Pretha shakes her head. “I can’t even be bothered to strip. Heat makes me lazy.”
A waterfall? Hopping to my feet, I turn toward the woods, practically salivating at the thought of cool water flowing over my skin. We certainly have enough time.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Kane asks, standing.
Turning to him, I set my jaw, annoyed that I have to explain myself. “You said there was a lake,” I say, waving in that direction. “Thanks to this heat, I probably smell like I haven’t bathed in days. I thought I’d use the time to freshen up.”
Kane grunts. “If you think we’re going to leave you alone after—”
“I’ll go with her,” Finn says.
Chapter Twenty
I spin on him. “Excuse me?” All I want is to sink my body in that water, to feel the waterfall on my hair and scrub the sweat off my skin.
“We don’t know where the queen has people—who’s following us, who’s watching. It would be foolish to swim alone.”
“I’m not swimming, I’m bathing.”
He folds his arms. “Your point?”
“Why not Pretha?” I ask.
Pretha’s eyes go wide, and she looks back and forth between me and her brother-in-law. “I mean, I guess I could—”
Finn turns on his smolder. “What’s wrong, Princess? Do I make you nervous?”
“Fine,” I grouse, turning on my heel toward the water. I hear his soft chuckle behind me, his footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves.
The lake looks beautiful in the afternoon sun. The light sparkles off the water, and the rush of the waterfall fills my ears.
“I think you had the right idea,” Finn says. “When we’re done, I’ll send Kane and Pretha for a turn. Beats smelling them for the rest of the journey.”
“We?” I ask, propping my hands on my hips. “When we’re done?”
“We,” Finn says. “You’re not getting in that water alone.”
“Because some creature lurks in its depths?” I step forward and peer into the crystal-clear pool.
“I don’t think so.”
“Who says I don’t need a bath too?” Finn’s gaze rakes over me and leaves happy little shivers in its path. I know I don’t look like much now, but judging by the heat in his eyes, I might as well be a siren calling from the deadly rocks along the sea. I’ve always been a conflicted mess when it comes to Finn, and apparently today is no exception.
My stomach knots. I planned to bathe under the waterfall, to let it shower me. Showers are a rare luxury in Elora, and I’ve been in one only a few times in my life—the last time being at the house where Finn was staying after I’d been drugged. My skin heats as I recall the way he held me under the spray, trying to get my body to cool from its reaction, as I recall the way I begged him.
Amusement curls his lips, and he glances at the waterfall before looking back to me. He might not be able to read minds like Misha, but right now he doesn’t need to. “Afraid you might beg me to touch you again?” he asks.
I scoff. “Do you get tired carrying that ego around with you everywhere you go?”
“You better hurry,” he says, glancing over his shoulder. “They’ll come looking for us if we take too long. I’d hate to lose the little privacy we can get.”
I swallow hard, not wanting to let my thoughts linger on why we might want privacy. “Turn around,” I say.
He doesn’t. Just folds his arms and keeps his gaze locked on mine.
I scowl. “So I can undress?”
He still doesn’t move, except for his lips, which slowly curve into a mischievous grin. I tug off one boot and hurl it at him.
He snatches it from the air, chuckling, but finally gives me his back.
I’m all too aware of his presence as I unzip my dress, careful to drape it over a rock so it won’t get dirty; then I peel out of my thick socks and stockings. I’m greedy for the feeling of cool water on my skin, but I leave my undergarments on. At least they’ll provide me with a bit of modesty, and I can slip them off before putting my dress back on.
Only when I’m in as deep as my neck do I realize my mistake. “Stay there,” I shout before Finn can turn around.
“Is there a problem?” Finn asks, amusement curling his words.
I glance down at the clear, clear water and the very thin, now translucent material of my undergarments. I might as well be naked. “Why don’t you wait on the shore,” I say. “We’ll take turns.”