Intimate

The original plan was for Jonah to walk Daphne back to her room. Yet, he hadn't missed the way Daphne would reach up to rub the back of her neck every few seconds.

"Actually," Jonah said, "I have somewhere else to bring you first."

Daphne raised an eyebrow in surprise but otherwise obediently followed him. They stopped in front of two large doors that Daphne had never noticed before.

"The bath," Jonah explained. "It's much larger than the en-suite bathrooms attached to your bed chambers. The water here is also enchanted to always remain warm, perfect for a soak after a long, cold day. No one else is allowed in here, so please rest assured."

At the mention of a private bath, Daphne's eyes nearly sparkled. She badly needed a good, warm soak, especially after all the walking and falling that had happened in the last couple of hours. If the water was truly enchanted, it would no doubt be much more healing for the body.

Jonah took the now-empty plates from her hands, bid her good night, and disappeared down the corridor once he had handed out the instructions.

"The king will be with you after he is done dealing with matters on hand," Jonah said. "I'll let him know you're here."

Jonah had also warned her, of course, that the king had deployed more than triple the number of guards around the palace, lest she attempted another 'great' escape. If she was caught again, there would be repercussions.

Daphne had merely smiled and nodded meekly. She didn't have the heart to tell him that Atticus's manpower had been wasted, as her legs were way too sore to even think about escaping tonight.

Once he was gone, she stepped into the room, her jaw dropping at the sight before her. The room had indeed been enchanted, like Jonah said. She could see steam rising from the water, with the tub ― if it could even be called that ― spanning nearly the entirety of the room with only a small section portioned out for changing clothes.

It seemed more like a large pond than anything.

Daphne wasted no time. She stripped her clothes once she was sure no one else was around, throwing them over the lounge chair that was placed against the wall.

When her body dipped into the hot water, a soft sigh escaped her lips. Jonah was right. It indeed was the perfect temperature. She could feel a good amount of tension leave her body just within moments. The feeling was too good to be true, and her eyes fell shut in relaxation.

When another moan left her lips, Daphne felt something suddenly slap against her mouth.

Her eyes opened wide instantly, shocked. She struggled to get free, but a familiar voice stilled her.

"Since when did you learn to make such vulgar noises, sunshine?"

Daphne wrenched her infuriating husband's hand away from her mouth, face red with embarrassment and indignation. She sank lower into the water, immediately crossing her arms to hide her chest from his view.

Atticus snorted. If he wanted to see all of her, her pitiful attempts wouldn't be enough to conceal herself from him.

They only succeeded in highlighting the curve of her breasts. Atticus wondered if he should mention it.

"You're the vulgar one, peeping at women taking baths," Daphne scolded angrily. "How was I vulgar?"

"Your moans practically belonged to a brothel," Atticus said glibly, and ducked quickly when Daphne half-rose from the water to splash water at him. He laughed at her outrage.

"Sunshine, are you sure you want to rise from the bath?"

Daphne flushed and squeaked, realizing that Atticus could see nearly everything! She immediately sank further until the water reached her chin, all her earlier feelings of relaxation evaporated like the steam wafting off the bath water.

If only she could sink and drown to spare herself the indignity, but knowing Atticus, he would save her just because he was a menace.

"Don't be such a prude. You've got nothing I haven't seen before," Atticus said cheerfully to comfort her.

"My apologies for forgetting that you're a regular patron of brothels." Daphne scoffed, casting him a derisive look.

"Are you upset, sunshine? You know you have the ability to fix it."

To fix… oh blast him, he wanted her to sleep with him!

"From that look on your face, I'm guessing I will spend my nights outside," Atticus said melodramatically, a hand on his chest. "Don't worry, sunshine, there will be no illegitimate children."

Unbeknownst to Daphne, Atticus never had plans to visit any brothels. It was just too easy to taunt his wife with this topic.

True enough, Daphne scowled at his flippant response. She felt strangely upset at the thought of Atticus visiting nameless women in brothels at night, and then she felt more upset at the fact that she was upset.

Who was Atticus to her? Her captor. Why did she care if he visited other women to satisfy his carnal appetites?

Atticus then continued.

"I'm not peeping at random women in baths. I'm appreciating my wife. That's an important distinction."

Daphne closed her eyes, breathing deeply as though Atticus was just a hallucination brought about by the bathwater. Sadly he was still there when she opened her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Daphne demanded, briefly turning her head to glare at him. "Jonah said there wouldn't be anyone else allowed in here. He lied."

Atticus raised an eyebrow. "Remind me to give Jonah a raise."

"Why?" Daphne asked, not liking the smug look on his face.

"This is my personal bath. Why wouldn't I be here?"

"You― Your bath?" Daphne spluttered.

Oh, Jonah, that slimy, stinking bastard! To think Daphne had thought the world of him when he had led her to this glorious haven. Turns out, he was merely leading her to the lion's den.

"Of course." Atticus had a lazy grin hanging off his lips. "Jonah informed me that I had a little visitor here and led me to where I can find you. In fact, he just left."

"Jonah!" Daphne yelled despite not knowing whether he was still within hearing range. "Get Your Grace out of here!"

"This room is soundproof. That's the only way the servants wouldn't have known what sort of colorful noises could escape those lips of yours." Atticus snorted. "And this is my bath!"

"And I'm using it!" Daphne's face and neck were flushed red, both from the heat of the water and of their conversation "Out!"

"Oh?" Atticus chuckled.

His hands reached for the edges of his shirt, easily pulling it off to reveal his toned, sculpted body. Daphne's eyes went wide, her gaze instinctively attracted to his abdomen before she forcefully tore away, squeezing her eyes shut as a reminder to not look. Her actions hadn't gone unnoticed, only causing Atticus's smile to grow wider.

He quickly disrobed before stepping into the water of the bath. Even though she wasn't looking, Daphne could feel the water move when he entered, along with the sound of splashing water.

When she finally felt someone close in on her, it was too late. Atticus had one hand under her chin, spinning her around gently so that she now faced him. The movement caused a short gasp to slip from Daphne's lips, her face tilted so that they were now looking right at each other.

"Make me."