Page 132 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand.
“I’ll give you a moment of privacy. Tell me when you’re properly under the bubbles?”
I snorted. “Are you always so damn noble?”
August winked, that crooked grin pulling his features. “Would you like to find out?” He raised my hand to press it to his lips, and then made to leave the room, chuckling when I gripped him tighter. “Ally.” His tone was cautious, but the hunger in his eyes was as fierce as my own.
He sighed as I let go of his still trembling hand. I turned from him and began to lift my shirt over my head. August groaned, and I felt his eyes linger on my bare back, before I heard him turn away. His breathing grew ragged. I could see the movement reflected in the mirror beside us, so I watched him there. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as if in deep concentration. I laughed and tossed the shirt onto him, earning a low chuckle. August tugged it off his head when it landed, and wrapped it around his hand, breathing in my scent.
“Fuuuck, baby,” he said, blowing out a hard breath. “Such a tease.”
“It doesn’t have to be teasing.”
He groaned again. “Oh, but it does.” My sweats and underwear hit the floor. “We have company.” My exhausted muscles nearly made me cry out as they collapsed into the sloshing warm water. I shifted to listen and found, sure enough, the soft padding of footsteps down the hallway. We both inhaled deeply.
“Saraya,” we said together. I slid down, dropping until the bubbles kissed my neck.
“I’m all covered up. You can send her back.”
I could hear the grin in his voice as he ran his hand over his hair, “Don’t think for a minute we’re done here.”
* * *
Saraya came and went quickly, three vials of crimson still warm in her hand. She vowed to do all she could, before eyeing August slyly—no doubt scenting all that had just happened between us—and made for the exit. He walked her to the door, and I heard the bolt click in place behind her.
He hesitated, halfway back to the bathroom, his footsteps pausing before he appeared, a tentative smile pulling at the corner of his swollen lips. Without a word, he slid down onto the towel on the floor, his back pressed against the tub. I shook my head, but a smile grew despite myself.
The marble edge was like ice against my wrist as I set my hand there. Without looking, August’s fingers came up to tangle in my own. He leaned his head against the tub and breathed deeply. We sat that way in silent, easy companionship as the window above the spa lightened from black to navy. My eyes slipped closed, the lateness of the hour, the stress of the last days settling across my body. Softly, August finally spoke.
“I do believe…you owe me one truth.”
The warm water splashed and lapped against the edges as I shifted my weight to lean over the rim of the pool. I stroked my wet fingers through his hair, and he leaned into the touch. “I believe I do,” I whispered back. God above, had that race really been less than a day ago? A lifetime had passed since he’d beaten me back to the doorman. Exhaustion settled deeper into my bones, my eyelids growing heavy, as I continued to process everything that had occurred. I let them close, head propped against the edge of the bath.
“Good. One truth. Do you have the energy?”
“Yes,” I lied. He hummed and was quiet for a long while. Whether he believed me or not, wasn’t entirely clear.
“What…what are we…to each other, Ally?”
My breath came fast and sharp. What are we? Lovers…mates? The truest kind, perhaps. My heart skipped into a gallop. Nothing seemed adequate for what I felt for August. For the loyalty and connection, and the searing desire burning up my core like kindling. For the trust I had in him. He brushed his finger across the back of my hand, and I suppressed the shudder of desire that ran down my spine. Became intensely aware that I was boldly, brashly naked below the rapidly vanishing cover of bubbles.
“Without a reading…”
August cut in with a huff, shaking his head. “I don’tcareabout the reading Ally. It will say whatever it says. What do you want? What am I, right now, to you, inthismoment?”
Everything. My other half, my anchor, my home. Guilt twisted in my stomach as I realized I loved him how I had loved no one since Michael. I had never intended to love anyone as I had loved Michael. And then my heart began to hammer again, as I realized that perhaps…I loved August more…more than I had loved Michael. Or anyone, ever. More than I loved myself. Although I’d known that the moment I realized I could never let an ounce of harm come to him. The first moment I’d pushed him out of harm’s way. And each time after.
“You are…my home, August. You are…I believe when I can finally read you—which I want to do, so badly. But I want thetimeto do it right. To soak up your story when I am rested, strong, and patient.” I inhaled to steady myself, wiping the sweat from my brow. “When you are too. But…I believe you are mine. Mymate. My match.” He blew out a long breath. I didn’t need to see his face to scent the salt in the air, the tears my words elicited. I squeezed his hand against the tub, supposing he had been waiting to ask the question for a long, long while, just as I had been yearning to tell him. “If you will have me, of course.”
August huffed a broken laugh and turned to face me. We leaned our foreheads together, and it was my turn to wipe the warm tears from his face.
“You are more than I ever dared to want…everything I never knew I needed. And I believe—and have been told—that you are my mate, too.”
“Did Jason…?”
He nodded. “Evidently the bond is obvious.”
“That shit head. Holding out on me.”
