Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Caught Naked
SONIA’S POV
I felt my body being lifted and placed into a bathtub. The water began to run, warm at first, then turning hotter as it filled the tub. Soon, I felt it drizzling all over my body. The heat soaked into my cold skin, chasing away some of the chill from the morning’s horror. Steam rose around me, filling the air with a soft, misty scent.
My already wet dress was taken off. The maids’ hands were gentle but quick, peeling the damp silk away from my skin. I closed my eyes and allowed them to work on my body. The water lapped softly against my sides as they washed me. The washcloth moved over my arms, my shoulders, and down my back in slow circles. It felt strange to be touched like this by strangers, but my mind was too tired to fight it.
But the blankness in my eyes was filled with images that made it difficult to relax. Ramon, growling low in his throat as he came undone last night. The way his hand had tightened in my hair.
The taste of him still lingered faintly on my tongue. Last night had been so intense, but today had already turned cruel. I knew the moment he whisked Lorena away that I would suffer for it. She had her tongue in his ear and her words in his brain. A manipulative woman with just enough charm to keep a man wrapped around her fingers.
What she had on Alpha Ramon was something I couldn’t explain. Perhaps he was in love with her. If that were true, I couldn’t say how I would react. The moon goddess couldn’t be so cruel to make a man who had another woman in his heart my fated mate. The thought made my chest ache.
I felt a washcloth on my thighs, and stifled the moan that threatened to spill out. My body was responding to the wash in the same way it responded when Ramon was around. The cloth moved higher, brushing against my inner thighs. Heat bloomed between my legs, making me press them together. It made me think he was close by. Because behind the images my blank mind drew, there was the thought of Ramon’s hands replacing the maids’. His rough palms sliding over my wet skin, his fingers pressing into my flesh.
On one hand, I was thinking of how unfair it was to be stuck to a man like him. On the other hand, I wanted his hand on me like last night. The way he wrapped his strong hand around my neck. A little pressure and I was ready to combust into flames. My nipples tightened under the water as the memory played in my head.
As if the torture of the wash wasn’t enough, I felt water on my nipples. The ripples that emanated from my body were embarrassing enough. The warm stream hit the sensitive peaks, making them harden even more. I bit my lip to keep quiet. But when I felt the rippling of the water between my legs, I was grateful something else had covered me from being found out. My core throbbed, a deep ache that made my thighs tremble under the surface.
"Wash her thoroughly please," I heard Ivy’s voice. Judging by the distance, she was standing at the door.
Here I was, laid back in a tub, whilst some maids washed my body. Silverpaw me would never agree to this. My body was one part of me I loved to cover. I just didn’t feel adequate as a woman. Freya would say with time I would develop more. I couldn’t blame her for the false hopes she fed me. At sixteen, she had a grown woman’s breasts. By the time we turned eighteen, she had a figure that could smite a God. My growth wasn’t the same. But it didn’t stop the men that father would bring to the pack palace from lusting at me the rare times I was allowed to have dinner in their midst.
My body jumped a little when I felt the washcloth going between my legs. The cloth pressed gently against my most private place, sliding over my folds. It didn’t last long there, but the tingling sensation I felt in the process was enough to cause a blush to form on my face. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter.
Soon, they began to rinse me off. Warm water poured over my head, running down my hair and body in steady streams. After that, I was pulled out of the tub. My legs felt weak as I stood on the cool tiles, water dripping from my skin onto the floor.
I opened my eyes and saw Ivy smiling at me. I returned her smile in the midst of opening my arms so that the towel could be wrapped around my body. The towel was thick and warm, enveloping me completely. It smelled clean, like fresh linen dried in the sun.
"Please leave us alone," Ivy said when I was eventually led back to the room. Her voice was kind but firm.
She waited until they were gone before she turned to me. "I picked out a dress from Liam’s closet. It’s just a t-shirt long enough to cover your body."
"Liam? The guy that rescued me?"
My brain was only just functioning again. After taking a break so as not to feel the wrenching pain that threatened to split my being apart, I could only now think of the man who rescued me. Others had called him alpha Liam. I didn’t feel him at the ceremony last night. Granted, I wasn’t even allowed to be around the alphas.
"Sorry, alpha Liam."
"He’s an alpha," I said as if I didn’t already have that piece of information.
"Yeah, he is. He doesn’t live around though. He’s from very far away."
"I didn’t feel his presence at the festival of alphas. Maybe that’s why."
She looked at me with a strange expression on her face. "What is it?"
"Do you feel people?"
"Uhmm, yeah? Doesn’t everyone have the ability to do that? If I’ve encountered someone before, even in a crowd, when I see them again, I can still feel them."
"Oh," she replied, but that expression didn’t leave her face.
"Oh what?"
She shook her head, and turned around. "Nothing. You should dress up while I go find something for you to eat. I’m sure you’re starving after the trauma you had to undergo this morning."
Before I could say another word, she was well on her way out.
I sighed, and walked over to the big dressing mirror. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I began to inhale. This alpha Liam had a peculiar scent. It was different. Maybe it had something to do with the location he was coming from.
An image of him scooping me into his arms flashed in my head, and I shuddered. It was as if I was being scolded for having thoughts I wasn’t supposed to have. But it was harmless. I was just grateful to have been saved by him.
"Stop it," I whispered to my wolf that began to claw at my chest.
It took a few seconds for me to understand she was just being possessive. For her, I was only supposed to think about Ramon. I sighed again. There wasn’t a simpler way to navigate this mate bond. Everything about it was just cruel. Very cruel.
From the corner of my eyes, I spotted the shirt Ivy had brought out for me. With swiftness, I opened my towel and let it drop to the ground. The cool air brushed over my bare skin, making my nipples tighten again.
In that same moment, the door banged open, and someone stepped in.
In shock, I turned around and discovered they were two people, and not just one.
Alpha Ramon and Alpha Liam stood, staring at my naked body.
