He'd seen her transformation in the auction house—watched starvation reverse, watched color flood back into pale skin and dull scales. But this was the first time he'd really 'looked' at her.
His gaze started at her face. Delicate features, high cheekbones, full lips still slightly parted. Black-and-blue hair spread across the crimson silk like ink in water, already beginning to dry in soft waves.
Those deep blue eyes tracked his every movement.
Down to her neck. Smooth pale skin, punctuated on either side by the thin slits of her gills—currently closed, since she was breathing through her mouth now.
Her collarbones. The small patches of iridescent scales that ran along them, catching the ambient light and reflecting it in shades of green and blue.
Her breasts. Small but perfectly formed, firm mounds that rose and fell with her breathing. Pale pink nipples, already hardening under his scrutiny.
