“Have you ever had a bath?”
“Yes,” she said indignantly.
“No, I just meant do you know how to turn on the water,” he corrected himself.
“Well, we had a wooden tub and filled it from pots. Our baths were usually quite cold, and nowhere near as often as modern times.”
“I see,” he moved closer, crowding her with his body, and Holley’s breath came and went in quick succession.
He was so big, so handsome, she thought as he reached around her back. Her entire being seemed to hum in anticipation, waiting to feel the steady warm pressure of his hands on her. Holley waited, and waited, but he did not touch her. Rather, Kingston turned the handle to the faucet and she turned and gasped. She shrieked happily as warm water cascaded from the spout.
“It’s so clear!” she leaned down, very much aware of the near kiss they’d just had and touched the water, “I’ve seen all these amazing innovations for so many years through the hollows of the Keep, but this is different,” she said.
“I’d like to hear more about that,” Kingston began.
His voice cutoff when she, without hesitation, pulled the strings that held the simple brown dress together and let the hated thing drop to the floor.
“That will be fine. You can ask me anything,” she stepped into the tub, sighing and moaning in pleasure as warmth surrounded her on all sides, oblivious to the glowing eyes of her mate as he stood with his mouth open and stared at her nudity.
“This is divine,” she said and turned to look at him, but he was gone.
That was strange.
Seven
She didn’t even notice when he left the room. Caught up in her first-ever modern-day bath, Holley was positively delighted with the wide variety jars and squeezable potion bottles that promised silky hair and smooth skin.
When she was finished, roughly an hour and a half later, Holley had managed to use every single one of them down to the last drop. She thanked the Keep and offered knowledge of her favorites so the manetuwak would know which ones to refill.
Steam filled the bathroom. She was loathed to leave the water, but it wrinkled her fingers. Besides, she’d avoided the man long enough. Sighing heavily, she exited the tub and pulled the plug, but before she could do more than wrap an enormous, fluffy towel around her body, the door opened.
“Girl, how long you been in here?” Fergie asked and waved her hands around through the fog.
“What?”
“Come on, we got some stuff,” Jessenia smiled at her and Holley recognized the kitchen Witch though she’d been absent earlier when she made her introductions, “We got you some clothes and things.”
“Really?”
Holley allowed herself to be pulled forward. She motioned for them to use the sitting room and with a wave of her hand locked the door against anyone else.
“Wow, you can do that?”
“What?”
“Just wave your hand and do cool shit like that,” Fergie said excitedly.
“Oh,” she laughed indulgently, “I can do some things with magic.”
“Why can’t you do that?” Fergie asked Jessenia.
“I’m a kitchen Witch, Ferg. how many times do I have to explain that? I make healing balms, and salves, potions, and stuff like that. I don’t do that kind of magic,” Jessenia said calmly.
“Allow me to explain a bit if I may,” Holley said while she sifted through the piles of clothes the two women had started laying out on the furniture.
“I have both Lenape shaman magic and Lancaster Witch blood running through my veins. I was imprisoned in the Keep before I fully developed my talents, but the spirits herein kept me hidden and safe until such a time I could rejoin life on this plane. My magic developed during my captivity, but I was unable to free myself.”
“You needed your mate for that,” Jessenia nodded.
“Exactly.”
“And that’s Kingston?” Fergie asked, seeking confirmation.
“Indeed,” Holley bit her lip as she perused the offerings before finally settling on a long soft skirt made up of several ruffled layers in the most lovely print she’d ever seen.
“He’s a tough one,” Jessenia murmured.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Shut up, Jess. Now, don’t you love Veronica Beard? These oranges and browns are gonna look gorgeous on you,” Fergie held the skirt up to her waist and Holley bit her lip.
“I do not know Veronica Beard, but yes, this is beautiful.”
“It was difficult to find petite sizes, but I am kind of an expert being vertically challenged myself,” the voluptuous redhead was saying as she handed Holley more things to try on.
She returned to the bathroom, not wanting to disrobe in front of the two females and dressed in the skirt along with a long-sleeved top made out of something called jersey.
Like the state, she thought as she tried and failed to wrestle with the underthings she was supposed to put on beneath the exquisite clothing.
Oh well, she thought, maybe next time. For now, it was enough to be free, washed and clean, and wearing such soft, lovely things against her skin.
“You look so completely hot! Fire breath is gonna bust a vein,” Fergie exclaimed.
“Fire breath? Oh, you mean Kingston,” Holley felt a deep blush creep across her face.
“Damn straight,” the curvaceous redhead pointed to the chair in front of her, “Sit down and we’ll help brush your hair.”
“Thank you, but I don’t want him to bust a vein, do I?”
“Oh, not literally,” Jessenia explained.
“It is true I have been watching for centuries, but modern speech is still difficult to pick up.”
“I so get that,” Fergie said and applied another potion called leave-in conditioner to Holley’s long locks.
“Hey, you know this hair is awesome, but maybe you should let us trim it?”
“Oh,” Holley bit her lip, “like a hair-cut?”
“Yes.”
She hated the idea of cutting her hair. But it had been a very long time. Even in that frozen state, it had grown even longer than when she’d last been awake.
“Just a trim?”
“You won’t even notice,” Jessenia promised.
An hour, and some tears later, Fergie and Jessenia exited the sitting room with a bag full of tags, receipts, and some hair and nail clippings.
“Well?” Kingston’s voice reached Holley’s ears and she hesitated before stepping out into the hallway behind them.
“Holy shit,” Storm said and got an elbow to the gut from his mate.
“Shush up,” Fergie growled.
“You wound me, conpar,” Storm growled playfully.
“Then I better make up for it,” she said then kissed him better.
But none of that mattered to her right then, Kingston’s golden eyes had found hers. He broke contact, and seemed to trace every inch of her, from her still bare feet to the top of her head with a thoroughness that left her feeling naked.
“You cut your hair,” he frowned.
Holley reached up to smooth her hand over the two, long braids she wore on either side of her face. In fact, Fergie and Jessenia had cut about eight-inches off the length of her long locks.