The Executed Empress Proposed to His Scarred Brother novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: Oil
The letter burned in the hearth in a curl of red wax and black ash.
Iseult watched it go, and her shoulders crept up toward her ears.
"He'll be here at dusk," she said. "He'll look at me the way he did at the ball."
"Like a man selling a horse."
"Yes."
Ilarion put down the water ewer.
The copper tub behind the screen was full to the brim, steaming, and the whole tower smelled of almond.
He had tipped in a small green bottle from the laundresses' basket, and the water shone with a film of oil.
"Take off your gown," he said.
She did.
She stepped over the copper rim and sank into water so hot it made her gasp, up to her chin.
The oil slid over her skin.
He knelt on the stone behind her and put his big hands on her shoulders.
His thumbs found the knots at the base of her neck and pressed.
She moaned out loud.
"Ah. There."
"You carry everything here."
"I know."
"Then put it down."
He worked the muscle slowly, with long strokes, until her head fell forward and her eyes closed.
She had never been touched like this.
When the water cooled, he lifted her out in his arms, dripping and boneless, and carried her to the wolfskin rug by the fire.
He had spread two thick towels on it.
"On your stomach."
She lay down with her cheek on her folded arms.
She heard the little pop of the bottle's cork, and then his hands, slick and warm, landed on her back.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Executed Empress Proposed to His Scarred Brother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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