So that part of a man was supposed to fit inside of her. Sabrina squinted slightly, hoping to make it look less imposing. She considered herself a modern woman, quite clear on the ways of the world. But there was something about being a virgin and looking at a naked man for the first time. She felt…intimidated.
“Perhaps I should have specified a cold bath,” Kardal drawled as he lowered himself into the tub. “You may begin bathing me whenever you would like.”
“That may be never,” she answered before she could stop herself. Bathe him? He had to be kidding. She couldn’t touch him. Not while he was naked and certainly not there.
“Let me change my instruction. Sabrina, I wish you to bathe me now. Pick up the washcloth and begin immediately.”
She sighed. He had ordering people around down to an art form. She eyed the distance to the door. She could probably make it out of the room before he could jump out of the tub. However, she didn’t doubt that he would come after her, naked or not, and that he would catch her. There would be trouble after that. Besides, even if she got away from him, no one was going to help her. She would be left wandering the castle, dressed like a stripper sing-o-gram.
“I wish you’d left me in the desert,” she grumbled. “I would have been fine.”
“You would have been dead.” He glanced at her. “Tell the truth. You would rather be my slave than dead.”
“Maybe.”
She picked up the washcloth and soap Adiva had left on a small table next to the tub, then moved to stand behind his head.
“Lean forward. I’ll do your back.”
“But that is not the part that most interests me.”
“I’ll bet, but it’s the part I’m going to do first.”
“Ah. Anticipation. How well you play the game.”
This wasn’t a game to her and she wasn’t playing. Nor could she prevent herself from blushing.
She dipped her cloth into the warm water, then rubbed on soap. Kardal obliged her by leaning forward and she ran the cloth up and down his back.
“If you joined me, you would find the job easier,” he told her.
She had a sudden image of herself as naked as him, stepping into the water. A shiver rippled through her. Something warm and sort of melty filled her chest and made her squirm.
“If this is your best material, I’m not impressed,” she said, trying to sound calm.
Kardal surprised her by laughing. When she finished with his back, he leaned against the tub and held out his left arm. “You may not be a well-trained slave, but you do entertain me.”
“Oh, joy. Because I live to serve.” She ran the washcloth along the length of his strong arm. “While we’re chitchatting about my place in your world, let’s talk about my clothes. Can’t I wear a dress, or even jeans? Where on earth did you find this costume?”
He turned his head so that their eyes met. They were too close, she thought as she leaned away.
“I find your appearance delightful,” he said.
“I think it’s awful. Aside from the fact that I’m cold half the time, I feel like an idiot.”
“But it pleases me.”
She wanted to point out that didn’t matter, however she stopped herself in time. “Kardal, be reasonable.”
He lowered his gaze to her half-exposed breasts. “I will decide after my bath. If you please me here, I may please you later.”
Another shiver moved through her. Sabrina had a bad feeling they weren’t talking about her harem costume anymore. She knew what he thought about her. That wasn’t difficult to figure out because she read what they wrote about her in those magazines and newspapers. Half-truths, almost-facts and outright lies. The press made her sound as if she attended a party every other night and spent her days in the arms of various men. They judged her by her mother’s standard. It wasn’t fair.
“Sabrina, your expression grows most fierce. What are you thinking?”
She shook her head. No way she would make herself vulnerable to a man vying for “slave owner of the month” honors. She moved to the other side of the tub and reached for his right arm. Her thumb brushed against a scar.
“How did you get this?” she asked, hoping to distract him.
“A knife fight. I believe I was ten or eleven. I went to the Bahanian marketplace by myself. A mistake.”
She frowned. “Earlier you said you were out in the desert by yourself. Did you spend all your time looking for trouble?”
“Yes. And I frequently found it.”
Humor darkened his eyes. Humor and something else. Something almost angry.
“I would have thought you’d enjoy growing up here.”