“May I take these off as well?”

Selena bit her lip.

“I…I guess that would be okay…Master,” she breathed.

“Good girl,” Valen murmured, slipping the panties down to her ankles so that she could step out of them. “All right now, let’s get you into the tub so you can soak a bit.”

“Yes, Master,” Selena whispered. Heart pounding, she let Valen help her into the steaming tub.

She settled into the water with a little moan of pure happiness and let the warmth lap around her, enveloping her like a giant, gentle hand. It felt so good to be free and clean and far away from that horrible holding cell!

Valen folded a towel and put it on the floor by the end of the tub. Kneeling on it, he gestured for Selena to relax her head back.

“Come, let’s wash your hair, little one,” he murmured.

“Oh, uh…okay.” Selena nodded and tried to relax. As it turned out, she didn’t have to try very hard because Valen was remarkably good at pampering her.

She sighed as he poured warm water over her scalp and then massaged in a foamy, floral-scented shampoo. It felt strange at first—she’d never had a lover wash her hair for her before. But Valen’s hands were strong and gentle and the way he massaged the shampoo into her scalp felt amazing. As always, it seemed that the big Kindred knew just how to touch her.

“How do you always know how to make me feel good?” she murmured, as his long fingers stroked through her hair.

“How do you mean?” Valen asked.

“Well…my ex—Gary—never seemed to know how to give me any kind of physical pleasure,” Selena admitted. “I mean, he would try a little bit, but he gave up pretty quickly. But every time you touch me, you seem to know exactly how to turn me on or calm me down…like now. What you’re doing feels amazing but I know the idea of giving me a soothing bath and shampooing my hair for me would never have even occurred to my ex.”

She had a feeling she was sharing more than she might usually feel comfortable with, but she felt so relaxed with the big Kindred it just seemed natural to talk to him.

“How do I know how to touch you? Well, some say that is one of a Kindred male’s special gifts from the Goddess,” Valen murmured, continuing to massage her scalp and her temples gently but firmly. “We are good at three things—languages, technology, and pleasuring females.”

“Mmm, well you’re especially good at that last one,” Selena murmured. “How did you know this is just what I needed?”

“You’ve just been through a very traumatic experience,” Valen said seriously. “I was told by Moll, the female you sent to me, that a member of the Pain Makers wanted to…to hurt you.” His voice got tight for a moment. “He is beyond my reach, and I cannot go and take the vengeance you deserve. So for now, I just want to do everything in my power to soothe and calm you.”

Selena stiffened in the tub, feeling her muscles go tight.

“Please,” she begged, “I’d rather not think about that, okay?”

“We don’t have to talk about it if you’d rather not,” Valen promised.

“Thank you.” She sighed deeply and tried to push the holding cell out of her mind…but it wouldn’t quite leave. “Anyway, everything worked out okay in the end—even though I wasn’t sure that it would, despite what the Goddess said.”

“The Goddess spoke to you?” Valen asked, his fingers pausing in their massage for a moment.

“I think it was her,” Selena said. “See, after Big Horn—that was his name—told everyone what…what he wanted to do to me, one of the other inmates gave me a kill-pill and told me I should just…” She swallowed hard. “Just take it before he got a chance to…to do those things to me.”

“Gods…” Valen’s deep voice was suddenly hoarse and when she tilted her head up to see him, his eyes were wide with horror. “You had a suicide pill there in the holding cell with you?”

“Yes. I almost took it, too,” Selena said in a low voice. “Things seemed so hopeless I thought I should just end it. But then her voice came to me—well, it was more like her presence, because it was almost like I could feel her hugging me. And she told me to hang on and not kill myself because she had a plan for me.” She swallowed hard. “I, uh, almost took it anyway, though,” she admitted. “Just as we were about to board the transport, I had it almost to my mouth. I was hoping I would die before…before Big Horn got to me.” She felt something warm dripping down her cheeks and realized she was crying as the vivid memory of being so close to death came back to her. “It…it was so scary,” she whispered in a trembling voice.

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