“You found her!” she cried, and I held out a hand to squeeze hers, needing to reassure her the best I could that I was alive. Beck still held me, and in the back of my head I knew I should demand my independence and walk, but this whole thing had fucked me up too badly. I just couldn’t do anything but hold on to my rock: Beck.
“I’m going to clean Riley up,” Beck said shortly, already heading for the bathroom.
“I’ll get my medical kit,” Dylan replied.
Beck just strode forward, into the tiled room, letting the door close behind him. I’d stopped crying and was now exhausted, draped across him. He gently lowered me to the floor, his hands tracing up my arms and across my neck to cup my face.
“You scared the fuck out of me today, Riley.”
Serious eyes drilled into mine, and I shook my head. “Thank you for saving me.”
A flicker of amusement crossed Beck’s face. “Judging by Dylan’s bleeding head, it looked like you kind of had it handled, Butterfly. Something which doesn’t surprise me at all.”
There was no way to tell if I would have gotten out on my own. But fuck knows, I would have given it a red hot try. Beck kissed me suddenly, and I pressed myself into him, needing new memories to erase the last twelve hours. I needed memories, and I needed Beck, because for twelve hours, I hadn’t known if he lived or not in the crash. I hadn’t known if I would see him ever again.
This was a gift.
Just as the kiss started to get heated and I moved to wrap my legs around him, my body screamed at me for being so rough with all of my injuries. Beck drew back at my gasp, his worried gaze tracing along me.
“Time to get naked, baby,” he said softly, already stripping my once fancy outfit from me. He didn’t say anything else as he removed clothing, but his gaze darkened with each new injury he uncovered. There were dozens of shallow cuts across my thighs and a few on my stomach. None of them were bleeding now, but they cast a macabre sort of artwork across my skin, and it was hard to look at them, knowing how close I came to being murdered. There was bruising on my breasts, and no doubt other places I couldn’t see from my angle.
Beck was breathing heavily by the time I was completely naked, and not in the usual way he would be. His fury spilled over as he turned and smashed his hand into the towel rack, ripping it completely from the wall.
“Fuck!” he shouted, and I remained where I was, completely unafraid even though Beck was losing it worse than I’d ever seen before.
He braced both hands on the sink, sucking in deep breaths, staring down into nothing as he struggled to get himself together.
“Beck,” I said softly. No response. “Sebastian Roman Beckett.”
His shoulders tensed before I saw him squeeze his eyes shut, and then eventually stand. “I’m alive,” I reminded him. “These injuries…” I waved across my body, “they’re fucking nothing compared to what he would have done. We both stopped him in time. Don’t beat yourself up.”
He shook his head, dark hair tumbling across his forehead. “I should never have let you out of my sight in the first place. Chasing down that asshole after the crash almost cost me my life.”
I stilled, wide eyed staring at him, not even able to blink. “He almost killed you?”
Beck stepped the two steps back to me, stopping right in front of me. “Youare my life, Riley. My fucking life, heart, and soul.” His hand slammed against his chest. “Without you, there is no fucking me, so yes, he almost killed me.”
Dylan chose that moment to step into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as well. Beck growled and in a split-second had stepped in front of my nakedness.
The pair of them faced off, two alpha males, both of them acting pissed and territorial.
“Guys,” I said, after a minute of posturing and rumbling chests. “Can we maybe do this later? I’m pretty dead on my feet.”
Beck jerked his head to me, and I tilted my face back. “I’d really like a shower first before anyone patches me up.”
With a deep breath, he nodded, stepping aside to turn the water on. He knew the exact just-below-scalding temperature I loved, and I tried not to laugh at the way Dylan was staring at anything other than the naked chick in the room.
“They’re just tits,” I said, trying to joke about it. “I’m sure you’ve seen two or three … hundred of them in your life.”
Dylan’s eyes were dark when they met mine. “Not just tits when they’re yours, Riley.”
He whispered those words, and I wasn’t sure Beck heard, but I sure as fuck did. It made my heart ache at the pain and sadness on Dylan’s face.
“Shower’s ready,” Beck said, breaking the tension.
When I stepped inside, I had to bite my lip to stop from crying out. The water washing over all the shallow cuts felt a lot like someone pouring acid on them but there was no other choice. I had to be clean. I needed to get the filth from that place off me. Like I could wash the memories away at the same time.
Beck stayed right with me. Dylan never left either, and I felt their silent support. When I couldn’t reach parts of my back, Beck took the cloth and stroked across my skin, until finally, the water was no longer filled with blood and dirt. Running clean.
