Page 11 (1/1)

"Stop!" She reached out over the edge of the bath, but he continued on in his ers brushed the black stone of his ars that he pushed into a corner with his own boot

Wanting to cry, she glared at him instead "What am I supposed to wear?" She’d soaked her dress in an effort to remove the bloodstains, and it was still wet

"Tell me a tale and I’ll steal you a dress"

She didn’t knohether he was serious - about either part of his statement - but she knew he had her exactly where he wanted her That would teach her to fence with the Guardian of the Abyss Blowing out a breath, she drew deeper into the bath and ducked her head under the water to clear her mind, wet her hair When she rose back out, shewith his are of the bath, so close that she could’ve leaned over and caressed his face with her lips - Oh, dear Sing the insane urges that told her to react to him as a woman reacted to a man who looked at her as if she were soh the water until her back hit the wall

It still left thee "Where’s the soap?"

He held up a hand, brought the square bar to his nose "Sain "Give it to , she splashed water at hith that could hurt He drew back in startleer Instead, he wiped the droplets off his face ands she had ever i saved by the lost heirs of Elden

And he was inhaling her soap again, as if it was the best thing he had ever smelled Would he do the sa her lower lip, she pressed the desire or not, she didn’t want the Guardian of the Abyss sniffing at her He would only hate her all the more when he discovered whose blood ran in her veins

That thought should’ve chilled her, but then he held out the soaponly to snatch it back when she went to reach for it She froze He held it out againa little farther away Though she knew his ga - until she was back where she’d started, face-to-face with hie "Give me my soap," she whispered, "and I’ll tell you a tale of three princes and a princess" She deliberately left out the naht make him refuse to hear what she had to say

He hesitated "Coh" So close that she could see each separate golden lash that shaded eyes of such vibrant green she could lose herself in the clarity of them

No

The as snapped out by the blood sorcery inside of her, a whiplash re herself in his eyes, of forgetting that she was here to break him out of his prison of ensorcellave a bittersweet pulse, because she was unlikely to survive her father Even if she did, she was the daughter of the Blood Sorcerer If the kingdom of Elden didn’t execute her, and perhaps they wouldn’t, for she would’ve returned their lost prince to them, she would be exiled beyond the borderlands of the realm, to the dark empty places where only the stone eaters roa at the rab the soap He moved it out of reach so fast that she al that she was very, very naked "Do you wantback down

His expression turned thoughtful

The skin on her shoulders tingling froaze, she folded her arms under the water "Fine No tale, then"

He leaned on the rim, satisfaction in the curve of those lips she wanted to taste so badly her toes curled "You have no clothes" A silken re her she was effectively trapped until he decided to let her go "You - I - " Snapping her an to rub at her skin with the water alone

"Liliana"

Trying not to think about the fact that she’d just given her back to the man who scared even shadows, she made a face at a speck of dirt that seemed imprinted in her skin It made her feel sick to think how filthy she was - Oh That wasn’t dirt It was a burn scar, an old one, so old she forgot about it most of the time