Chapter 7: Steam and Shadows
827 Words
The palace baths were meant for silence.
Built deep beneath the Lycan Court, the vaulted chamber echoed only with the sound of steam and the gentle lapping of water against dark stone. Lanterns glowed behind carved wolves’ heads, casting flickering amber light across the obsidian tiles.
It was late.
Most of the court was feasting, drinking, scheming above. That’s why Luna had come here—to be alone.
She sank into the water with a sigh, muscles uncoiling. Her skin prickled as heat licked along her thighs. The scent of floral oil and ancient minerals rose into the mist.
And beneath it all, something deeper.
Male.
Feral.
Her breath stilled.
He didn’t speak.
Didn’t announce himself.
But she felt him the moment he stepped into the water.
Behind her.
Not a splash—just a presence.
She didn’t turn.
Her fingers tightened along the pool’s edge.
Steam coiled around her bare shoulders, trailing down the curve of her back.
“I knew you’d come,” she said softly.
“You left your door unlocked,” Kael’s voice rasped low—closer than she expected.
She felt heat press against her spine—his chest, his breath, his hunger.
Still, he didn’t touch her.
Not yet.
“I needed space,” she murmured.
He leaned in. “And now?”
“Now I need… pressure.”
His hand slid into the water, slow and purposeful, skimming over her thigh beneath the surface.
She shivered.
“This is a bad idea,” she whispered.
“No one can hear us down here.”
“And if they find us?”
“Then they’ll learn who you belong to.”
His hand moved higher. Her breath hitched.
Still, she didn’t turn.
The steam thickened. Her n*****s peaked above the water. His fingers grazed her heat beneath the surface—bare skin, no barrier.
She sucked in air.
“You’re playing with fire,” she said.
“I’m already burning.”
He didn’t enter her.
Not yet.
His fingers slid over her folds, circling, dipping, teasing. Her hips rocked back—into him—and she felt the hard press of his c**k against the small of her back.
“You’ve missed me,” he murmured.
“I’ve missed the way you make me lose control.”
“I want to hear it.”
“No.”
He thrust two fingers inside her.
She bit her lip to keep from moaning.
“I said…” he growled in her ear, pumping slow and deep, “…say it.”
“I missed you.”
He bit her neck—not enough to mark, but enough to make her gasp.
Then she heard it.
A soft click. A shift in shadow. Something… watching.
Her body tensed.
Kael paused.
They didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
Then, barely audible: “We’re not alone.”
High above, between the carved pillars near the bath entrance, someone moved. A cloaked figure. Watching from the lattice.
A trap.
Luna’s mind raced. Her body still throbbed from Kael’s touch, wet in more ways than one.
“Keep going,” she whispered in Kael’s ear.
“What?”
“Let them think you’ve claimed me. Let them run to Alicia with stories.”
He looked at her—gold eyes sharp.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
But her voice trembled with both arousal and terror.
He flipped her, water sloshing quietly.
Now she straddled him in the water, legs wrapped around his hips.
She lowered herself onto him slowly—inch by silent inch—face flushed, eyes defiant.
Kael grabbed her waist beneath the water and began to thrust.
Slow.
Deep.
Controlled.
Every ripple echoed.
Every breath she held back made her shake.
She hid her moans in his mouth, biting his shoulder when the pressure grew unbearable.
Their bodies moved like shadows—nothing obvious from above. But enough suggestion. Enough sin.
Enough to destroy them both.
When she came, it was silent.
A quake through her limbs. A clench around him. A burst of light behind her eyelids.
Kael followed with a muffled growl against her collarbone, spilling inside her.
She collapsed against him in the water, still joined, his hands caressing her back beneath the surface.
The watcher was gone.
But the game had begun.
Later, wrapped in towels behind a stone pillar, Luna stared at Kael.
“Do you think they saw enough?”
“They saw exactly what we wanted.”
“And if Alicia has proof now?”
“Then it’s our move.”
He leaned in.
“This isn’t just about lust anymore, Luna.”
Her voice dropped. “Then what is it?”
His eyes burned. “This is war.”
And he kissed her again—hard, deep, final.
Across the castle, Alicia stared at a smoky mirror.
A shimmer of Kael’s hand sliding under Luna’s water-slicked thigh glowed in the glass.
She smiled slowly.
“Got you.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD