Page 277 of Elemental Becoming

—VALEN’S JOURNAL

AMARA

The water in my bath is still rippling against my skin when I feel it.

A shift. A pull.

A familiar hum of heat creeping into my veins, like a match striking in the dark.

And then the door opens.

Boots against stone. Slow. Deliberate. No rush, just certainty.

The bond between us stirs, anticipation curling low in my stomach. Because Thane has found me.

“Took you long enough,” I tease, keeping my eyes closed.

“The meeting took longer than expected due to . . . interruptions,” he replies coolly.

I bite back a smile.

“Oh, that’s too bad. I hope everything worked out despite all those interruptions.”

I hear him move to the foot of the bathtub, his steps unhurried. Steam curls lazily through the air. The scent of lavender and sandalwood clings to the stone walls, mixing with something deeper and familiar. Crackling fire.

Him.

“You push yourself too hard.” His voice is smooth, but something beneath it makes my pulse stumble.

I exhale and let my head rest against the stone lip of the bath. “So I’ve been told.”

“Then maybe you should listen.”

“Maybe you should stop trying to control me.”

Silence. Then the softest sound of leather sliding against leather.

I crack one eye open.

Thane is undoing his belt and scabbard, his sword hitting the stone floor with a dull thud. His eyes remain fixed on me—cooland controlled, but with fire flickering beneath the surface.

He kneels at the edge of the bath and rolls up his sleeves before dragging his hands through the water. The movement sends ripples across my skin, heat lapping against me in gentle waves.

But it is nothing compared to the way he watches me.

Candles flicker in sconces along the walls, casting soft golden light over the chamber. Across the carved stone of the bath. Across the steam curling through the air. Across the droplets of water gliding down my skin.

And across the man kneeling before me.

“Let me take care of you.”

His voice slides through me like smoke and gravel.

I open my mouth—to tease him, to protest, to say something that will keep this from affecting me quite so much. Then his hands close around my calf and I forget every word.

Thane gently lifts my leg from the water, cradling it in his palm. His grip is firm, strong, and yet gentle. His fingers press into my skin, moving in measured circles, working out the tension I hadn’t even realized was there.

I sag back against the lip of the bath, a shaky breath escapes me.