His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 11: Close Encounters

With my gown wrapped around my chemise, stopped by the privy door, I watch Theo’s lean muscles flex under the candlelight as he hovers over my bed. Strands of his brown locks have escaped the string tying his hair back. They curve around his features, brushing along the sides of his cheekbones. He drags the covers back and pauses, his eyes shutting, hand clenching tightly on the duvet.

With a long exhale and a shake of his head, Theo adjusts his crotch. The movement snaps my gaze down, and my lips part involuntarily at his length, straining against his breeches. That snaps me out of my daze. What is Theo doing?

My mind had been foggy, and my muscles were too relaxed since the massage and my bath. Now, the chilled room and the sight of Theo half-naked and by my bed have me questioning his motives. Although I didn’t tell him anything, the Were wasn’t stupid. He knew something had happened between me and Soren.

Did Theo think he could climb into bed with me? I know some slaves were forced to do indecent acts for their masters, but did he honestly think so little of me? I wasn’t even a proper master!

Stepping forward, I began calling his name until Theo turned and grabbed a copper bed warmer. He moved the pan, so it went under my covers. He was warming my bed!

"What happened to your shirt?" The question blurted from my lips before I could stop it. My thoughts about him acting out his ’job’ involving bedroom antics diminished.

It didn’t explain his lack of shirt, though. The room was chilly, even with the tiny fireplace crackling alight on the side. I know Theo was used to working outside all winter, but I couldn’t have him walk around without a shirt.

First, it was highly distracting, especially with a face blessed by the Gods. Secondly, rumours would spread about a slave with this kingdom’s Princess. My purity meant I was of ’higher value’, even if I was the Forsaken Princess.

Theo patted the duvet cover down and turned to look at me. "I spilt oil on it." He pointed at the shirt now hanging near the fireplace.

"Oil?" I frowned.

"Lavender." Theo stood to the side, his back straight, composed, and confident with his body. Unlike when we were younger, he’d worried about his rather feminine features and lean figure. That was probably why he was now filled out more. He certainly didn’t have the body of a woman. I cleared my throat and looked away.

Whatever tension had knots squeezing tightly in my stomach released upon realising I’d jumped to conclusions quickly.

Theo didn’t intend to climb into bed with me and fulfil his ’role’ so he would still benefit from my plan—a plan that was yet to be set and possibly already crumbling to pieces. He wasn’t intentionally undressed; it was all coincidence. I was an idiot. Having my heat really did throw me off.

Then why had he adjusted a growing erection? My inner voice questioned. I smothered that line of questioning immediately. There were some questions I didn’t want answered. It was probably a natural, involuntary response-- to what I do not know.

"Do you have another shirt?" I questioned, drawing closer to the small fireplace where the shirt hung, recently doused in the lavender oil. Now that I was closer, the smell wafted around the room.

When Theo didn’t answer, I glanced at him and felt a blush crawl across my cheeks. His gaze roamed over my features, from the damp tendrils of my hair, along my body and to my bare feet and ankles. "No," he said slowly. "I do not. I’m a slave."

It was a dismissal like he was reminding both of us of his station. "I will have this washed. In the meantime, take one of Soren’s. He is only two doors down."

Theo nodded but wasn’t looking at me, his finger tapping on a small bowl beside the bed. "What is that?" I ask, hoping to ease any awkward silences that follow between us.

Theo’s grip on the bowl tightens as he looks down. "Something you might need."

Curious, I stroll towards him, looking at the bowl and discovering a light green balm inside. "What does it do?" My gaze flicks up to meet his, not realising I had stopped so close to him. I shouldn’t have; his bare skin was beckoning me to look at the contours of his muscles.

Theo cleared his throat and picked up the bowl. "It helps with bruises and marks." My eyes widened at his words, realising the thin lace from the dress earlier covered the marks, but if you were close enough like Theo was when he gave me a massage, it was more noticeable.

"Here." He sat on the bed, scooping some of the balm on his finger. "I will help get the ones you cannot see."

"Why?" I ask, my voice a little breathy. Goddess, what is wrong with me?! Was I still feeling the effects of seeing Prince Eryx earlier? Surely it wasn’t the heat again?

"I used to do this for you when..." He trailed off, and I was reminded of my childhood when the abuse started to begin. Theo was by my side at the start, and true to his word, he used to put healing balms on my back. Then I realised my maid was reporting back to Deyanira about Theo, and he, too, had started to suffer.

Theo clears his throat. "Well. I thought this was the best time to discuss plans to leave this place." His hand circles my wrist and tugs. I plop down beside him and find myself relaxing. The lavender and the soothing scent from the balm were fragrant and a little heady.

"Okay," I whisper, nodding. It wasn’t like we hadn’t done this before. The only difference was I had filled out and was wearing a chemise beneath my gown rather than some bloodied shirt I threw on after a session with the Queen.

Theo tugs down the top part of my gown, covering my neck. He gently moves my hair to the side and softly rubs the balm into the mark against the back of my neck. The mark started to burn and flood images of Eryx through my mind.

’Mine,’ Eryx’s gruff voice whispered through my mind from the night before.

"This one looks worse than the others," Theo comments quietly.

"Others?" I frown. When did he see the others?

Theo didn’t comment further and slowly peeled back the rest of my gown, baring the top of my back to him. The straps followed, and I swallowed thickly, his tender touch caressing my shoulders and arms. I held onto my chemise to cover my breasts as the gown was rumpled behind me. I’m overly aware of his half-naked body behind me.

My skin pebbles from the slight chill of the room and baring more skin to another. Theo’s warm hands start caressing me in different places with the balm, and occasionally, I look over my shoulder, and our eyes lock. Quickly, I look away, my cheeks burning.

"Um... Have you been into Ulfstad since we were kids?" His voice is thick, and I jump a little as his hand is on my lower back underneath the chemise, close to my backside, beside one of my dimples.

"Yes," my whisper is more breath than word.

He leans closer, holding the back of my chemise away from my body so he can assess the rest of my back. His brown locks tickle the side of my neck, making me squirm a little. Theo rounds my face, watching me with a heated gaze as his fingers delve between my butt cheeks, then moves to the right one and continues to rub balm on a sore point.

I’d shamelessly arched my back at his touch. But a wince follows that movement as he tenderly massages the balm into that mark. This is totally different than when we were children. It was far more... intimate.

"So, you have a secret route to leave this place?" His voice is rough, and his hand slowly moves along the curve of my hip.

I nod, afraid of my body’s reaction to Theo. It trembles beneath each of his touches, my skin sensitive. It doesn’t burn like the simplest touch does from Eryx, but it does tingle. He’s only helping me, I remind myself. This is his job. Is it? That voice asks me again. I quickly quieted her.

Theo kneels in front of me and grasps my ankle. A quiet gasp leaves me, and my thighs clench together. "You have one right here," he murmurs, and I watch as he dabs at my foot and behind my ankle; he is meticulous in his actions.

He looks at me expectantly, even if his eyes are half-lidded. "Oh, erm, yes. I know how to leave the palace without being seen..." I trail off and frown.

"What is it?" Theo’s hands pause on the back of my calves; his thumbs circle them like a mini massage. I don’t think he realises he’s doing it.

"Soren knows I visit Ulfstad." I groan a little in annoyance and raise my hands to my eyes to pinch under my eyebrows to ease the headache forming, but I drop them instantly when the chemise starts to peel away from my breasts. I clutch at it before anything else is exposed.

"It’s okay. We will figure it out." My hands tightened on the material at the term ’we’, and I stared at my childhood friend, my eyes growing misty, becoming an emotional fool from such a simple term. But it wasn’t so simple. I’d been alone in this place without anyone on my side for so long.

Theo frowns at my reaction and glances down, allowing me to recover from the pinch in my nose. I blink away the tears. "Should I do the others?" His hands rest on my knees, and he glances at my chest, which has many marks on it.

The question hangs in the air as his thumb circles my inner knee. It is almost hypnotic, and I nearly say yes. Instead, my head shakes. "Thank you, Theo. I can take it from here. "I presume you know the room beside mine is yours?"

Theo nodded and sighed, pulling away. It’s not until he stands I notice the slight tent in his breeches. He turns abruptly and I look away, pursing my lips, my cheeks heating. "Goodnight, Ida." He marches away like something is chasing him or angry about something.

"Goodnight-" The door shuts before I can finish my sentence.