I swallowed and took another eager bite then washed it down with the ruby-red liquid that filled a chunky, metal goblet. Some sort of wine, but with a kick. I’d have to be careful with that, I thought, putting the goblet back on the table.
“You are awake.”
His deep voice made me jump, almost dropping the sheet as I spun around to face him entering the room. I’d been so busy wolfing down food that I hadn’t even heard the door slide open.
I nodded, pulling the silky fabric back up as the Raas watched me. “I just woke up.” I glanced down at the bowl of bread. “Thank you for the food.”
He wore his shoulder armor again, but there were smudges of dirt and streaks of dark red across his bare chest. “I’m glad you ate. You have been out for a full cycle.”
“You mean a day?” I rubbed a hand to my forehead. “I’ve been asleep for a whole day?”
He shrugged, walking toward me with long strides. “If that is what humans call it, then yes, you have been asleep for a day. It is normal. Healing makes you tired.” He tilted his head at me when he’d reached me. “You are healed, are you not?”
Panic fluttered in my chest, and I leaned my head back to look up at him. “It’s much better.”
His gaze moved down to my leg draped in the black sheet, and I realized I was holding my breath. He grunted and twisted his body to one side, nodding his head at his armor. “I need you to remove this for me.”
I let out my breath, dropping my gaze to the leather buckle across his broad back. It was clear I’d need two hands to unhook it, so I tucked the sheet up under my armpits and attempted to hold the slippery fabric in place while my fingers worked the buckle. His bronze skin was softer than I’d expected, and my fingertips lingered once I’d unhooked the straps, pressing gently against his muscle, the velvety skin a stark contrast to the rigid hardness beneath.
I’d never been so close to someone so huge or so deadly. I paused when I felt his eyes on me, my fingers jerking back as if scorched. “Sorry.”
“You do not need to apologize for touching me,” he husked.
I turned my attention back to my work, my cheeks burning. Since the straps hung freely, I attempted to lift the metal shoulder cap, but it was heavier than I’d expected and my arms lifted quickly to keep it from crashing to the floor, which meant that the sheet slipped down and pooled around my feet.
I stood completely naked, holding the heavy armor with both hands as he turned back around. I was too terrified to drop the shoulder cap for fear I’d break my foot or his. I wasn’t sure if my arms were shaking from the weight or the fear, but I knew I couldn’t hold it for much longer.
Raas Kratos didn’t lower his eyes from my face as he took the armor from me. “Thank you, Raisa.”
I hurriedly snatched the sheet from the floor and wrapped it around myself as he turned and walked back to the stand next to the door, hanging his armor with his weapons. He slid his feet out of his boots, unhooked his wide belt, and let his kilt fall to the floor. It was not the first time I’d seen him naked, but it was the first long look I’d gotten of his bare ass as he walked to the bathroom.
It was true I hadn’t seen many bare asses, but I was one-hundred-percent sure I’d never seen one as fine as his. Normally, I would have been distracted by his swishing tail, but it was seeing his cock swinging between his legs from behind that made my heart stutter in my chest.
I blew out a breath to steady myself and walked back to the table. At least he was in there, and I was out here. The more distance between me and the scary warlord, the better. I took a gulp of wine, welcoming the sharp kick as I swallowed.
“Vaes,” he called out, his voice reverberating off the stone of the smaller room.
By now, I knew what that Vandar word meant. I suspected that whatever he wanted from me in there was better than what would happen if I disobeyed. I walked quickly across the room, stopping in the arched doorway.
The Raas sat in the red water, his arms folded on the ledge and his head resting on them. His eyes were closed, and his black hair was wet across his back. “You will wash me.”
I glanced around the room for a cloth or a sponge or something with a long handle. Of course, there was nothing.
“With your hands, Raisa,” he said, as if reading my mind.
There was that word again. I wanted to know what it meant but I was afraid it was the Vandar equivalent of “servant girl. Or worse, “bonehead.”
I went to the edge of the sunken pool and knelt next to him, holding my sheet with one hand while scooping hot water onto his exposed back with the other.
After a few moments, he opened one eye. “Get in.” Then he added, “Without the sheet.”
Great, I thought. Just great.
This is what you signed up for, Astrid, the critical voice in my head reminded me. You knew you’d be attending him in some way. So, pull on your big-girl panties and get in the darn water.
“I’m going, I’m going,” I whispered to myself, my cheeks heating when he opened his eyes again and furrowed his brow. Sometimes I really wished my inner voice knew how to curse.
I moved to the other end of the pool, dropping the sheet and slipping into the water as fast as I could. His huge body took up most of the space, but I managed to slide to one side of him. I sucked in my stomach so as not to touch his body, and carefully splashed water across his back. The streaks of brown and red dissolved into the already-crimson water, and I only had to rub at a few tenacious spots to remove it all.
He lay completely still in the water while I worked, his breathing deep and steady. He only shifted when my fingers feathered across one of the scars on his back.
“So why are you so dirty?” I asked, my curiosity finally overcoming my desire for him not to notice me. “Did I miss a battle while I was asleep?”
“Not much of one.” He twisted his head to face me and rested it on his arms again. “A new Zagrath military outpost on Gurlaatia Prime.”
My hands stilled on his back. “You attacked it?”
“We removed the Zagrath from a planet that is not theirs.”
“By killing a bunch of Zagrath soldiers?” I thought of the blood I’d washed off him and the fact that there were no wounds on his body.
He opened his eyes. “They are invaders.”
“Who conscript a bunch of innocent people to fight for them.”
He lifted his head, his eyes sparking. “They are not innocent, if they fight for the empire.”
“The Zagrath will just send another bunch of soldiers to the outpost.”
The Raas turned over in the water, sitting up until his naked body brushed against mine. “Then we will kill them, as well.”
I huffed out a breath. “Until what? Until you kill everyone in the galaxy? When does it end?”
He spun me around so quickly, I screamed. He cupped my body with his own and braced me between him and the wall of the pool with one large palm spread across my belly. I’d been wrong to think he was relaxed, as his cock was thick and hard and pressing against my ass cheeks.
“It ends when I say it ends, Raisa,” he murmured into my ear, the words vibrating down my spine. “Or maybe you’d rather it was my blood being spilled? That way you would not have to fulfill your end of our bargain?”