Want kindled in her. A fierce desire, not unlike the rush of need through her veins when her hunger rose. She wanted to drag him into the bath with her, to let him put hands and mouth to her body, to fill this unknown void within her. Dangerous things to think, to feel, for she shouldn’t be feeling anything at all.

Mina broke the kiss with a gasp.

Barrons’s chest rose and fell, his eyes heavy-lidded. His fist in her hair kept her there as they stared at each other, and then those devastating lips curled in a slow, entirely too-pleased smile.

“Was the payment to your satisfaction, my lord?”

“Worth the risk of life and limb?” His gaze dropped to her mouth, dark eyes blistering in their intensity. “Yes.” His voice roughened. “Worth dying for.”

“No kiss is worth dying for.”

“Then you’ve never had the right kind of kiss.”

Her lips tingled, daring her to touch them. The right kind of kiss… The kind that could leave her aching and desperate, feeling almost hollow inside as if he’d touched something she never knew had existed there before, touched it and then pulled away, leaving her reeling in the aftermath.

One kiss to devastate her. And more…

I want to see your breasts.

“The note,” she demanded, sliding her hand over his and exerting just enough pressure on the tendon so that his fingers jerked open on her hair.

Barrons tugged the small scroll out of his shirt pocket. “Are you going to tell me what’s in it?”

“No.” She held out her hand and he contemplated her for a moment. “No note, no payment,” she reminded him, and his fingers opened, revealing the source of all this excitement.

Mina took the small, waxed piece of paper, still pristine and perfect despite its swim in the canal. Unfurling it, she shoved it directly into the path of a candle flame. A few seconds of nothing and then fire flared up over its length, leaving naught but ashes in its wake.

Success. The tension eased from between her shoulders as the blasted thing vanished, leaving her limp and relaxed.

And bound by a debt owed.

Languidly Mina stirred her legs through the cooling water, the shape of her slender calves clearly visible. Bubbles clung to the hints of smooth alabaster skin that glided through the water, warmed by candlelight. His gaze lowered.

Yes. There were other ways to control a situation. He wanted to see her, did he? Well, she would give him precisely what he wanted. And more.

Bubbles hugged her curves as she moved, prickling slightly where they popped and fizzled against her as the cool air met her skin. Mina slid her knees sinuously beneath her, capturing his hooded eyes as she slowly, slowly unwound herself.

Cool air traced over her bared skin as she stood gloriously nude in front of him, hidden only by the slow, stealthy slide of bubbles. They dripped between her legs and over her sensitive breasts and stomach, a caress that almost made her reach for him. Barrons didn’t look down. Instead he stared into her eyes, as if searching for something she wasn’t willing to give him.

“And so I pay the second part of my debt. You may look your fill. You may touch me—” Her voice roughened a little. But you will never own me. You will never touch me here, inside…

“Do you wish for me to touch you?” he asked in a softer voice than she’d expected.

“What I wish is of little consequence.”

Dark eyes flashed and she knew her words had found their target. So he wanted her willing, did he? Melting into his arms, no doubt. Mina had nothing but contempt for such a thought.

Barrons stared at her for a second longer, then stepped back and reached for the towel. Dragging it off the rail, he moved closer, his larger body enveloping hers. Mina tensed a little, but he only draped the towel around her back and bottom, giving a small jerk. She staggered forward a step, her arms held up between them, water dripping down her legs into the bath. Gently he curled the soft towel around her body, hiding her from view, almost as if he were slowly closing a door between them.

“Then I will touch as I desire,” he murmured, tucking the edge of the towel between her breasts.

Bending over, he drew her up into his arms, water splashing all over the tiled floor as he lifted her out of the bath and set her down. Another towel appeared in his hand and he knelt at her feet, using it to buff her legs dry. Candlelight gleamed on his dark blond hair, gilding sections of it and turning it gold against the blackness of his shirt.

What was he doing? Mina gasped as he nudged her legs apart and worked his way up each leg, the smooth towel buffing her dry. “You’re wasting your opportunity.”

“Am I?” Barrons looked up. “You would not know what pleases me. Having you retreat into yourself while I stare at you so rudely doesn’t satisfy me, Mina. Not at all.” He stood, arm curving around her waist as he directed her into the chair by the mirror. Leaning down behind her, his face shot into shocking review beside hers in the reflection. “I’m interested in someone who wants this as much as I do, and you don’t. Not yet. I’m not quite sure why, but you don’t.” The towel in his hands tumbled over her head, blinding her for a second.

Mina jerked and shoved at it, then his hands curled into the towel, using it to dry her hair. She froze, recognizing his intent as harmless.

“Not ever,” she replied, shoving the towel up out of her eyes. “I won’t be any man’s whore.”

“I see the mistake I made in making this a transaction.” Hard lips thinned and he wrung the water from her hair with the towel. “You are free of your debt, and if you must know, I would have done as commanded if you’d but asked nicely. You are far too fascinating for me to see you die.”

Her eyes narrowed. She’d stood before him practically naked and he’d not batted an eye, and now he was saying she was free of her debt, free of…everything. Mina stiffened. “What the hell kind of game are you playing?”

“Something rather akin to chess, I imagine. Sacrifice a pawn or two, and win the endgame. Oh, and Mina.” He tipped her chin up, lowering his face. “I’m so many moves ahead of you that you’ll never figure it out.”

This time the kiss took her entirely by surprise. A hard, demanding kiss that claimed her as if he owned her. The vanity bit into her back as she stumbled backward, capturing her towel, one hand clenching his collar for balance. As if she’d ever find her balance again.