He watched me silently as I grabbed a sponge and some antiseptic serum that stung like a motherfucker. Could I have used a milder kind? Probably. Would I go easy on him? Absolutely not.
“I don’t think rank means much anymore,” Nyfain said quietly as I dipped the sponge into the lukewarm water. I then rubbed it on the soap stone and stalled at Nyfain’s back. Now that the poison was gone, so was the evidence of danger. I was squeamish to rub soap over his pink-red, ragged skin. That seemed super gross for some reason.
I stepped to his side instead, deciding to start with his shoulder and work up to the back.
“Quite a change of heart from mockingly calling me princess and constantly pointing out that I’m a commoner.”
“We all have to face reality eventually.”
“That isn’t reality, highness.” I rubbed over his shoulder, picking up his arm and scrubbing down. “When this curse is over, things will go back to the way they were.”
“If the curse is torn down, we’ll be thrown into war. The demon king will try to take the territory.” He gave me a significant look. “I’ll be killed quickly, as will anyone who tries to stand beside me.”
“There is always hope.”
“So you say.”
“You’d do well to believe it.” I braced his hand on my shoulder as I dipped the sponge in the water and then rubbed it against the stone again. I washed down his side this time.
“I was incredibly impressed with your flight through the wood last night, by the way,” he said. “The creatures you killed have taken the lives of many battle-hardened men. You killed and wounded several of the Fah Rahlen. With a pocketknife. That’s unheard of.”
“Except for you.”
“I was in my beast form.”
“Speaking of that.” I dropped his arm with a rush of anger that wasn’t wholly expected. His body dipped, but he caught himself, grimacing.
“I’m as weak as a day-old kitten,” he grumbled.
That was the poison. His body would rally soon. I didn’t bother explaining it, though. It wouldn’t prevent him from groaning about it.
“What were you thinking, changing into a man to take a blow that you knew would be poisoned? Were you trying to find a way out of this life and your duty?”
“You’d rather I let you take the blow and surely die? As I said, we have an antiserum at the castle, but it was made before the curse. I had very little hope that it would still work, and less hope that I could mix the plants in the right way to cure you. You would’ve died.”
“What I mean is, why didn’t you stay in your dragon form, since the scales would thwart the attack?”
I took the clay pitcher from the shelf and poured water on the soapy part of his side before moving to the other side. I wasn’t ready for the front of him any more than the wounds on his back.
“Dragons aren’t incredibly dexterous on the ground, and I had almost no time. With how tightly they were gathered around you and the angle I was coming in, I would’ve either stomped on you accidentally or the Fah Rahlen’s blow would’ve landed before I could intercede. Shielding you was the only thing I could think of.”
“Except you were putting the kingdom in peril to save one commoner.”
“And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
My heart constricted. I struggled to hold on to my anger as I soaped up his side and moved for the pitcher. “I don’t know why you came for me at all. You’re trying to stay away from me. You want me to stay away from you. And yet you follow me instead of just letting me be free.”
“I was worried about your safety. It was the worst night of the month to travel that wood. And also…”
He waited as I poured water over his soaped-up skin. He breathed out through his nose as though suddenly frustrated about something.
“I think we can help each other, Finley,” he finally said.
I soaped up the sponge and hesitated. Gross wound or beguiling golden eyes, delicious, kissable lips, one hell of a torso, and a cock that was slowly gaining momentum in its quest to be the biggest thing in this room.
I stepped around to his back.
“I can supply you with knowledge about working with everlass that you probably don’t already have. For example, the crowded plants do have more uses than what you know.”
“Ah yes, the crowded everlass. We still need to talk about how you refused to give me that info so I could help save your life. We’ll get to that, but I want you to be healthy first so I can give you a solid thumping.”