I chuckled against his shoulder and shook my head. “How do you know that I wouldn’t just let you bleed to death if you tried?”

“You wouldn’t,” he whispered. “Even if you hate the debt, you would still stop the bleeding.”

He was right, of course. I wouldn’t let him hurt for longer than necessary, no matter how much I disliked the life debt. Just the thought of the blood pouring from his wrist was enough to turn my stomach.

“I don’t want you to be hurt again,” I said. “If you insist on remaining in my debt, then you must remain in my debt.”

He brushed his lips against my temple. “My debt is not yet paid, so I will remain. Will you wait?”

I lifted my head. “You want me to wait for you to fulfill your debt? Then what?”

His eyes gleamed with wicked heat. “Then I will take you to bed and pleasure you so thoroughly that you will forget the rest of the world exists—until you writhe and beg, and only then will I give you the relief you crave.”

It should’ve sounded like the worst kind of braggadocio, but instead, it sounded like a promise, and I couldn’t help the tiny moan that slipped past my lips as desire overwhelmed me.

He swallowed and his hands tightened against my skin, then with extreme self-control, he smoothed the burning hunger from his expression. “But for now, I will continue to work the knots out of your arms.” He paused and met my eyes. “With your permission.”

I shifted again at the thought of him touching me after all of that, knowing that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. “Won’t that be torture?”

“I’ll still be touching you. That’s not torture.”

“Maybe not for you,” I grumbled. “I’m dying over here.”

The silver swallowed his irises, and he went absolutely still. The groan sounded like it was torn from the bottom of his soul. “Now it’s torture,” he murmured. “If you won’t let me help you, then you should help yourself.”

Was he saying what I thought he was saying? My face flamed red. “Help myself how, exactly?”

His eyebrows rose and his expression was pure sin.

Did I think my face was red before? It had nothing on the inferno in my cheeks now. “Here?” I squeaked. “Now?”

“Yes. I won’t touch you,” he vowed, his voice a deep, dark rumble.

I wrinkled my nose and waved an arm through the heated water around us. “In the pool?”

His grin was quick and fierce. “Is that your only objection?”

“What? I don’t know. Maybe.” Clearly, the thought of touching myself with him nearby had scrambled my brains.