“Steele.” Thorn nods.
When I look back at Thorn, he’s retreating to the opposite wall again.
“Hey, virgin, is this guy bothering you? Don’t worry about him, he couldn’t catch a mate if she fell in his lap.”
“My name is Ember.” If another male calls me virgin one more time … And I’m not sure about him not catching a mate. Something stirred between us just now. He doesn’t seem to have an issue holding a female’sattention.
“Ah, Ember, it’s a pleasure.” He mockingly bows before sinking into the bath. “I take it we all came thinking we’d get the baths to ourselves before the rush?”
“We thought,” I murmur, slipping my legs back in the water. Dropping my head back, my breasts kiss the air as I wet my hair. I’m fastening the shell back in my hair when I notice two sets of eyes on me. I need to get out of here before someone acts on their primal urges. One of them being me.
“This has been … weird; I’ll see you guys later.” I swim toward the steps.
“Oh, don’t let Thorn’s drooling scare you away,” Steele jokes. “We don’t bite, much.”
“Hilarious,” I deadpan. “Very original.”
“No, seriously you don’t have to leave,” he tries again.
But I’m already slipping out of the double glass doors and closing them behind me.
I’m ascending the stairs from hell when I remember the way Thorn looked at me when we were alone. What would have happened if Steele didn’t interrupt? A shiver runs down my spine. Truth is, whatever he would have done, I might have let him.Geez, they weren’t kidding about these hormones during mating season. I’m starting to understand how things can get dangerous.
“Look what we have here, girls,” an unfortunately familiar voice calls before Robyn strides into my path. The gaggle of females block the second-floor staircase before me. I side-step to avoid them, but one of them blocks me, I think her name was Sky. Dove is noticeably absent from the group this time.Did she have a change of heart after locking me in that bloody altar room?
“She smells clean; must have just found the baths we were looking for.” The shorter, stocky one leans in and comments.
“It’s down by the entrance.” I point behind me, attempting to be civil.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to be wearing anything in the temple,” Sky comments before reaching out for the shell behind my ear. The thought of her grubby hands touching my mother’s shell makes me sick.
“No,” I mutter, turning my face away from her, but it’s too late. Her greedy fingers grab the shell and swipes it out. The sharp side shears my hair across my shoulders as the shell falls from her hand, breaking on impact.
Red hair, lifeless, curled on the floor. Red pooling. My mother’s shell laying broken in two beside it. The sight breaks something in me.
“Oops.” She shrugs and giggles. Unbelieving, I watch as the tendrils of my red hair curl in wisps, landing next to the broken pieces of my mother’s seashell. “Did I do that?”
My eyes narrow as they rise to meet hers, my claws unsheathe. “You. Bitch.” I launch myself at her.
Chapter 15
THORN
The bath feels colder now that she’s gone. The thick steam that once cloaked the room in mystery seems to dissipate, leaving only awkward boners and silence and the faint scent of lemon and eucalyptus. The warmth she carries with her, the weight of her gaze, it’s all gone.
Steele exhales through his nose as the glass doors click shut behind her. “She’s hot.”
I glance over, jaw tightening. “Shehas a name.”
“I love that she even trims her bush,” he says with an infuriating grin. “No one even bothers to do that anymore. It’s bush central up in here.”
“Don’t tell me you’re another one of those obsessed with having a virgin,” I mutter, disgust coiling in my gut. No matter how many times I push the legitimacy of the trials, these males never change.
“Oh no,” he grins wider. “It’s that tight ass. I wouldn’t mind mating that for a season or two. Longer, if she’ll let me.”
“I just threw up in my mouth,” I deadpan.
“She doesn’t intrigue you? I saw the googly eyes you were making at her.”