The relief was instant as it rinsed away the sweat and dust from the road, leaving Teddy feeling refreshed.
Something moving between the large leafy foliage to his left made him jump.
The bond in his chest hummed to life.Stella.
Their suites were right beside each other, so of course their bathing pools would be too.
She caught his eye and offered a completely unselfconscious salute.
Water slid down her neck, along her collarbones, disappearing between the upper swells of her breasts. The large leaves between the two pools were just high enough to block her chest. He was grateful for the greenery between them, though some small part of himloathed it. He needed the bond gone and that irrational interested possessiveness with it. Stella McKay was not his, and he didn’t want her to be.
She hummed softly as she lathered her hair.
Teddy tried not to look, but even as he busied himself choosing a soap, his gaze relentlessly slid back to her.Just the bond, he chided himself. The pull to her was undeniable.
She plunged under the water to rinse. Then, she popped up and poured some sort of conditioner into her hair, working her fingers through it thoroughly.
Teddy tried not to watch her every movement, but she kept humming and drawing his attention.
She plunged under again and rinsed her hair. Finally, she surfaced and poured some sort of oil into her hands. She ran it through her waist-length hair and the scent of something soft and floral hit Teddy.
Stella loosely twisted the wet curls up on top of her head and pinned them into place. Then she descended on the plate of fruit and cheeses the priestesses had left her as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
From his current angle, he could only see her from the collarbones up, but if he walked closer, he would see everything. She smiled at him as she bit into a slice of melon. Juice dripped down her chin and onto her chest before slipping out of sight. Teddy imagined licking it off. How would she react? Just thinking about it sent a surge of heat through his body.
He chided himself for thinking something so lewd about a woman he barely tolerated.
Stella lifted a cherry and her tongue darted out as she pulled the fruit from the stem. “Gods, that’s good.” She moaned obscenely and the bond in Teddy’s chest flared to life.
“Must you eat so loudly?”
He closed his eyes, scrubbing his hair to try to drown out the sound of her so thoroughly enjoying her meal. But with his eyes closed, all he could see was juice dripping onto her chest, and all hecould imagine was wiping that smirk from her face by licking her clean. He’d give her something to moan about.
Teddy fisted his hands. That thought was entirely unwelcome.
He ducked below the water to rinse his hair and block out her groaning. Normally, the thought of going underwater in something other than a bathtub would be terrifying to him, but the intrusive thoughts sparking through his mind were more frightening.
The water muted everything, and the tightness in his chest released. He blinked his eyes open and pushed back up to the surface. Stella sighed and all the blood in Teddy’s body rushed south. He took another breath and dunked himself again.
This time, he looked at the light rippling over the perfectly clear water and the stone floor of the pool. He tried to calm the heat pounding through his veins.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t explored things with Grace. They had a great time in bed, but he’d never been that riveted simply by the sounds she made. The stupid heart bond was destroying him. Why had he ever thought it was a good idea to be this connected to anyone? It was ruining his self-control entirely and making him fantasize about truly insane things.
Teddy pushed back up to the surface and drew in a few gasping breaths. As he slid his hand over his head to squeeze the excess water from his hair, he hazarded a glance at Stella. She was eating some type of cream-filled pastry.
She took a bite and the white cream spilled onto her hand. Teddy was riveted. She held his gaze as she lifted her fingers to her lips and sucked each one clean. His cock twitched as she swirled her tongue around them and watched his every reaction. Despite the cool water, his whole body was on fire. He was helpless to the pull of her.
“Hungry, Your Grace?” Her voice was so sultry. “I didn’t think you had a taste for sweets.”
Clastor’s fucking sword. Teddy dunked himself again, trying to regain even the smallest semblance of control. He turned, studying the patterns of light on the rocks that divided the two pools, onlyrealizing for the first time that it was less of a wall and more of an arch, designed so lovers could visit each other, he supposed.
That was when he saw her ass. He gasped and water rushed into his mouth. He pushed back up to the surface, coughing and sputtering water.
When he finally got control of himself, Stella had flattened the leaves between the pools. She leaned into the wall, her breasts just below the edge of the stone. Seeing her like that, all he could imagine was being behind her with her firm ass pressing against him. He needed to dunk himself again, but if he went under now, he’d be looking directly at her pussy.
His cock was painfully hard, and he’d done more sweating than cooling down.
“Are you well?” she asked, her eyes full of both curiosity and lust.
