He rolls his eyes at me, his humor restored. “Man, you kicked up a right stink with your Vampire brood. Christ, I thought they were going to kill each other.”
“Hm, I’m sure,” I mutter. We are almost to my bedroom now and I stop to turn to him. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“Not kicking up a stink. You are just perfect.” I brush his face with my fingers, and he glows.
He gives me a swift kiss on the lips. “Do you want me to run you a bath?”
“Please. The Shift makes me itchy.”
He chuckles and pulls me inside my bedroom and to the bathroom. “Where did you go?” he asks idly while filling up my massive tub.
“The Underworld. I inadvertently opened up a Portal. Who knew?” I shrug. So, it is a wee lie, but if I start mentioning other Dragons, everyone will get their knickers in a twist over it.
He lets out a loud guffaw at my expense but I’m not mad at him. “Oh, Liv. You still d
on’t realize your true potential. You are so precious.”
“As are you, my love,” I say back to him and he stills at my endearment. “There is no drama with you,” I mutter. “I like being with you. Sometimes you are the only one I can stand to be around.”
He turns to me but doesn’t say anything for a while. “Come, sit,” he says eventually. “Do you want to be alone?”
“You can stay.”
“I mean everybody else will be clamoring at the door any second now.”
I sigh and sink into the bubbles. “I suppose I can’t keep them out.” I duck under the water for a long time relaxing in the fragrant bubbles and come back up to everyone staring at me. No stranger to being seen nude, I literally do mean everyone is staring at me in this tub. From my lovers to Xane, Scott, Dawn, Cade, Nico, Sebastian, and Jess. This is just weird. I shift awkwardly and find comfort in moving the bubbles over my bits to cover up.
I hear Devon snicker and I glare at him. “What? Since when did it ever bother you to have people staring at you?”
“Since you are all standing there staring at me,” I snap. “Respect, people. That was the moral of this story.”
“Oh, we respect you. Don’t worry about that. Christ, Lizzie, that was impressive,” Devon says, as ever showing big support. I do love him so.
“Are you better now?” Cole asks me hesitantly, sitting on the edge of the bath.
“Yes, I’m fine. More than fine. Xane was correct in what he was trying to remind me of. I have been a weak-arsed fool with regard to my own wellbeing. I have been too busy concentrating on trying to fix and please everyone else that I haven’t been looking after myself. That ends now. I have commitments to each and every one of you, in some regard or another, and I will honor them, but I will no longer be running around worried about upsetting any of you.” I stand now and forget entirely about the naked situation. I smile at Lincoln as he again passes me a towel. “This is my show and I will run it my way. Any one of you that doesn’t like it can piss off,” I say forcefully, and I see several blanched faces as they know I mean it. “Except you,” I point to Jess and she goes a whiter shade of pale as I focus my icy gaze on her. “I am not letting you off that easily. Besides, I still need an assistant and perhaps I can continue to teach you, if you so wish. I have been itching to get back into ballet and this may be the perfect opportunity.”
“Yes,” she says quickly.
“Good.” I hold my hand out and several come up to help me out of the tub. I grab Cole’s and he smiles shyly at me as I alight gracefully. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, my husband,” I emphasize these words, needing to know I can say them now, “and I would like to be alone.”
“Aefre,” CK says to me. “We need to talk at some point. Very soon.”
“When I am ready, I will come and find you.”
He narrows his eyes at me, but I stand my ground. I am done being a pushover. Not even for him.
“Fine,” he says dismissively, and I want to smack him. Even now he has the capacity to make me feel subordinate and weak.
“Dawn?”
“Yes, Liv?” she says without hesitation.
“I have not forgotten our lessons. If you wish to continue, I will make time tomorrow before we head back to Toronto.”
“Yes, please,” she says eagerly. “I have been practicing what you have already taught me. I hope that you will be happy with me.”