“Mhmm,” she answered as I poured water down her tilted back head.
The response was yet another step forward—a small, yet wonderful step.
I grabbed a wash rag and lathered the lavender scented soap into it before wiping down every bit of her—arms, legs, fingers, toes, neck,everything. The urge to pause on her left wrist was hard to ignore, but I somehow gritted my teeth and continued, unflinching.
The memory of her holding the glass shard to that place choked me. But I shoved down the terrible reminder that I’d nearly lost her and told myself that she wasn’t gone.
She was right here in my arms.
She was safe with me.
There wasn’t an inch of skin I didn’t shower in attention, and with each pass of the wet, soapy cloth, the tension in Serenity’s body seemed to ease a fraction. The tightness in her shoulders relaxed, and the strain in her face softened until she watched me with a somber yet present expression.
I finished bathing her and met that gaze, toying with the ends of her long hair that floated in the water. “Are you ready to get out, or would you like to soak some more?”
She looked at the water and the mostly gone bubbles before answering, “I’m done.”
I smiled softly at the response, because it was her firstrealresponse in four fucking days. I plucked her out of the water and dried her off before wrapping her in my burgundy robe. The silk hung loose on her, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“Let’s go eat something now,” I said, taking her hand to lead her from the bathroom.
She didn’t respond to that, but she followed me. I helped her downstairs and to the kitchen. She sat quietly at the kitchen island while I moved about the room to make chicken and rice, something I hoped would be easy on her empty stomach while also something of substance.
I desperately wanted to talk to her, but I could tell she wasn’t ready to do that, yet. It killed me that she was hurting in silence, but I was determined to give that silence a space to become vocalized. I wasn’t the night sky for nothing. She needed safety, and I wanted to give that to her.
We sat side by side while we ate, and I watched her from the corner of my eye. I didn’t want her to feel like some specimen under a microscope, being studied and dissected. That would just make her retreat into herself again, so I subtly kept an eye on her as she took small bites of her food.
“Thank you.”
Her small voice made my heart race. Warmth showered over me, making me smile. “No need to thank me, baby. I’m here for you. No matter what you need.”
Again, a small step in the right direction.
Just a bit more, I told myself.Just a bit more until my star comes back.
Chapter 34
Dante
SERENITY SAT ON THE WINDOW seat in my library. The silk robe wrapped around her pale, tattooed body, and her now dried silver curls created a shining curtain around her shoulders and back. The overcast light lit up her frame from the other side of the window.
She stared at the photo frame I’d fixed and displayed on my fireplace mantle—the framed picture she never got to gift me, because I’d messed everything up before she could. The image of us at the zoo with its vibrant, animal-littered case stood proudly now for me to look at every time I entered the library. The day it depicted was one of the best memories of my life, and I was determined to make even more with her.
“Here you go,” I offered, holding out the cup of freshly made coffee, doctored up just the way she liked it.
She looked at me then at the cup. Slowly, she accepted it. “Thank you.”
I sat down across from her on the window seat, and while I’d also poured myself a cup, I couldn’t drink it. I couldn’t focus on anything except the way she stared down into the drink. The barriers she’d put in place around her soul and mind stood tall. Yet, as we sat here, cracks began to form. The guard faded from the lines of her face as chunks of that wall began to come down.As the barrier came apart, she seemed to muster up the strength to speak.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Immediately, I knew she was referring to what I’d stumbled upon when I appeared in her room. The defeat she must’ve been feeling in that moment had to have been overwhelming, something I could never even hope to understand. Those feelings of hopelessness weren’t her fault, and anyone who said otherwise was fucking blessed that they had never felt as low as she had at that point.
“Don’t” I quickly shook my head and shifted closer on the cushion. “You havenothingto apologize for.” I closed my eyes and hung my head. “Ineed to apologize.”
“What I did wasn’t your fault,” she hurried to say.
“But I’m sure what I did certainly didn’t help.” I met her gaze and leaned in closer. “I’m sorry, Serenity. I’m sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you were suffering and in need of someone to talk to. Someone you trusted. I’m sorry Ibrokethat trust.”
