Water cascades around me, washing away the filth of the day.
This is my second shower, but it doesn’t seem to matter how much I scrub, the dirt doesn’t wash away.
Their hands were on me. I was locked in a cell. I was drugged. The combination of memories has nausea rolling over me as I drop my forehead against the cool tiles.
How am I supposed to close my eyes tonight when all I can think about is waking up alone in a concrete room, immobile and terrified?
That memory will never leave me, that much I’m sure of.
Strong, tattooed arms wrap around me from behind, and despite not hearing him approach, I don’t flinch. My body knows we’re safe with Colten.
He may be a stalker, but he’ll never cause me harm.
“You scared me, Wildcat.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let him hurt Mom.”
He nods against my shoulder. “I don’t blame you for the decision you made, Lex. I know why you did it, and I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
“So you’re not angry at me?”
“Oh no, I’m fucking furious at you. But I’m also so proud of you.” Emotion swirls through his words, making my own chest tighten. “You put yourself in danger, but you also did everything in your power to ensure you could escape, or that I could find you.”
“I knew you’d come for me.”
“Always.”
He holds me for long minutes as water falls around us, and for the first time since I woke up to that text, I’m at peace. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
In the arms of the man I love.
Colten uses the sponge to wash me, his touch gentle as he does what I couldn’t. When he’s finished, my skin no longer crawls.
He shuts the water off and takes great care in patting each droplet of water from my skin before quickly drying himself.
Every touch is gentle and deliberate, from how he helps me apply my skincare, making sure to be extra soft around my bruised cheek, to how he brushes out my knotted hair.
He’s treating me like I’m the most precious thing in his world, and I truly believe I am.
Once I’ve gone through my usual bedtime routine, he carries me into the bedroom and slips me between the sheets.
He tugs the covers up around my neck before moving around to his side and climbing in himself.
A moment later I’m wrapped in his arms, his body cocooning mine until every inch of his front is pressed to my back.
There’s something about being home, in his arms, in the bed that has become ours, that allows the floodgates to open.
Every emotion I’ve tried to push down since I first received that text…the fear, the anger, the heartbreak, and the relief…it all comes rushing out with a violent sob that vibrates through my whole body.
Because this right here, this is home. Not the apartment, not even the bed itself, but here in Colten’s arms is the place I never want to leave. The place I feel safest, where I can be my most authentic self, where nothing I do will make him stop loving me, where I can fall apart and know with absolute certainty that he will put me back together again, good as new.
He turns me carefully, and I bury my face in his bare chest. “I’ve got you, Wildcat. Let it out. I’ve got you. You’re safe here.”
His words are a reflection of what I already know, and I allow myself to fall apart. Tears roll down my face and my chin, over his chest and to the sheets, but he doesn’t let me go. Not for a single second.
“I was so scared,” I choke out. “All I could think about was all the years we wasted not knowing how the other one felt. Decades, Colt. We wasted decades.”
“I know, Wildcat.” He smooths a hand down my back.
