He chuckled. “Really.”
He still couldn’t believe he’d just had sex with her. He’d kidnapped her out of Seattle, brought her here in great pain, forced her to be witness to things she should never have seen, and now she’d given him release.
Slowly, he eased out of her. He grabbed the T-shirt she’d worn, then planted it between her legs. He smiled, loving that he’d left so much of himself inside her. He also loved that she didn’t seem embarrassed. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said. She scooted to the side and he had a wonderful view as she walked across the room, then disappeared into the bathroom.
He sat up and shifted his legs over the side of the bed, the cool stone beneath his feet. He saw the plastic tub and memories surfaced of feeling something cool on his face and his body, something that had made the experience tolerable when for the early part he’d felt as though he’d walked through a fiery hell.
The lump of his cut-up battle leathers and his T-shirt told their own story. Shayna had done that for him.
He owed her so much.
He thought back to the moment when he realized that her blood had empowered him and that he’d be able to break free of the bonds. Something had happened inside him as each strap broke, as though the release of each binding had freed a part of him long dormant, something lost on Daniel’s punishment table.
He felt alive and aware, more sensitive to his surroundings, and acutely aware of Shayna.
He felt her in the shower, soaping up her hands and washing her arms, her abdomen, and deep between her legs. He wanted to go there again, repeatedly. He wanted to chain her up in his secret New Zealand cave and never let her go.
He planted a hand against his chest. He felt the secure beating of his heart, his pecs where she’d suckled him, and the seat of his soul that he knew was expanding.
What the hell had Shayna’s blood done to him?
When he heard the water shut off, he decided that Shayna didn’t need to see him naked right now. It was one thing to be bound on the bed and suffering through blood-madness recovery, even to have made love, but another thing to have his big, muscular body in her face.
He crossed to his nearby built-in closet and grabbed a robe. He found a second one of his that would work for her.
He took it to the bathroom and, keeping his gaze away from her, he hung it on the back of the door. “Thought you could use this.”
“Thanks. That’s really thoughtful and I love the paisley in your robe. Is that silk you’re wearing?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a great look for you.”
He would have left, but she grew very still and he sensed something from her, as if she was in shock. “What is it?” He turned toward her. She held the towel to her chest and it hung well past her knees. She was covered up—and then again, she wasn’t.
“Marius.” She had tears in her eyes. “This was what I saw, back in Seattle. The vision that I had, while standing on the sidewalk, of the future, of you and me. Do you remember? I said those exact words, I love the paisley in your robe. Is that silk you’re wearing?”
Marius stared at her. “I remember now. I thought you’d fainted but instead you were having a vision. And this was it?” He held his index finger pointed toward the stone floor.
Her lips curved. “Yeah, this was it. I’m flabbergasted all over again.” She started moving her towel over her breasts and down her abdomen. Now he should leave, but instead his gaze got hooked on watching her breasts as she continued drying off. He could feel her thinking hard again, trying to figure it all out.
She met his gaze a couple of times, which encouraged him to wake up. “You’re okay with me standing here? Am I invading your privacy?”
At that, she smiled fully. “Marius, you just invaded my body, I think I can towel off in front of you.”
She hung up her towel, spreading it out fully to dry, and all he could think to say was, “That’s a good idea, hanging the towel up, I mean. This cave is near a water source and has issues with damp.”
Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. He was such a romantic, talking about mildew issues. Next, he’d be tell her about bat removal and how best to deal with guano.
She crossed the room and for a moment, he stalled out again. What was it about a naked woman that took a man’s breath away? He wasn’t sure what she intended because she was coming straight for him. He blinked a couple of times, especially when she stood right next to him.
He was about to ask something equally lame, like whether or not the hot water had run out, when she reached past him and plucked the robe from the hook.
Right now, he felt like he was about twenty years old again.
“I don’t suppose you have a brush I could use. I haven’t got any of my things with me.”
“Right.”