52. Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

Evelyn

E velyn undressed and readied to bathe. As her clothes dropped to the wooden floorboards, jitters pricked her skin. The day’s events had unnerved her, and she still couldn’t shake her and Kade’s argument days ago. Pressure rested on her chest. No matter the deep breaths she tried, nothing shook away the worries and fragments of unresolved hurt. She couldn’t stop thinking about it, the shift in him, but when she decided to address it, words died on her tongue. Fighting felt like a waste of time after being apart for so long. Goddess , she was so content with being with him again, she hadn’t had the courage to bring it up.

She hissed when she dipped her toe into the steaming tub. As she sank farther into the warmth, her body finally exhaled. She heated the water more with her magic, the temperature so lovely and scolding. Pent-up, tired, she rested her head on the tub’s edge and thought of home.

The chance to reunite with her sisters sent a thrill through her, and Evelyn couldn’t deny the slight comfort in knowing that past the Void back in Sorin, she’d be farther out of Riven’s reach. With the threat of the spell looming, Evelyn couldn’t deny it was the wise choice, the less risky one—or as Kade would put it, less reckless. What Evelyn had discovered in Drystan was something. Right ?

Evelyn swallowed and fidgeted in the tub. The unknowns regarding the prophecy were like haunting shadows, following her each and every mile to Sorin, one’s she was certain she’d carry into her homeland. A sense of unfinished business nipped at her heels, too. Torn, Evelyn remained silent amongst the team.

The suds popped as Evelyn traced them with her fingers. She feared she’d do the same—pop the peace if she made her case. When she rehearsed it in her head, each word dripped with a sense of ungratefulness, like Kade and everyone else’s efforts hadn’t been enough. She sank deeper into the tub, focusing on the heat of the water and not the frantic beat of her worried heart.

It didn’t help Kade was also pent-up in a way she’d never seen. There was an edge to him. An extra tick in his jaw. Sharper shoulders. Keener focus. Evelyn knew werewolves became territorial after they mated, but this felt different, like there was something he wasn’t telling her.

The door whined, and Evelyn found Kade leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. The candlelight illuminated the rivets of gold in his amber eyes, and it brought back memories. In the Runaway Radish, with the rows of whiskey behind him, she’d experienced that warmth, the kindness, and power that stare had over her for the first time.

Unlike then, Kade wore a forlorn expression as he drank her in. His jaw was rigid underneath his beard, his eyes marred by thoughts he didn’t share. Evelyn didn’t ask for them either, too afraid to fight.

“Let me wash you,” he whispered.

Evelyn only nodded, her throat and mouth going dry. Kade’s strong, beautiful muscles moved underneath his tunic and leathers, and his attention never left her as he strode towards the tub. The dim lighting, the warm water, her naked body tingled under his stare alone. Evelyn’s stomach bloomed with a delicious heat.

He knelt behind her. Knelt . Commander Kade Drengr, Son of the God and fierce werewolf warrior, had knelt behind her. He dipped his hands into the water, trailing her arms with the tips of his fingers. His touch sent goose bumps through Evelyn, the friction of cold and warm curling her toes. He placed a kiss on each of her shoulder blades and withdrew his hands from the tub.

Cinnamon perfumed the air as he lathered his hands with the bathing chamber’s soap. He cupped water, wet her hair, and began washing and massaging her scalp. Evelyn almost groaned, her eyes fluttering shut as Kade’s gentle, meticulous touch relaxed the tension out of her shoulders. He scrubbed the grime from the crown of her head to the nape of her neck. He didn’t leave a strand untouched, bubbles of goat’s milk falling into the tub and surrounding Evelyn in a fresh aroma.

“I can never tell if your hair is black or blue.” Kade’s whisper tickled the shell of Evelyn’s ear, making her sigh. “Sometimes, it's as dark as a raven’s feather, but when the light hits it just right, it’s a summer’s night sky in the Vadon Mountains, the deepest shade of navy.”

Kade talked like he was reciting poetry, and Evelyn had to remind herself he was talking about her . She heard the adoration and wonder, and the warmth in her belly shot to other parts of her body, tingling her elbows and knees.

She gasped as a sponge came in contact with her breast. Kade had moved from behind her and knelt on the side of the tub. He trailed the sponge underneath her breasts, outlining the female curves of her chest. Evelyn tilted her head back, and rested it on the rim of the tub, meeting Kade’s eyes in the haze of tantalizing sensation his gentle touch gave. He ran the sponge over her collarbone, scrubbed her arms, and dipped the sponge back between her breasts, inching closer and closer to the apex between her thighs, the very spot Evelyn’s body screamed for him to touch.

At the last second, he veered to the side, following the lines of her hip bone down her thigh. Shivers shuttered through Evelyn’s entire being, her legs jolting from his touch.

With each brush up and down, he said, “These legs drive me mad, Evelyn.” He moved to the next leg, wetting his tunic and not caring as he reached across the tub. “Your strong thighs, such muscle.” He abandoned the sponge in the water, gripping her thigh with his hand. Evelyn gasped. Somewhere between gentle and possessive, he guided his hand from knee to hip, massaging her sore muscles from horseback riding and sending that belly warmth to her core.

Evelyn turned into a puddle, and her eyes hooded, anticipation and relaxation warring within her. She’d never been afraid of wanting . She relished in her body’s needs, and with Kade, she’d never hold back. The want swimming in his whiskey eyes was as fierce. By spreading her legs a tad, Evelyn indicated what she desired.

“Is there somewhere you want me to touch you?” Kade asked, the slight tilt of a smirk playing on his lips.

Roguish. Handsome. Beautiful. Between his jawline, beard, smile, and eyes, Evelyn was done for with this man.

“Yes.” It was all Evelyn could manage.

“Here?” Kade moved his grip to the inner thigh, his thumb at the edge of her folds. One maddening inch away.

“Higher.”

The bastard moved up half an inch away and to the right. Again, his glorious hands gave her thigh a squeeze, sending more heat to her core.

“Here?” he asked when he bloody well knew it wasn’t where she wanted.

Evelyn may not be afraid of wanting, but she wasn’t one for begging. She relaxed, elongating her body. Her breasts peeked over the suds, her thighs rising out of the water like mountains in a lake. Her sex far more visible to Kade, and yet she didn’t say a word.

Kade had gone very still and taut, the werewolf inside him at the edge. His grip on her thigh tightened, far more possessive than before, as he moved higher and higher—

Her body bowed as his thumb ran back to front in her wet, aroused folds, drawing a circle over her most sensitive spot. Kade touched her right where she wanted, but he didn’t watch her body. His eyes connected with her eyes, a touch that grasped Evelyn’s soul.

“ Shit. ”

Evelyn was already so close, the lead-up to his touch there so wonderful and calculated, the heat growing in her belly had her already on the wave, teetering above release.

She grabbed his hand, stalling his movements. “Join me.”

Kade’s eyes darkened as he stood, stripping off his leathers. The tub was big enough for two, and he sank into the other end. The water barely hit his chest, while his arms rested on the porcelain edge. Evelyn crawled to him, straddling his waist, but not seating herself full onto his ready length.

His jaw ticked. “I’m sorry.”

Evelyn stopped, searching his face.

“I was wrong the other day to dismiss you like I did, and the truth is”—a breath shuddered out of him—“I’m terrified of losing you again. I can’t.”

Something in Evelyn cracked—his vulnerability painful.

She cupped his face. “Kade.”

“I need you like air. When you’re not by my side, I’m half dead inside, Ev. When you finally told me all you’d done in the castle, I couldn’t think straight. I hadn’t been there to protect you. You’d been alone, and I…” He swallowed, and something flashed in his eyes she couldn’t put a name to. “When you suggested we continue searching for answers, that we stay in Drystan, I panicked.”

Evelyn’s chest ached. She loved him and hated seeing him tormented, but they weren’t any mated couple; they had obligations, a prophesied destiny.

“There will be risks we must take,” she said. “There’s the prophecy, our titles, our duty to Sorin—”

“I know.” He studied her, not her nakedness, but deeper. “I also know you better than anyone else, and I’m terrified you’re on some mission that won’t be worth it in the end. ”

Even in Callum, Kade had recognized her doubt before he fully knew her. There was no running from this, even if Evelyn wanted to. Kade read her regrets and shame like they were tattoos on her skin. She said nothing, did nothing, and waited for the moment to pass, yet her mistake rose like a wave of flame and crashed down.

“You’re trying to make up for ever leaving.”

Evelyn tried to back away, but Kade locked his arms around her, holding her firm to his torso. She was stuck above his knowing amber stare, and fucking flames , he saw right through her. She squirmed from the perusal.

“You have nothing to prove,” he whispered.

She clamped her eyes shut. Fought tears. She had everything to prove.

“You’re wrong. My sisters—”

“Love and miss you and will forgive you if you ask, but I don’t think they expect an apology.”

“They deserve it,” Evelyn muttered. Tears stung in her eyes. She wished for her sisters’ laughter. Their hugs. A shared breakfast for dinner. She’d missed them so terribly these last two years, and when she did see them again, she wanted something in hand, a tangible thing that said, Look, see what I did!

“Then offer one when you see them, but do not sacrifice yourself to prove to anyone what and who you are. Brave. Smart. Kind.”

“But I ran away. I made a huge mistake, and I don’t know how to undo it unless I— we —defeat the darkness.”

“Yes,” Kade said. “You made a mistake, but you cannot sit in the past. We have to move forward. Chasing forgiveness, being reckless, is not worth your well-being.”

Evelyn sighed into his hold. She wasn’t reckless. She was facing her fears, not running from them. She wanted answers—they needed answers—ones that led them to breaking the curse. Belief strong and wild danced within her like a new magic. Evelyn had a firm grip on it, ready to use it .

“I don’t disagree that visiting Sven or staying in Drystan is a risk, but in Callum, you let me enter Castle Connacht, the Gray Wood, and even into the temple to face the White Lady. I love you with all my heart, Kade, but we can’t hold each other back, no matter how much it scares us.”

Kade weaved his fingers through her wet hair. “My intent is to not hold you back, it is to protect you.”

Evelyn swallowed. Goddess, down their bond his need to protect her was fierce, as strong as steel and as wild as his wolf. Her flame mirrored his need to protect, but reality settled over her shoulders, too, her gut twisting.

She placed a palm on his cheek. “There may be things we can’t protect one another from. Fate is tied too tightly to us.”

Kade’s beastly energy thrummed under her hand. His jaw tightened, the gold in his eyes darkened to a bronze.

“That is not good enough for me,” he said. Calm. Deadly. Power, his wolf perhaps, pulsed in his chest. “But you’re right, holding you back is wrong. Nothing has changed since Callum. We’re partners in this, always.”

Evelyn traced the scar through his brow, adjusted herself over his hips. “I love you.”

Kade leaned towards her and brought her into a bruising kiss. Their lips molded together, and she felt his length harden again. They broke apart, heat buzzing between them.

Against her lips, Kade said, “I love you, too.”

Evelyn kissed him, melting from the words. She fisted his length, lined it against her entrance, and sank onto him. Kade cursed. Evelyn threw her head back, gasping his name. He gripped her hips, encouraging her to rock against him. Evelyn found her pace, relishing at how deep he was inside her.

Kade watched, mesmerized. “Beautiful.”

With hands on his chest, she moved. Her tempo built. Water sloshed in the tub. Pressure throbbed at her core. Kade’s fingers brushed and circled her nub. She was so close, and his damn fingers kept the same course. A wave threatened to crash down. His length throbbed—he was close, too.

As they reached the crest of their wave, it all receded, and she whispered his name.

“Kade.”

He silenced her moan of release with a kiss. It shuddered through her body, wave after wave of ecstasy. She rode the pleasure tingling down to her toes and locking her knees. Kade’s own filled her, her name, like a prayer, emitting from him.

Panting and wet, the two lay in each other’s arms, the small washing room brimming with their love.