Chapter 296 | Selene’s Massage

Chapter 296: 296 | Selene’s Massage

"Lunch will be late."

Both of her eyes opened as she pouted.

She sat up reluctantly, and Dexter handed her a towel for her hands, then began packing the oil away.

He was tightening the lid when Lyra caught his wrist. "What is it?"

She moved closer.

Before he could guess her intention, she leaned forward and kissed him.

A quick, warm touch her lips settling against his with enough confidence to make him forget the bottle in his hand. Then she drew back.

Dexter blinked and Lyra’s cheeks turned pink, but the smile on her face was unmistakably pleased. ’Thank you.’

He looked at her mouth, then her eyes. "For the massage?"

She nodded.

"That’s a very generous payment."

She tilted her head. ’Do you want me to take it back?’

"How would you—"

She kissed him again, even quicker this time and then she slipped off the sofa before he could recover, and at the doorway she turned and gave him a small wave.

Dexter remained seated with the bottle of massage oil in one hand, and a moment later her voice returned to his mind.

’Don’t forget lunch.’

He laughed under his breath. "How could I possibly?"

He found Selene in the backyard. She sat on the wooden bench near the wall, her hands folded loosely in her lap, a little sunlight touching her silver hair. The day was warm enough for most people, but she still wore a light shawl around her shoulders.

Dexter slowed when he saw her face. Her eyes were open, and she seemed to be watching something above the fence. "What can you see?"

Selene turned toward his voice, and a faint smile appeared. "Green."

He looked at the branches extending over the wall. "The leaves?"

"I think so." The smile grew a little. "They move when the wind blows."

Dexter stood beside her for a moment, looking at something he would usually have passed without noticing. A few leaves. Sunlight between them. Then he sat on the other end of the bench. "Do you need a massage?"

Selene’s fingers tightened together, and her face warmed. She nodded.

Dexter smiled. "You could have asked."

"I knew you were helping the others."

Dexter remained silent and then said.

"Come in." Theb headed inside.

And she laid in her bed.

Selene loosened the shawl from her shoulders and folded it beside her. Dexter warmed the oil before touching her—even through the thin layer of warmth left by the sun, her skin was cool.

He began with her hands. A trace of Abyssal Heavenly Flame accompanied his mana, restrained so carefully that it felt like warmth from a cup rather than the heat of fire. Selene let out a slow breath. "Better?"

"Yes."

He worked along her wrist, then her forearm. The cold inside her resisted—it always did—but the flame held it back, allowing the massage technique to work without the surrounding energy immediately tightening again. Selene’s head lowered.

For several minutes, she said nothing. Dexter thought she might be drifting toward sleep. Then she asked, "How did you meet her?"

His hands slowed. "Jasmine?"

Selene nodded. A leaf scraped softly across the paving stones, and Dexter watched it for a moment before answering.

"We collided in a corridor."

Selene lifted her face slightly. "That was all?"

"I was carrying clean linen. She had a stack of documents. Neither of us was watching properly."

"What happened?"

"Everything went on the floor."

A faint smile touched Selene’s mouth. "Did you get into trouble?"

"I thought I would." His thumb moved slowly along the side of her hand. "I started apologizing before I even knew who I’d hit."

Selene’s smile faded, and Dexter continued in a lighter voice. "She apologized too. Then we both tried to pick up the same papers and made it worse."

"What did she say?"

He hesitated. Selene turned her face toward him, and Dexter looked unexpectedly embarrassed. "She told me I had nice eyes."

Selene was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, "And what did you do?"

"Stared at her like an idiot."

A soft laugh escaped her, and he smiled at the sound. "After that, we kept seeing each other. Small conversations at first. Then she found the place where I went when I wanted to be alone."

"The roof."

He nodded, then remembered and answered aloud. "Yes."

Selene’s fingers rested loosely in his. "She brought you the sweater there?"

"On my birthday." The words came more quietly, and Dexter looked toward the fence. "Nobody usually remembered."

Selene’s expression changed, and he felt her fingers move against his palm. "She did," he continued. "I don’t even know how she found out."

For a while, only the wind moved around them. Selene understood a little more now.

Jasmine had given him something when he had almost nothing. That could not be reduced to jealousy and made to disappear.

"I’m glad someone remembered," Selene said.

Dexter looked at her, and she lowered her head. "I wish more people had."

His throat tightened unexpectedly. He resumed the massage to distract himself.

Selene shifted forward slightly when he moved behind her to work on her shoulders, and the muscles there were tense. He pressed carefully, allowing the warmth to spread before increasing the pressure. She breathed out.

"Is that too much?"

"No." A pause. "Dexter?"

"Yes?"

"Were you always like this?"

"Handsome?"

She turned her head so quickly that he laughed. "Like what?"

"Taking care of people."

He considered. "I don’t know. I liked cooking. It was easier to make something useful than to know what to say."

Selene thought about that, then said, "You say useful things too."

"Occasionally."

His hands slowed against her shoulders, and she continued, almost too softly for anyone else to hear. "When you told me I didn’t have to spend the night cold."

Dexter looked down at her. Selene’s ears had turned pink, and he remembered her in his bed that morning, clinging to him after the first startled moment had passed. "I meant it."

"I know."