The Alphas' Daughter (Alpha Eyes: Book 2)

Chapter 17

Lucas shuffled through the door and ran his hand through his hair. When Kellen had called him about the 'incident,' he nearly lost control.

Kellen appeared to take his jacket. "Good afternoon, sir. It's good to see you back."

Lucas sighed. "How was it, Kellen? Honestly..."

"Truthfully, sir... She had a rough day. She handled it like a lycan, but it was still rough."

Lucas shrugged out of his coat. "Where is she?"

Kellen cocked his head. "I believe I heard one of the maids running a bath for her."

"Thanks." He jogged up the stairs to the second floor and padded down the hall to their en suite bedroom. Slipping into the room and closing the door, he kicked off his shoes and quietly approached the closed bathroom door. Although he couldn't hear anything else, he could hear his mate's heartbeat.

With a gentle knock, he opened the door and peeked into the white tile and gold trim bathroom. Karina lay in the tub, her head resting on one end with her toes peeking out of the bubbles on the other.

She opened her eyes as he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. "Lucas..."

He let his gaze wander the length of the bubble-filled tub. "Normally, I'd be extremely aroused by the sight of you in my bathtub without me. Under the circumstances, I'm quite all right with the fact that I'm not."

A flicker of a smile crossed her face. "Liar."

He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and crouched beside the bathtub. "You're right. But now is not the time for that." He cupped her cheek with one hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She leaned into his hand. "Not really... not yet. Is that okay?"

"Of course, sweetheart. I'm here for you whenever you are ready."

She smiled her thanks and closed her eyes.

He grabbed a stool and pulled it up to the end of the tub. Taking his seat, he gently massaged her scalp until she sighed in contentment. He silently thanked his mother for teaching him as he worked down his mate's neck to her shoulders. The slippery bubble bath helped his cause as he rubbed and kneaded her skin. It took every ounce of strength for him to stay in his seat.

"You're not making this easy for me," he whispered.

She slid deeper into the bubbles. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"I know." He squeezed her shoulders under the water and kissed her forehead. "Come out when you're ready. Yeah?"

She nodded and closed her eyes again. He took the hint and returned to the bedroom to wait. She'd come out when she was ready.

#

Half an hour later, I was still in the bathtub with my arms wrapped my legs and my chin on my knees. I'd long passed the depressed phase and was now in the midst of overthinking everything good about my life.

Something dribbled down my long-dried arm. I flinched out of my stupor and blinked into focus. Lucas was crouching beside the tub, one arm draped over the edge with his fingers in the water. His gorgeous eyes just stared into mine.

"The water's barely warm," he murmured. "How about we get you wrapped up in something warm and fuzzy. Yeah?"

I smiled and nodded. He really took good care of me... I slowly rose to my feet and let him slide my fluffy robe over my arms. Before I could step out, he scooped me up bridal style and carried me into the bedroom.