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tears.
    I
hate to sound like a girly-girl because most of the time I’m pretty
tough. But I had just been through a lot. Between being pulled down
a sinkhole by a demon’s tongue and having a puking reaction to the
disgusting slime which nearly ate through my skin like acid, it
wasn’t exactly the most peaceful night I’d ever spent. And I’d been forced to call Laish for
help and he had seen me at my absolute worst. Not that I cared what
he thought of me, I told myself, but still…
    “ Oh, Gwendolyn…It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”
Heedless of his expensive clothes, he leaned into the tub and drew
me against him. “Cry if you need to, mon ange ,” he murmured. “It’s all right. Cry if it
helps.”
    Perversely, his whispered words of comfort made me stop crying and straighten up.
    “ I’m fine,” I said, pulling away from him and swiping at my
streaming eyes. “I’m just…fine. Really I am.”
    “ Certainly you are,” he said dryly. “You just escaped death not
once but twice after having to call on one you despise to save
you.”
    “ I
don’t despise you,” I said uneasily. “I just don’t like you very much. Not that I’m not
grateful you came to save me,” I added quickly.
    “ You don’t like me because I challenge you,” he said. “You challenge me
as well, Gwendolyn which is exactly the reason I do like you. Very much. Especially as
you are now…wet and half naked.”
    “ I’m not half
naked,” I protested, feeling my cheeks get hot.
    “ Oh, no?” His ruby eyes swept over my body, reminding me that I
was wearing nothing but a thin white t-shirt and panties, both of
which were soaked and clinging to me. I became abruptly aware that
my nipples were so hard they hurt—both sensitive peaks clearly
visible against the nearly transparent fabric of my t-shirt.
    “ No,” I said defiantly, while at the same time trying casually
to cover my breasts with one arm.
    “ I
would beg to differ,” he murmured, his deep voice low and teasing.
“You are half naked, mostly wet, and completely beautiful,
Gwendolyn.”
    I felt a rush of
heat go down my spine at the way he was still looking at me but I
shook it off impatiently.
    “ Five minutes ago I was covered in slime and puking my guts up
and now I’m sure I look like a drowned rat,” I said, frowning.
“Either you need glasses or you had a lot to drink just before you
came to save me.”
    “ I
have perfect vision and alcohol does not affect me,” he murmured,
still giving me that look. “Come, let us get you out of that
tub.”
    He helped me to my
feet and out of the tub. While I stood dripping on Grams’ best blue
bathmat, Laish grabbed a towel. But when I reached for it, he
pulled it back.
    “ Not just yet, mon ange. First I must examine you.”
    “ Examine me? What are you talking about?” I
demanded.
    Laish didn’t answer
in words. Instead he dropped to his knees before me and began
running his big, warm hands all over my trembling legs.
    “ What are you doing?” I tried to step away from him but he
held me firmly.
    “ Making sure all the Hellspawn slime is gone. If you have so
much as a speck left on you, it can eat its way inside.”
    My breath seemed to
catch in my throat. “It…it can?”
    He nodded. “I am
afraid so.”
    “ What would happen then?” I was looking down anxiously at my
legs myself now.
    “ Eventually it would find your heart and rot you from the
inside out.” He looked up at me. “So you will pardon me for being
thorough.”
    “ All right,” I grumbled uneasily. “But no funny
business.”
    “ I
wouldn’t dream of it.” He smiled at me charmingly as he ran his
long fingers up my inner thigh. “If you wouldn’t mind parting your
legs just a little…?”
    I did as he said,
feeling a hot blush creep into my cheeks. I was well aware that my
panties were completely soaked and the white cotton was
see-through. I was glad that I’d just had a wax the other day…and
then angry