When they touch me (Shelagh Milano)
Chapter 62

Chapter 62 ARTEMISIA

I continue to rub my clothes in the streaming cold water, but I can't seem to get the paint off.

This is the worst.

Feeling on the verge of crying, I'm glad that they are letting me clean up the mess alone. Even if their concerned looks made me think that they wouldn't trust me to take care of it by myself. And maybe they were right.

I keep rubbing my fingers red, but the paint stays on my clothes.

With a deep sigh, I sit on my heels, the cold water seeping into my skin reaching my bones like needles.

Damn it.

"Is everything alright?"

As soon as he asked me, his mouth-watering scent reaches me. I must have been rather panicky to miss that.

Breathing him in gets me to calm down immediately, my heart mending slowly.

"Yeah," I breathe out and distort my face. "Actually, no."

Logan laughs and steps into the water to reach me.

"No, Logan! Wait!" I shout as he walks towards me. "It's too cold."

He holds out his hand to me, shaking his head. "Look who's talking. Do you want to catch death?"

Same word, same sense, two completely different ways to say it.

Grabbing his hand, I let him help me to my feet. "I'm a failure, Logan. Every task that I helped with ended up being a catastrophe. And everybody is so nice to me. I don't deserve it."

"Don't say that. You are doing fine. It's normal that you are a bit clumsy because you are nervous and everything is new to you. Let me take you out of the cold first." He picks me up to carry me out of the water, and I wrap my arms around his neck to lean my head against his chest.

I sigh, as he doesn't put me down and keeps walking. "And I ruined my dress."

"I can see that," he chuckles, making me smile as well. "But we will buy you a new one."

"How did you replace me?" I ask, looking up at him.

He meets my gaze shortly before concentrating back on where he is walking to. "A few pack members mind linked me about you and Fynn fighting on the construction site, so I came to see if you were okay and if the moron was being mean to you again. But you were already gone."

"Thank you," I breathe out as I lean my head back against his chest. "I guess Fynn and me... We are just a lost case."

Logan laughs, making my heart sing, "More for me, then. And he is an idiot if he gives up on someone so wonderful like you."

"Aaaw," I whisper, burying my chest into his shirt.

He keeps walking silently while he lets me calm down in the safety of his arms, and we seem to reach the pack house in the blink of an eye.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, looking up at him with a curious expression.

He chuckles as he takes a set of stairs down to the wing that has still not been shown to me. "Somewhere warm."

I relax back against him, letting him

vel

carry me inside and through a glass room with large windows. Taking another flight of stairs through a double door, we get into what seems to be a cave-like construction, illuminated artificially texcreate a relaxing atmosphere.

Steam envelops us gently, warming up my frozen limbs.

"Is this a thermal bath?" I gasp happily, and he nods.

Throwing my head back in laughter, I get another glimpse of my surroundings. "You guys are just something else."

He carries me into the water while we are still both fully clothed and sets me down on my feet carefully. Grabbing my dress, he lifts it over my head gently before throwing it on the stones next to the pool. "Oh, it's so nice here," I say as I dip deeper into the water and watch him undress himself.

As soon as he has disposed of his shirt and pants, he wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. "Let me warm you up a bit."

"Thank you so much. I'm feeling less cold already," I sigh happily, my heart skipping a beat at his smile.

"You have to stop worrying about not being good enough. You are perfect, and everybody is nice to you because you deserve this and much more."

I press my lips together to keep them from shaking while I tear up. "That's so nice of you to say."

"It's not nice! It's true," he chuckles, making me slap his arm playfully.

"You are spoiling me too much. I don't think you are allowed to," I say jokingly, covering how it actually saddens me.

Passing his hand through his hair, he gets little drops of water fall on his face. "Of course I am. You are my mate, remember?!" He grins as he hugs me tighter. "Are you feeling better already?"

"Uh-huh," I say, nodding.

"I'm glad," kissing my forehead, he gets me to sigh happily. "Hey, didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

Scrunching my nose, I nod again. "Yeah. I have to tell you something about my wolf."

"Will it explain why she isn't answering mine?" he asks, tilting his head.

"Something like this, yeah," I answer shyly, making him sigh.

With a fast movement, he grabs me and lifts me up. I gasp as I wrap my arms around his neck, and hug him close to stabilize myself.

He laughs and starts walking through the water. "Let's go somewhere more private."

Passing an arched stone bow, I admire the changing atmosphere as it turns a bit darker but yet cosier.

The sound of falling water reaches my ears as I replace myself surrounded by small waterfalls and stonewalls enlightened by artificial torches. "Wow," I breathe out, not able to stop staring around agape.

He pushes me to the end of the room, leaning me against a warm stone at the side of the pool. As my legs are wrapped around his waist, I can feel that he is as excited about this situation as I am, even if I doubt that it has something to do with our surroundings.

Kissing my neck and jawline, he hums happily, making my skin vibrating pleasantly. "I thought this was a good idea, but I'm beginning to doubt it."

I giggle, not wanting to interrupt him

as I fear this might be the last time that I get him to kiss and touch me like that. "As if we wouldn't already know what happens if we get this

close to each other, Logan

"True," he whispers before he claims my lips with his. I clasp myself tighter against him as we kiss, increasing the sparks erupting on my entire body.

Breaking the kiss, he pulls my bottom lip with his teeth, sighing, "Talk to me, babe. Or we will be in trouble again."