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without even thinking about it, I held out my salt-streaked arms.
    “Jane,” Ryu choked, coming to me and gathering me up in his arms.
    “My mother.” I sobbed as he held me tighter.
    “I know, baby. I know. I’m here now. I’ll take care of you.”
    Through tear-blurred vision I looked into Ryu’s face. I knew I was being selfish, and that I was taking from him with no guarantee I’d be able to give anything back. But at that moment I didn’t care.
    I buried my face in his neck and let him carry me away, Iris watching us depart with tears in her own eyes.

CHAPTER FOUR

    T he bed-and-breakfast where Ryu was staying was one we’d used often when we were together. He’d even gotten our usual room. Under a heavy glamour he’d carried me up the stairs, setting me down on the edge of the bed before locking out the world behind us.
    He disappeared into the bathroom and I heard him turn on the shower. When steam started pouring out the open door, he reappeared, naked, then came back to where I huddled.
    “Where are your clothes, baby?” he asked as he unwrapped me from my sea-salty blanket.
    “I left them in the cove,” I mumbled. “I swam here.”
    Ryu stroked his strong hand down my tearstained cheeks as I studied his lovely, sharp-boned face. His chin was pointed, fey, and his lips were small yet succulent, almost feminine. He wore his bright chestnut hair, usually short-cropped, slightly longer than usual. At this length, I could see just how unusual the color was, with blondand black hair twining with red and brown to make that bold, brassy chestnut. The color fit Ryu’s personality, and he looked younger, and cheekier, with this slightly longer style.
    I met his hazel eyes, almost pure gold with only the thinnest edging of green at their center, knowing I looked a mess but refusing to flinch under his scrutiny.
    “Let’s get you cleaned up,” Ryu said after a moment.
    He led me into the bathroom. We’d always liked this room because it had a large, two-person shower and a separate whirlpool bath, also big enough for two. I thought of everything we’d done in this random bathroom, and I suppressed the cruel question that popped, unbidden, into my consciousness.
    Had Ryu and I ever done anything but fuck?
    Once I was installed in the shower, under the water, Ryu opened his shampoo and began to wash my hair, very gently.
    “I can’t believe how long your hair has gotten, baby.”
    I didn’t do what I’d done to Anyan and remind Ryu how long it had been since we’d last seen each other.
    “I may have nudged it a bit, with magic,” I admitted instead.
    “You look absolutely gorgeous,” he murmured in my ear as he massaged my scalp. I relaxed back against him, letting his fingers soothe and settle me.
    Ryu rinsed the shampoo from my hair, then repeated everything, including the massage, with conditioner. I just let him go at it; let myself be putty in his hands. I’d cried the entire short walk to the B and B, but now I just felt… empty.
    Ryu soaped up a soft washcloth and ran it down myarm from my shoulder to my fingertips. Then he lifted each arm, gently swabbing underneath before lifting my heavy hair to run the cloth over my neck and back. He did the same thing to my front, dabbing gently at my breasts but not touching with his hands. Then he crouched down to clean my legs and feet, before standing up to rinse off the washcloth and apply more soap.
    Ryu kissed me, very gently, as he ran the cloth between my legs. Nudging my knees apart with his own, he pressed the soft fabric between my folds, cleaning me thoroughly. Maybe I should have felt embarrassed or shocked by his touching me so intimately after so long, but it was like I was in a trance. His hands on me were comforting, in an animal-like way, as if I were a startled horse in need of soothing. That said, my body was also reacting to him sexually. He knew everything that turned me on, after all—every nook and cranny that responded to