explore her curls after, she beams at me. “That’s the gentlest shampoo ever . My scalp feels so clean, but my hair isn’t dried out at all.”

“That’s part of their magic.” My mouth quirks in a grin. “The cleaning cloths do whatever is needed for each job.”

I strip and wash myself quickly, then carry her into the hot spring. My cock strains toward her—how could it not with my beautiful bride naked in my arms?—but I ignore it and focus on her.

My moon bound moans as we settle into the warm water. “Oh, this feels divine!”

We soak for several minutes. Then she teaches me how to work the conditioner into her hair and gently detangle it using my fingers. By the time I’m done, she lies boneless across my lap, muscles gone limp from pure relaxation. Her eyes flutter as she fights to stay awake.

I press a kiss to her forehead and murmur, “Rest. I’ve got you.”

She settles even closer against me with the softest of sighs and drifts into sleep.

My heart swells in my chest, full of the most bittersweet pleasure. I love how my bride trusts me.

But is any of this enough to make her stay?

Am I enough?

She doesn’t sleep for long before stirring and muttering a sleepy protest about being hot.

Continuing to hold her, I stand and climb out of the pool, the air of the room delightedly cool against my wet skin. I too had become a bit overheated but hadn’t wanted to disturb her.

“I can’t believe I went to sleep so soon after waking up,” she says as I place her on the bench.

“I’m not certain you can consider unconsciousness restful.” I frown. “Your body clearly needed quality sleep.”

“I think it’s that you running your fingers through my hair worked magic.” She grins and picks up a linen towel. Instead of rubbing it over her head, she squeezes it around sections of hair.

I watch carefully so I’ll know how to do it.

Since I forgot to bring anything new to wear, I run a cleaning cloth over my clothes to refresh them.

Naomi pulls on the clothes Ashley gave her, a tunic top in lavender that looks lovely against her brown skin, and a pair of soft matching pants. She glances down at her bare feet and wiggles her toes. “I forgot my shoes.”

“There’s no help for it, then.” I sweep her up into my arms, making her give a delighted shriek. “I’ll simply have to carry you.”

“My feet aren’t that delicate, you know. I go barefoot a lot.” She gives me a sultry grin. “It’s why I was able to run from you back at the waterfall.”

I growl, desire shooting straight to my cock at the thought of chasing her.

Her husky laugh only makes it worse.

Outside, I stride toward our cottage, determined to show her exactly what she does to me.

“There you are! Come on!” Shadow says, forming into solidity around his wide smile. He sits directly in front of us, his tail curled around his front feet. “Everyone’s waiting.”

I come to a halt right as Naomi asks, “Waiting?”

“It’s dinnertime.” The cat sith stands and walks toward the center of the village.

“Oh, I’m hungry,” my moon bound says.

Decision made—for how can I deny her anything?—I follow the feline as we weave around the wide, rounded trunks of the heart trees to come to the village green.

In the fading light of dusk, the space stands transformed.

All the wooden tables have been brought out of the pub and scattered across the moss-covered ground. Glow stones hang from the surrounding cottages and the chains of the human carnival ride that stands like a mechanical weeping willow in the very center of the green.

The entire village cheers, calling out hellos to my bride.

She looks up at me with awe-filled eyes. “I love it!”

Yes, love it, I whisper to her in my mind. Love this village too much to ever want to leave.

Love me.