Rachael POV
“Don’t you dare!”
The words ripped out of me before I could stop them. I slapped his hand away, splashing water over the edge of the bathtub as I shrieked. My voice echoed off the tiled walls, sharp and frantic.
He didn’t flinch.
He just stared.
Those eyes, dark, stormy, burning like he’d been born from fire locked onto mine and something primal flickered in them. His jaw tensed as if he were fighting a losing battle.
“Little mate,” he murmured, voice dipping into a low growl that curled around my skin like heavily, “it’s the only way to keep the heat from overwhelming you.”
“Then leave!” I snapped. “I’ll handle it myself.”
I tried to shift away from him in the water, but heat pulsed through me in waves, dragging a whimper out of my throat. His gaze softened, barely bef
