Free Stay by Jennifer Silverwood Page A

dinner and dancing. I wanted this man.
    Please let this storm end soon.
    I watched his eyes follow my movements as I crossed my legs and bit my lip. So far, I had only managed to anger or amuse him and was no closer to learning the story behind him and Lissa.
    “Okay , that’s it,” he finally said as he walked back to me and extended a hand. “You just lost your last chance to say no.”
    “Do I smell?” I teased and then grinned like an idiot when he grasped my arm and led me through his bedroom.
    Pointing at the various knobs, he said, “I’ll draw the water for you. Twist this way to make it hot and this way is cold.” He glanced over his shoulder to see if I understood. I felt the blood in my face rise when he caught me focused on the exposed muscles of his midriff instead.
    I crossed the small space to follow his instructions better and pretended not to see how he puffed up with male pride. “Yes, I see your meaning,” I said. “And what do I do when I am finished washing?” His eyes raked over me briefly and I felt curiously exposed and in need of his mother’s shawl again.
    “Just push it back in,” he quietly replied. “ Shout if you need help with anything.” He paused to watch me before shutting the door behind him.
     
    Two days ago I wouldn’t have cared whether I took a shower or not. It wasn’t like I could have felt its warmth. But how glorious was the warmth of the clear spray and the steam drifting on air now. Every nerve stood on end in my body and tingled beneath the heat. It recalled memories better left forgotten.
     
    How he managed to steal into the public baths was beyond my understanding. But my lover was the sea, forged by the stormy skies above them. So why should he not come to me in the steam of the public baths?
    My sisters were laughing nearby, but no others had come to this corner of the baths. I had come here for solitude, to avoid their endless questions and their fear of me.
    Coming up from behind, Seid trapped my waist with one arm and ran his hand over my bare skin with the other. I shivered when he breathed against my ear.
    “Leave them behind, Orona. Forget them. Come with me tonight.”
    “I cannot, ” I said as I fought vainly for control. I was clay beneath his skilled hands, powerless to fight him. His lips worked against the nape of my neck and traced the curve of my shoulder.
    “I am weary of waiting , my love,” he said. “Come now.” And then his voice changed to reveal his true nature, carried the crash of thunder in its depths as he growled, “Come.”
     
    “Come on, Rona, answer me. Are you coming out of there sometime today?” Cain chuckled to himself on the other side of the bathroom door, raised his knuckles again to rap at the wood. “You’ve been in there more than thirty minutes, babe. Pretty sure you’ve already used all the hot water in the building, but I won’t tell the neighbors if you don’t.”
    I clutched the faded tile on the wall, sucked in several rapid breaths and struggled to find a better grip with my trembling limbs. The water had run cold. For an awful moment I heard not Cain, but his voice commanding me to come to him, to obey. I leapt quickly from beneath the frigid spray, holding onto the shower curtain to keep my balance.
    “Rona?” Cain’s voice was pressed tighter to the door, his hand upon the handle. “You okay?”
    As long as you don’t come in here, then yes.
    “I’m fine!” I gasped when my feet hit the rug and reality settled back in. I was with Cain. I was safe. But through the foggy haze , I caught my reflection in his shower mirror.
    My skin glowed in the fluorescent light. Every patch of skin radiated the bold and brilliant colors of the sunset and the waters they had overtaken the moment of my damnation. My irises carried these colors constantly within them, fading from one to the next depending on my mood. This was one reason why I could never reveal myself to another human. There had always