He let her use the bathroom alone, even though he insisted on carrying her. Then he quickly told Caleb and Wolfe what was going on. A hint of hunger entered Caleb’s face while Wolfe just nodded.
He knocked on the bathroom door. “Can I come in, baby girl?”
“Yep.”
He walked in to find her standing in front of the vanity. This bathroom was insane for a plane. Even if it wasn’t that big, it still screamed luxury.
“What are you doing, standing up?” he grumbled, moving over to wrap his hands around her waist. She was leaning against the counter, all her weight on one foot.
“I needed to brush my teeth. Hope you don’t mind, I found a new toothbrush in the cabinets and used it.”
“What’s ours is yours. Well, in this case, what’s the princes’ is yours.”
“They won’t mind?”
“Baby girl, they’d be horrified if you needed something and didn’t take it. Trust me. You should have waited for me to carry you.”
“I’m okay, Aleki,” she told him, staring at him through the mirror.
“Just let us take care of you. Please. For our sake as much as yours.”
He stared at her until she nodded. Then she sighed. “Okay. I’ll try.”
“Good girl. We just want to fuss a bit. It will make us feel better.”
“A bit?” she asked.
He grinned. “All right, a lot.”
Turning her gently, he lifted her onto the counter. “You warm enough, baby girl?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” she whispered.
He filled the sink with water and grabbed some soap and a cloth. Then with sure hands, he drew off the
T-shirt. The sight of her body nearly made him stop breathing.
After spending a minute or two staring, he finally realized how stiff she was. Her hands were caught into fists by her side.
She was thin, yes. He could see every one of her ribs and her collar bones were pronounced and if he checked in the mirror, he was sure he’d see her spine. But that didn’t make her any less gorgeous to him.
Leaning in, he lightly kissed each nipple lightly.
“Aleki!”
He leaned back. “Fucking beautiful.”
Tears filled her eyes and he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “That wasn’t meant to make you cry.”
“Sorry, like I said, I haven’t felt beautiful in a long time.”
“Well, when you’re not feeling that way, just look to me and you’ll see just how gorgeous I think you are.”
She nodded and he wrung out the rag and started washing her. He didn’t linger in any one place, much as he wanted to.
“I really need a shower,” she muttered.
“When we get back to our house, I’ll run you a bath.”