Chapter 35
Cass woke up in Kotesri’s arms. They were both lying on the bed as he spooned her, her butt pressed into his groin while his body sheltered her.
Since she didn’t feel the tension that always filled him when he had to be near her or came into physical contact with her in any way, she assumed his slow, even breaths that tickled her neck as they swept her hair against it meant he still slept.
Her eyes felt itchy and gummy, and she’d had to peel her lids open and wipe away the slime left from her crying jag. Dried mucus crusted under her nose, and she felt gross and out of sorts. Her mouth felt as dry as a handful of cotton balls and tasted like she’d been chewing on gym socks. Absolutely nothing about her situation should feel sexy.
Yet a spike of heat curled in her loins, pinching her womb as her inner muscles clenched in anticipation, and her hormones sent a definite message of horny happiness that she’d found herself back in bed with a handsome man.
Nevermind the fact that the man could be a cold, distant jerk most of the time. Nevermind the fact that he had a fire burning in his eyes that worried her. Nevermind that he’d never be the man she really wanted—the one who’d made her body crave him as much as his body had needed hers. Her hormones didn’t give a damn what she thought. They wanted sex, and they’d take what they could get.
She’d stopped letting her hormones make her decisions a long-time ago as a teenager going through puberty and anxious for that first time, regardless of the fact that the boy was a sloppy kisser and had clammy hands.
She didn’t think Kotesri had clammy hands, and she had no idea how he kissed. But her body wanted to know. It really wanted to know.
Time to get out of Dodge! She slowly lifted his arm off her bulging belly with a two-fingered grip on his wrist, not daring to touch him any more than that, lest her body take over and start directing the show.
Once free of his arm, she slid away from him, moving slowly so as not to wake him. As soon as she broke free of what felt like his gravitational pull—since it felt so difficult to leave him—she scooted off the bed, noting the fullness of her bladder the minute she sat up and her belly compressed it.
A frisson of awareness had her glancing over her shoulder to see that he’d opened his eyes and now watched her in silence.
Without a word to him, she took off for the bathroom, not looking back to see how he’d reacted to her escape.
Soon she felt safe inside the rest room, which looked very similar to a human bathroom—including the huge tub, which she liked to soak in to ease her aching body. Everything in the bathroom used advanced technology. Sensors scanned her and displayed her stats on the mirror—body temperature, pulse, heartrate. The bathtub also told her what the temperature of the water was, so she could always guarantee it never got too hot.
The toilet intruded the most on her privacy—analyzing her hormone levels in her urine as well as her vitamin deficiencies and the general healthiness of her diet. Since her captors strictly controlled her food, no red flags popped up in her nutrition levels, but she still didn’t like to see her stats flashing back at her from the top of the toilet after a satisfying flush.
She decided to soak in the tub to wash away the aches from her miserable night of crying. Her son remained quiet, mellow. He would grow more active during the day, but the timing seemed pretty random to her. When he started kicking, the feel of him moving with good health always excited her. It let her know he was healthy and well, though the monitor secured to her belly with some kind of skin-safe super glue would tell her and her captors if there had any problems. Sometimes, she would turn up the volume on that monitor and allow the steady beating of her son’s heart to soothe her to sleep.
Right now, she sought silence to ponder her situation. It had been almost seven months since she’d had word of Nahash—if the development of her baby could be counted on to be the same as a human baby. Those months seemed like years in this place, where she had nothing to do and only two women who tried their hardest to keep her from going crazy with cabin-fever and hormones.
She hated everything about her prison, other than her two best friends. She hated the muted spa colors, the understated luxury fabrics, the walnut-toned wooden floors, and the rugs that probably each cost as much as a car. She despised the sight of this bathroom, which looked as sterile as a hospital room, perhaps because her captors had designed it to constantly monitor her health. She’d seen Jia and Cici’s bathrooms, and they were cozier, with small plants on shelves and warm colors on the walls, though far smaller and less luxurious than this cold room.
The door suddenly opened as she sat on the seat molded out of the edge of the tub—which appeared to be some kind of cultured stone. She shrieked in surprise and grabbed for a towel, then shrieked louder when she saw Kotesri standing in the doorway.
She waved her hand at the door. “Get out!”
“I gave you time to relieve yourself. I expected you would like to bathe, and I’m here to help.”
She clutched the towel higher under her chin, trying to spread the inadequate material to cover her belly and stretchmarks with her free hand. “I’ve been bathing by myself since I was four years old. I don’t need your help now.”
His eyes were intent on her, but she had to give him credit for not letting them stray past her face as she struggled to cover her nudity. “It’s my job to relax you. I’m here to give you a massage while you bathe.” He paused, his gaze lowering to her poorly covered body for just a brief moment before it darted back upwards to fix on her face. He swallowed, then spoke again in a voice that sounded strained. “And… do whatever else you find relaxing or… pleasing.”
Cass couldn’t help herself. She had to look. When she did, she wished she hadn’t. Even with the loose robe he wore, his arousal tented the material at his groin. At least his eyes weren’t dilated—though she wondered how far along he had to be towards engorgement for that to happen. As much as his green irises seemed to burn with an inner fire, she’d never seen them darken with dilated pupils when he’d looked at her.
Nahash’s had always seemed almost black when he’d looked at her.
The memory of her lover—the father of her child—caused the heat pooling in her core to chill. She couldn’t do this. Not with Kotesri. She also didn’t want to lead him on, though she would kill for a good massage of her aching muscles. If she accidentally engorged him, she’d end up feeling guilty about it. She had no idea what she’d do if that happened, and she didn’t want to find out.
She shooed him again. “I’ll pass, but thank you for the offer.”
Instead of retreating, he stepped further into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. “I won’t touch you anywhere you don’t want me to.” His tone dropped to a husky bass.
That voice held definite heat. His offer seduced and enthralled. She felt the danger of it, and of him—the promise that if she pushed things just a little further, he would unleash that fire that burned inside him—a flame that would consume them both.
She wished he would return to his condescending disdain—the sneer on his lips infuriating her and arousing all her worst instincts to punch him. This male was not that Kotesri—the one who kept her at a cold distance and who looked at her and saw nothing that interested him. This male wanted her. Desired her. She knew his body couldn’t help it, but it still flattered her, and in her current state of mind, flattery felt amazing. So did the answering desire that licked through her.
“Just a massage,” he said in a low voice. “That’s all I’ll give you. Unless you ask for more.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, then nodded, closing her eyes as soon as she did so she couldn’t see if he had a look of triumph on his face. He hadn’t won yet. She would only allow a massage. Her body really did need it.
She turned back to the tub, swiping her fingers across the control panel to select the temperature of the water, which then began to flow out of the wall in a waterfall that rapidly filled the tub.
“I’ll hold your towel,” he said from right behind her.
She gasped and jerked backwards as she turned to face him, slipping on the seat. He moved so fast to steady her that she barely tipped to the side before he had her secure in his arms. His handsome face was right next to hers, his minty breath warm on her cheek.
“Careful, Cass,” he said, his tone mocking and somehow colder than it had been just moments before. “You wouldn’t want to do anything dangerous.”
His expression had hardened, and the heat that had burned in his eyes seemed to ice over, no longer possessing that strange, subtle glow in his green irises. Something told her he referred to himself. Almost like a warning.
“You move fast, Kotesri.”
He nodded once, a dangerous grin spreading his finely sculpted lips. “You have no idea.”
After that odd response, he took her towel without further comment, and though his gaze lingered on her naked body, he didn’t say anything, and he had the courtesy to hide the expression in his eyes from her. Since he kept them lowered after that, she didn’t see if they were dilated with an impending engorgement, but he was definitely still aroused.
Once she slipped into the bath, she found the warm water soothing—but not hot enough to really work on her muscle aches—she leaned back against the side of the tub and sighed, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t inadvertently glimpse him behind her.
“Shall I start the massage now?” His tone gave nothing of his feelings away, slipping into a formal icy detachment.
Cass mentally shook her head. Kotesri was hot and cold, all over the place with his demeanor. He was impossible to read.
It was better that he retained that air of detachment though, because she didn’t know if she could.
Nahash! Please come back to me! I need you, honey. I need you more than anything!