Page 47 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

She wheeled the chair toward the double doors with the small round windows at their top, and Daniel pushed them open for her.

The pool was all about function with no consideration for architectural flair. A plain rectangle of blue, white tile walls, and simple overhead lights. It was silent except for the low hum of the filtration system somewhere out of sight.

"I've got it from here," Areana told Daniel. "I'll call you when we are ready to go back."

Navuh wouldn't appreciate the Guardian watching him struggle through the rehabilitation exercises, and Daniel could program the cuffs to restrict Navuh to the pool so he would be assured that they wouldn't leave without him.

Daniel arched a brow. "Are you sure? I should at least help you lower him into the water."

"I can manage that." She smiled. "And you don't want to get wet. No reason for you to be bored in here."

Navuh said nothing, though she half expected him to argue the point, given he'd tried only days ago to bribe the man for the dignity of a discreet trip to the bathroom. Perhaps privacy from Daniel mattered to him less than she'd assumed. In any case, she wanted privacy with her mate.

They'd spent many pleasurable hours together at the harem pool, and she missed those intimate moments.

"Of course, Lady Areana. Just don't forget to call me before you wheel him out this door."

"I won't." She winced. "I know what will happen if I do."

"Call if you need anything."

As the door swung shut behind him, Areana wasn't sure she had done the right thing. She was strong enough to lift Navuh off the chair and carry him to the bench, but then what?

How was she going to get into the pool with him in her arms?

Perhaps she could sit on the edge and slide in.

"You look concerned," Navuh said.

"I am trying to figure out how we are actually going to do this," she admitted.

"Too late for regrets now. Unless you want to call Daniel back."

"We will manage," she said, more confidently than she felt.

The most difficult trick to pull off was not to let Navuh feel humiliated. He needed to be an active participant in this.

She untied her sarong, stuffed it in the back pocket of the wheelchair, and then walked back around and stood in front of him.

"First, take your robe off."

He managed that just fine without her help, which was a step in the right direction.

She took it from him and draped it over the back of the chair.

"Now put your arms around my neck." She leaned and wrapped hers around his torso. "I'll take your weight, you help as much as you can, and we go together."

He looped his arms around her, and she braced her legs and lifted, feeling every atrophied, uncooperative muscle in him resist the effort even as he tried to help her. For one precarious moment, they hung there together, half in the chair and half out of it, and then momentum carried them the rest of the way onto the bench.

"We made it," he said as he sat down.

"Step one accomplished." She reached for the buoyancy belt Hildegard had left on the bench. "This goes around your waist.It'll keep you upright in the water without needing your legs to do any of the work."

He arched a brow. "I thought that the point of this exercise was to rehabilitate my legs."

"In good time."

She fastened it around him and re-examined her approach. In all the training videos, the pool had a special ramp that was easy to navigate. There was none in this pool that had been obviously built just for swimming, not the rehabilitation of immortals.