Chapter 1 - Scene 2

Dros soaked in an inset bath extravagant enough that it would have made his ancestors blush. Clean and completely relaxed, he had almost drifted off to sleep, lulled by the warmth, when Cosi entered. He watched her from beneath heavy lids, admiring the grace with which she accomplished even the simple task of gathering towels for him and setting them at the edge of the bath.

She slipped out of her dressing gown, revealing a shift thin enough that even in his exhausted state, a restless and feral part of him took notice. She moved to sit behind him, urging him to lean forward so she could slide her legs into the water at his back. With deft fingers, she combed out his warbraids without saying a word. She scooped water over his head until his long hair was sodden, then worked up a lather that smelled sweetly of redbell flowers. He leaned back into her and enjoyed her vigorous massage of his scalp. This was a ritual as old as war among his people, and though he could have easily managed to wash his hair himself, the luxury of allowing her to care for him warmed him.

When she was finished she wrapped him in her arms and hugged him from behind. He lifted her hand, dainty and dark, to his mouth and kissed the inside of her wrist. Those hands were descended from the women who had wrested this land from the warring bands with nothing but the force of their will and their desire for a better life for all. Every time he held her hands he felt the weight of that burden, but he wouldn’t have chosen any differently.

“I’ve decided it should be you,” she said after several minutes of companionable silence.

He was drowsy enough that it took a few seconds to discern what she meant, but then he shook his head. “It should be Nahl.”

“You’re letting your affection for him color your judgment.”

He kissed her wrist again, smiling when her fingers curled in response to the brush of his lips. “Is it so wrong to want our first child to be equal parts of the people I love most?”

She sighed. “This land needs a warlord heir, not a diplomat.”

Dros chuckled against her skin. “What makes you believe any child born of you wouldn’t be a warrior, my valiant lady?”

“Flattery will win you much coin with me Drosimar Battleborn, but it won’t buy you this.”

“I will honor your wishes in this, of course. Should we start now?” He turned around to face her before she could respond. Bracing his knees against the bath’s deep bottom, he pulled her into the water.

She shouted, calling him a very unladylike name in his native language, and splashed him. “I’ve already stopped taking the suppressant. I just wanted you to know.”

Though she had no responsibility to inform him, he appreciated the respect for him that the choice suggested. Now that he had her in his arms, he appreciated much more than that. The sodden fabric of her shift clung to her, so every inch of the body he knew and loved so well was outlined in gossamer.

Dros stared into her night-dark eyes, cradling her face in both hands. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I have some idea.” She pulled him into a kiss that involved her entire body, from her fingers curled in his hair to her heels digging into his backside.

The wildness within him stretched to meet her. He pressed her against the side of the tub, making water surge over the edge.

Despite the warmth of the water, she shivered when he cupped her breasts and traced her nipples with his thumbs.

He pulled the neck of her shift down and captured one nipple in his mouth. Her hand wrapped around the back of his head, plunging her fingers into his newly washed hair. Dros circled her nipple with his tongue, and then bit down. Gasping, she shuddered against him. He ached to accept the silent invitation of her rising hips, but he made himself wait just a little while longer. He moved to the other side. He grazed the hardened nub with his teeth before another gentle nip.

She would only be teased for so long. Her fingers dug into the back of his neck, her grip like iron. “I’ve waited long enough to feel you inside me again.” She tightened her legs around him and canted her hips, sheathing him to the hilt.

An explosive groan burst from his lips, his arms tightening around her reflexively, pulling her impossibly closer. A few ragged breaths later, he’d regained some measure of control and loosened his hold on her.

He propped her against the side of the bath and began to rock his hips. She was everything he’d remembered and longed for at the front. “Gods you feel good.”

She arched her back as he drove home, her smile sultry and just for him. Dros leaned to kiss her neck and let his lips play over her heated, damp skin. His need was a heavy weight low in his belly.

Water sloshed over the edges of the bath. Her hips rose to meet him at every stroke. He said her name into her skin over and over, like an impassioned prayer. When the pressure grew to be too much, he froze, hoping to stave off the end a few more precious seconds, but Cosi would have none of that. She drew him in with her strong legs, coiling around him. He couldn’t resist the pull of her any longer and gave in, his muscles tensing as his release overtook him.

He collapsed against her. She held him tight until his breathing slowed.

“I hate that you leave, but I love when you come home.” The smile in her voice as she ran her fingers through his hair made him inexplicably content.

“Forgive me for getting carried away?” He murmured into the curve of her neck.

“Always. I rather enjoy watching you be overcome by desire for me.”

Chuckling, he planted a kiss on her collarbone. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Cosi tugged his head back and looked into his eyes. “I know you will. I would prefer to enjoy you at my leisure rather than splashing around in here, anyway. Go dry off and wait for me in bed.” She punctuated the order by grazing his jaw with her teeth.

Desire twisted inside him again, sharp and hot. He held her pinned, savoring the conflicting softness and tension of her body where it rubbed on his. Pulling away from her a few seconds later felt like holding his breath.

She watched him exit the tub, a smile lifting one corner of her mouth. Her eyes followed him as he stooped to collect a towel. He passed the towel briskly over his skin, but didn’t cover himself as he turned away. Her throaty chuckle followed him into the bedroom.

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