Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Then I saw the answer to my problem—hanging against the far wall was a deep red bathrobe. I slipped it off the hanger and tried it on—it fell all the way to my feet and was so big it wrapped around me almost twice. There were plush slippers too, but they were much too big for me, so I decided to stay barefoot, though I knew it would be chilly.
I wrapped my damp hair in a slightly smaller towel that I found and bundled my many layers into a large pile, being careful not to squash the snacks I had saved for later. Tucking this under my arm, I looked for the way out.
Besides the burnished bronze door I had come in by, there was one other, smaller door on the other side of the room with a metal plaque that said, “drying room,” in Naggian script. Hmm—that could be interesting.
Deciding to take a chance, I pushed open the door and peeked around it. What I found was a cozy little room, slightly smaller than the room the Baron and I had breakfasted in. This was an interior room so there was no view of the city, but that didn’t matter to me.
The wallpaper was deep red with faded gold designs on it and there was a fireplace with a fire crackling on the hearth. Sitting in front of the hearth and a little to one side was an enormous wingback chair that seemed to be made of dark brown leather. It had a very high back and I couldn’t see the front of it, but I didn’t care—I made a bee-line for the fireplace.
After setting my bundle of clothes to one side on the floor, I straightened up and stood in front of the crackling flames. I untied the sash of the enormous red robe I was wearing and spread it wide. The feeling of the fire’s warmth bathing my naked body was almost as good as the warm bath had been. I sighed contentedly as I aired myself out, letting the heat from the fireplace evaporate the last few drops of water and dry me completely.
Just as I was feeling more relaxed and happy than I had in months, a deep voice from the vicinity of the wingback chair rumbled,
“Enjoying yourself, little girl?”
EIGHT
NATALIE
I gasped and whirled around, forgetting for a moment that my robe was still hanging open. The Baron was sitting there, his blue eyes glowing in the firelight. When he saw my gaping robe, he raised his eyebrows.
“Putting on a show?” he remarked.
“Oh! I…I didn’t realize!” I gasped, scrambling to grab the sides of the robe and wrap myself back up. Tying the sash securely, I frowned at him. “What are you doing in here, anyway?”
“Well, it is my domicile,” he said mildly. “Though I apologize—I should have announced my presence at once. But I didn’t expect you to come in and, er, air yourself out either.”
“I was just trying to get all the way dry before I had to go into the cold again,” I said, feeling defensive. “This big robe is really nice, but it’s not quite as absorbent as the towels.”
“I agree,” he said, nodding. “I would know, since it’s my robe.”
“What? Oh, no!” I started to take the robe off, then thought better of it and wrapped myself even more tightly in the plush crimson fabric. “I should have known!” I exclaimed, feeling my cheeks heat with a blush. “No wonder it’s so big—I’m so sorry, Barron!”
“You may call me Vik’tor—at least while you’re staying in my home,” he rumbled. “And please don’t worry—I told Daw’snx to let you know that everything in the bathing chamber was at your disposal—that includes the robe.”
“I still shouldn’t have just assumed,” I objected. “I just…I didn’t want to put on my old clothes again, after I was all nice and clean.”
“New clothing will be provided for you, Natalie,” he rumbled. “So don’t worry about that. In the meantime, you can keep the robe on,” he added courteously.
“Thank you. Er, you still haven’t said why you were in here,” I pointed out, feeling uneasy.
The Baron got an uncertain look on his face.
“I heard…singing coming from inside the bathing chamber. I didn’t want to burst in on you, but I wanted to hear more.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling. “So I came in here to listen, since the two rooms share the same ventilation system.”
“Oh…” I felt my cheeks getting hot with a blush. “Sorry—I always sing when I’m in the bath or the shower. And it just felt so nice to finally get a real bath with real water after so long I guess I sort of just…let loose.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said softly. “Never heard anything like it before—you’ve got a fucking beautiful voice.”
“Um, thank you. I…I was raised with music from an early age,” I said.