“You getting tired of carrying all those bags around?” Lola asked after their last excursion into a shop selling knives and swords. He bought her a long blade of excellent quality to help her better protect herself since she couldn’t grow claws. He promised to train her on how to use it after they left Wrexon.

Russel looked up at the sky and noticed, with some shock, that it was getting dark. He wondered how the day had managed to disappear so quickly.

“Perhaps. Shall we find lodging for the night?” he asked.

She walked up to him and wrapped her arm around his elbow.

“I think that sounds good.”

They hunted for a suitable place for twenty minutes until a local they asked for a recommendation directed them to a well-known inn a few blocks down the road. They went inside and were able to get a room. Russel paid for a suite on the top floor so they wouldn’t be bothered by others. When they got up there, they found themselves in a lavish room with a large, four-poster bed, a beautiful sofa in front of it, a fireplace, and a separate room with a bath that even had taps for hot and cold water.

“I feel that bath calling my name,” she said, dropping off the bags she carried next to the bed. “Hot, scalding water is just the thing I need to soothe all my tired muscles.”

“That does sound very relaxing,” he said. “Go ahead. I’ll guard against any intrusion.”

She smiled at that. Then her eyes got a bit more serious.

“I’m glad you found me,” she said. “I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t been there.”

“It seems fate had different plans,” he replied. “I’m glad it did. This world would be a much poorer and sadder place without you in it, Lola.”

She smiled wide at that, looked like she wanted to say more but didn’t. Instead, she disappeared into the bathroom. Russel heard the water turn on and the bath fill. He hoped Lola truly got the rest and relaxation she needed. The road to Wrexon had been a long and difficult one and he was afraid that entrance into Oclan wasn’t going to be any easier.

Not with his father wanting her dead.

He heard the water turn off and he expected to hear the sounds of her getting into the bath next. Instead, she walked out in only a thin, silk robe the hotel must have left for the guests. It was belted loosely at the waist, leaving the swells of her breasts clearly visible. Her eyes burned with something he had never seen there before.

Desire.

Russel was speechless. His pulse started to pound. His eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from her beautiful form.

She untied the robe’s belt and let it fall open. Then she slipped it off and it fell to the floor.

“You look like you could use a bath too.”