Page 17 of Cold Hearted
I had noticed the windmill outside but hadn’t put it together that it would mean this. My eyes flew wide. “It is heated?”
He crouched down to the bottom of the tub and showed me a place to light the gas burner. It was very rudimentary but miles above the Houndstooth Inn.
“I beg you let me bathe before dinner.” I clasped my hands and dropped to my knees before him on the bathroom tile. Even though I’d bathed the night before, after riding all day I smelled like a horse and was speckled with our attackers’ blood. As a princess I’d never begged a soul for anything, but at this point a bath was worth the small piece of my pride.
He looked down at me with a half-lidded gaze. “I could get used to this.”
I lightly punched him in the stomach. He caught my hand, grinning, and didn’t release it.
“Need help undressing?” he asked.
“Out!” I pointed to the door and stood, yanking my hand from his.
What a flirt he was. My mother would be horrified, but to be honest I rather liked it. I was used to male attention back home. Every male seelie of good pedigree was vying to be my husband and someday rule by my side over Summer Court, but they were all so… plain and proper.Zander was crass and dangerous and everything I should avoid yet wanted.
Shutting the door, I turned on the faucet, squealing as the water came out, and then lit the burner at the base of the tub. A small, steady flame roared to life, and I waited until the metal tub was half full before turning off the water. I didn’t want to take more than I needed when Brienne had a family with children to raise. I adjusted the burner to low, not totally comfortable with taking a bath in a giant flaming pot. It reminded me of being boiled alive. But the second I dipped my bare toe inside I moaned in delight.
It was hot, not too hot but hotter than could be sustained by buckets of water being hauled from the kitchen.
“You okay in there? Need my help with anything?” Zander’s voice came close to the door.
I chuckled. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I’ve been called worse,” he said, but then I heard his footsteps retreat.
As I quickly bathed and washed my hair and face, I found myself wondering how many women Zander had been with. He seemed to know his way around the flirting situation, so probably many. A commander of the Northern Army? And as handsome as he was? He probably had a dozen women back home waiting for him to marry them.
After rinsing out my hair, I drained the bath and dried off with a towel that was hanging on the bar on the wall. I was about to put my two-day-old smelly clothes back on when a soft knock came at the door.
“I have some clothes out here for you, Dawn.” Brienne’s voice came from behind the door. “You looked to be packing light.”
I cracked the door open, holding the towel over myself to keep covered, and she handed me a stack of clothes.
“Thank you.” My heart pinched at the gesture. “I have coin,” I told her.
She waved me off. “They’re over ten years old. Before I had the boys and had a smaller figure like you.” She winked and then walked away. Zander was sprawled on the bed reading a book and looked up at me then, eyes heating.
I slammed the door shut and locked it.
“You know you’re sleeping on the floor, right?” I yelled as I took stock of the clothing Brienne had brought me.
“We’ll see about that,” he called back with a deep chuckle that rolled over me like a caress. I chose to ignore my body’s reaction and focus on the clothes instead.
There were two outfits, one a beautiful slightly worn pink sundress with yellow flowers, the other a pair of black leather trousers and cream, thick long-sleeved wool shirt with a blue corset that pulled over the top to cinch at the waist. The corset had ruffles at the bottom, which my inner princess approved of. She’d also kindly given me two clean pairs of undergarments. They were both very lovely and feminine outfits.
I decided the dress would be a welcome break from trousers for the night, but I would wear the black leather pants tomorrow as it was better for riding horses. I loved dresses, and this one was light, yet when I put it on I realized it was lined with a thick felt for warmth. I was sure to stow my sunstone dagger safely in my pack. After braiding my hair over one shoulder,I came out of the bathroom and was met with two searing blue eyes. Zander swallowed hard, as if he had a lump in his throat.
“No well-timed quip?” I put one hand on my hip and stared him down. “You’re losing your edge, Commander.”
He graced me with a full-blown grin then and my knees literally went weak. It was as if all of the oxygen had been sucked from the room when he smiled like that.
“I was going to say you cleaned up nice, but those words didn’t really do justice to how beautiful you look,” he said honestly, and the breath was knocked from my lungs.
He stood, setting his book on the bed and crossed the room in three long strides, eyes going to my wrists and the cuffs that still held there. There was disappointment in his gaze. “Come on, little bird. We shouldn’t keep Brienne waiting.”
I swallowed hard and followed him out of the room, wondering how my life had gotten to this point.
I was ashamed to admit I was having less-bloodthirsty feelings toward my captor and more warm, steamy thoughts my mother would not approve of. That couldn’t be good.
