Chapter 59. Bella POV

Whilst Lucien slept for a few hours I busied myself. While playing house I made the cabin smarter, swept away cobwebs, boiled various bits of food into a hearty stew, arranged the curtains so they hung prettily. Daft little amusements but I wanted to offer something noticeable. Finally, I wondered whether Lucien would like a bath too, I could do the same for him as me.

Having eaten my bodyweight again my bruises were finally gone, I felt re-energised, both from Gitte and from having the guts to tell Lucien how I felt. It gave me a giddy sense of euphoria, as though anything was possible. Gitte pushed for me to set a bath running too although I was fully aware the opportunity to see Lucien naked was a very real motivator to start carrying logs and pails of water.

Setting to work, hard, grinding work I managed to have several pails of water all heated to a good temperature, ready to dump into the outside bath as he had done for me. Unfortunately, I lacked his cat-like