Chapter 43:

I was actually excited as I followed him further down the hall. He had handed me two towels from a stand just inside another room that seemed to be a dressing room of sorts, probably for the hot springs. 

"I can't blame you for being uncomfortable after everything, but the water is steamy and bubbly enough from the scents and soap they put in it that you can't see anything under the surface, so if you take one towel in with you and unwrap yourself under the surface, you'll be just fine, princess." That made me smile once more. I was really enjoying the fact that he was actually looking out for me, caring for me in the simple, mundane ways that everyone else had overlooked. 

"Thank you," I whispered to him before leaning up on my tiptoes to press a short, sweet kiss to his lips, before he pulled away and headed further into the dressing room. 

Luckily, there wasn't anyone else in here at the moment, so I set Nova down onto one of the benches before turning my back to Xavier, and quickly getting undressed before wrapping a towel securely around myself. Once I was sure the towel wasn't going to come undone, I pulled one of the baskets out and placed all my clothes in it before turning back around, only to get an eyeful of sinfully toned, tanned muscle. I quickly averted my gaze as I realized he hadn't wrapped a towel around his waist yet, but the glance I had gotten had burned itself into my mind. His back was to me, but the strong, muscled lines of his toned back that led down to a perfectly tapered waist and a seriously nice ass was more than enough of a view to have my cheeks burning. I honestly never thought I would ever say that a man had a nice ass, but there was no denying that one with him.

Nova was full-on cackling at me, all but rolling with her laughter as Xavier turned towards me, towel now wrapped around his waist, but I knew my face probably said it all. The knowing grin he gave me told me I wasn't wrong, but thankfully, he didn't say anything, just simply turned and walked towards the end of the room. I took a breath before following, walking out the door that he was holding open for me. 

It led back outside, and down a set of wooden stairs to a rocky pool below, surrounded by a tall wooden fence. There were a couple of other people sitting in the steaming pool below, and I ducked behind Xavier as we took the stairs down, using his massive frame to hide from the view of the others. He didn't seem to mind in the slightest, though, not even pausing as he took the stone steps down into the steaming pool below, pulling his towel off the moment he was covered enough by the water. Bane was happily draped across his wide shoulders as his tail lazily dragged through the steaming water as Xavier sank to just above his hips in the pool before walking over to the edge. 

Being this close to the pool, I could see that it was actually two other girls in the water with us and the way they were looking at Xavier as he simply walked in as if nothing else mattered had me very quickly following behind him. Nova was giggling at me, but I instantly stopped caring the moment my toes hit the hot water. That felt absolutely incredible. Slowly, I took the stairs down into the pool. The further I sank into the warm water, the less I cared about the fact that I was naked under this towel, or that Xavier was entirely naked right in front of me. He was right, though. The water was foamy and steamy enough that you couldn't see a single thing below the surface unless you were really trying, making me feel far more comfortable. God, it felt good on all of my tired muscles. 

I was guessing there was a ledge along the edge of the pool, considering Xavier was currently lounging on it as Bane lay across the front of his toned chest, using it to soak himself in the water. Slowly, I made my way over beside him, feeling the ledge that he was using and sitting on it myself. It was deep enough that when I sat the warm water drifted just above my shoulders, and I pulled the towel off, placing it on the stones behind me with a smile as Nova moved to my chest. She placed both her forepaws up on my shoulder opposite Xavier as she lay her head on them, lounging across my breasts so she could soak just under the surface of the water. 

I had just gotten comfortable when I heard the other girls giggle and looked up just to see both of them looking at Xavier as they whispered to each other. It's not like I could blame them, I mean, the man was hotter than hell, but the spike of jealousy that shot through me did surprise me. I've never been the jealous type, granted, I've never really had anything to be jealous over until now, but I absolutely hated the fact that they were looking at him like he was their next meal. Actually, I didn't like that they were looking at him, period. Xavier wasn't paying any attention to them in the slightest, which made me feel a little better, but still. Instead, he was entirely relaxed, leaning back against the edge of the pool, eyes closed, as if he was just simply enjoying the feel of it. Although not even that quelled the urge to lean in against him and make sure that they damn well understood that he was off the menu.

'And here I thought Xavier was the territorial one.' Nova giggled as she curled in against the side of my neck.

'I just don't like the way they're looking at him.'

'Because you think you should be the only one ogling him like that.' She gave a slight snort, and I sighed because she was right. 'Why don't you just lean in against him, you know, claim your man and all.' She snickered once more, and I sighed. 

'But what if he doesn't like that?' 

'He's your mate, Ari. He's going to like it, not to mention that any guy who's into a girl loves it when their girl gets a little possessive over them. Just trust me and lean in against his shoulder. It doesn't have to be an intimate touch or anything like that, just a little bit is more than enough.' I looked down at her as she just blinked those big violet eyes up at me before curling her head back up against the opposite side of my neck from Xavier.

Xavier had slouched down into the water, allowing his shoulders to actually dip below the surface as he rested his head on the rock ledge behind us. Bane was mimicking Nova's position, his large frame using Xavier's sculpted chest to lie in the warm water, although he had to readjust every few moments, considering, unlike Nova, he didn't have much to hold onto to stay in one spot. 

Slowly, I scooted over a little closer to him, leaning my shoulder up against his just as one of the girls started to get brave and come over as well. Xavier barely moved, squinting one eye open at me as he raised an eyebrow. "Yes, princess?" He asked in an expectant tone that had me blushing before glancing over to where the other two girls were now watching every single little move of our interaction. The one had stood up in the waist-deep pool, using her hand to cover her ample chest, and I quickly averted my gaze back to him. He was full-on grinning at me at this point, but I was still warring with myself over what to do. "You can come here if you want to. You should know by now that I'm not going to tell you no, Ari." He whispered to me before slipping his hand between my back and the smooth stone behind me. Gently, almost tentatively running his fingers up and down my spine in a soothing pattern that had me scooting even closer to lean in against his side. His arm looped behind me to where his hand was gently brushing over my outer thigh. 

It was surprisingly comforting, the feeling of his bare skin pressed against mine. Every instinct was telling me to turn into him, to tuck myself there against his chest, but I definitely wasn't brave enough to press my bare chest against him, especially when there were other people out here that were now actively staring daggers at me. I didn't pay any more mind to them, though, not when I was far too distracted with him. I was a little surprised at just how secure I felt with him. I leaned back against his shoulder, just simply taking it in. It felt incredible, and for once, I actually felt safe with someone else touching my bare skin. It definitely helped that he wasn't pushing me in any way. Instead, he had just simply given me the choice to do something. He hadn't forced me to do it. I had chosen to lean into his touch, but even with that, I knew that if something happened to be too much for me, I could change my mind and pull away without him berating me or pressing me for it. It was honestly the only reason I was actually comfortable being with him. 

He had simply gone back to just relaxing, although now his thumb was tracing slow, soft patterns over my thigh, and I smiled as I closed my eyes and relaxed into his hold. After that, the girls had left us alone and eventually moved off further down the long pool. 

We just stayed there for a long while before I heard the back door open once more and glanced up only to get an eyeful of two men that I really would have rather not seen. I quickly averted my gaze the second I realized they hadn't bothered trying to hide their nudity in the slightest, glancing back over at Xavier as my whole face flushed hot. He hadn't even bothered glancing up as they entered, well, that was until one of those men decided it would be a good idea to open their mouth. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Did you see a little more than you're used to handling?" He taunted me, and that's when Xavier's eyes opened and took in my surely ruby red face before glancing up at the man now standing on the stairs to the pool. 

"Just ignore them, princess." He whispered to me, leaning over slightly to press a soft kiss to my forehead. "Some people just like to flaunt themselves in hopes that someone might one day take the bait." He acted like he was talking to me, but his true intentions were quite obvious, considering that comment wasn't whispered to me. No, he had said it loud enough that I knew those men had heard him. 

I couldn't help it, though. It made me grin as I shook my head at him. "I swear you enjoy antagonizing people," I whispered to him before poking his side, causing him to smile at me as I just raised an eyebrow at him. 

"It does tend to provide some good entertainment. You have to admit that it tends to get rather boring otherwise." He whispered back, and I just shook my head as I heard the other two guys moving closer to us in the pool now. 

"So, I see we have a wise ass in here. Should we show this little shit what we do to wise asses around here?" One of them asked, but I just kept my eyes firmly locked onto Xavier. There was no way I was risking looking anywhere else again. Xavier, on the other hand, simply raised an eyebrow at them as his signature glare fell into place, and I heard the other men take a tentative step back. At least they weren't entirely stupid.

"If you're actually planning on trying to pick a fight with me, then at least have the decency to not do it while your dick is out, it makes it really awkward. Especially when I'm not the one throwing what little dignity you have out the window in front of everyone here." I had to cover my grin with my hand as Xavier's grip on me tightened slightly. It was nothing painful, but his intentions were clear as he pulled me a little closer to his side as I heard the guys come closer to us once more. They came up so close that I pulled my legs up onto the bench under myself and used one arm to make sure that they wouldn't be able to see my chest under the water. 

The second I shifted my position to cover myself, Xavier had apparently had more than enough of them because he stood up, and I instantly shifted my gaze down to the water in front of me as he moved towards the two men. I heard Bane growl and some frantic shuffling that I knew hadn't come from Xavier before there was a low mumbled threat that I couldn't quite catch, and the other two all but ran from in front of us. I relaxed once more as they fled, obviously realizing that Xavier wasn't someone to be messed with, and honestly, from the glance I had gotten, I doubt the two of them put together had anything on my warrior.

'Since when did he become your warrior?' Nova questioned with a giggle as Xavier reclaimed his spot beside me, although this time he pulled me in even tighter against his side. 

'I don't know, but I kinda like it.' I answered, making her laugh a little harder as we just went back to happily relaxing together once more. 

We didn't end up staying much longer, especially when the other two guys started trying to get handsy with the other girls in the pool, but even with the interruption, it was still well worth it. My whole body felt so relaxed by the time we got out of the warm water that I honestly couldn't bring myself to care about their interruption, especially considering that I had no doubts that Xavier would have handled it if he had needed to. Not to even mention the fact that over half the time I had been pressed up against Xavier's side, leaning against his shoulder as his hand traced soft, lazy, little patterns over my skin.