Fable of Happiness (Fable #2) by Pepper Winters

Our dynamics of him fully clothed and me entirely naked ought to have once again put me in the role of his prisoner, yet the way he watched me? The way his entire body shuddered for mine? I felt powerful, special, and strong.

Not saying a word, he held out his hand.

I took it silently, letting him guide me to the bath with hot embers underneath. He raised his palm, giving me something to hold while I studied the water with skepticism. Would it be cold? Hot? Just right? Would he join me? What was he going to do to me once I was in the water?

He cocked his chin, a boyish eagerness on his handsome, hardened face. “Please.”

I swallowed hard and raised a leg, slipping my toes into the bath, cursing the chain dangling from my ankle. I hissed in delight as the delicious warm water lapped around me. I wanted to jump in headfirst. I craved heat after so many icy showers.

“Shit, is it too hot?” He rushed to check, dipping his fingers into the bath.

My mind returned to how his tongue had felt licking around my own fingers in the conservatory. How he’d effortlessly made my knees weak and core wet. He might’ve been a plaything for so many cruel people, but they hadn’t managed to steal his essence. The very core of him glittered with masculinity, sex, and power.

Sinking into the warm embrace, I shook my head. “It’s perfect. It’s just—” I bit back things clawing to be said. Questions I was desperate to ask. Subjects I probably shouldn’t discuss.

“It’s what?” he asked quietly, caught up in the attraction humming between us.

“What are you doing to me?” I choked. Damn, I hadn’t meant to ask that. “I mean...what are you going to do to me?”

He winced and balled his hands as I huddled into the bath, letting it lap around my shoulders. “I could ask you the same question,” he murmured, heavy and full of lust. “Ever since you came here, you’ve done something to me. Things I can’t control. Things I’m terrified of.”

I froze as my heart tripped over itself.

He felt the same way.

He’d been fighting it just as much as I had.

Shaking away his honesty, he smirked without any coldness. A true, comedic reaction. The first real smirk I’d ever seen on him, and oh, my God, it did more than just affect me. It bolted through me and ensured every cell hoarded that smirk with stark possession. How long since he’d smirked? Had he ever?

“As for your other question, stay there. I’ll be right back.” His long hair slid over his shoulder as he added, “And then I’ll show you what I’m going to do to you.”

Air was once again hard to come by as he looked at my nakedness obscured by water one last time before striding back to the house and leaving me alone.

The moment he was gone, I exhaled in a rush.

Oh. My. God.

What the hell are you doing, Gem?

This isn’t safe.

It sure as hell wasn’t safe. Not just for my body this time but for every other piece of me that was stupid enough to fall.

I should get out of this wonderful bath and run.

I should—

He returned with his hands full, the chain slinking through the grass behind him. That damn leash was getting so frustrating. Catching on furniture, clanging on walls, constantly getting snagged on things around the house.

I wanted it gone. Maybe after tonight, he’d let me go. Surely, he couldn’t keep me bound after this?

He didn’t speak as he went behind me, kneeled, and deposited the towel, shampoo, and conditioner on the ground.

I spun to face him just as the strangest thing happened.

His face went utterly blank, his eyes vacant.

I reached for him, dripping water all over his T-shirt as I rocked his shoulder. “Kas?”

For the longest few seconds, he swayed and didn’t react. He wasn’t there. Wherever his mind had gone, he wasn’t reachable.

Fear shot through me. It reminded me of his concussion in those early days when he’d go to sleep, and I never knew who he’d be when he woke. I stopped touching him, backing away with bathwater sloshing and sizzling into the embers beneath me.

I should leave.

I might not be safe when he—

Suddenly, he gasped and blinked. Staring at me as if I’d just appeared in front of him and hadn’t been there all along. He shook his head and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry, I...” He flinched. “I’m tired.”

I kept my distance, wary. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” His eyes were tight as he met mine. “Just a lapse, that’s all.”

“A lapse?”

“Yeah, you know.” He waved his arm as if people turned vacant all the time. And who knew? Perhaps they did if they’d lived in this house of horrors for as long as he had. “Nothing to worry about.” Tapping the bath, he commanded, “Come here and lie back.”

“What? Why?”

His eyebrows drew together. “Because I got you dirty, and it’s up to me to wash you clean.”

My heart skipped. “You didn’t get me dirty. I told you.”

“And I told you that I hate myself for what I did.” He splashed the surface, sending droplets glittering in the night. “Come here. Let me try to fix this.”

I studied him, staying where I was.

The thought of him bathing me? Of washing my hair and lavishing me with sweet attention? Ugh, it was enough for me to forget the messy few weeks and trust. No one had ever done that for me. I’d never allowed anyone close enough to offer such a thing.