He doesn’t wait for their reply or to see if they leave, Fatal simply carries me into the bathroom and flips the lock before placing me on my feet.
“Gilpin came in, even though you locked the door,” I croak.“I thought it was you...that you forgot something and came back.”
I squeeze my eyes shut when I feel them start to burn with unshed tears.His hands tighten on my skin.
He leans his forehead against mine.“Don’t cry.Your tears feel like tiny knives shoved underneath my fingernails.Fuck.It’s my fault that motherfucker took you.”
The torment is perceptible in his voice and I can see the pain in his eyes.I must be crazy but seeing and hearing his reaction to what happens to me makes my heart leap.What we have might still be new and a far cry from love, but it’s clear he cares.
Reaching out, I place my hands on his cheek to keep our connection and take a deep breath.“It’s not your fault assholes roam this earth.Sometimes you run into one, but I guess we got the bonus plan which feels more like an epidemic.Luckily, I got hitched to someone who had an asshole’s brain matter on his boot.”
The corner of his mouth twitches.“Most women would run the other way, others wouldn’t even have recognized it as such or noticed it for that matter.”
“I’m not like most women,” I whisper.
He brushes his mouth against mine.
“Don’t have to tell me fucking twice.I’ve never felt the need to claim a woman.You’re so damn strong.”He takes a deep breath.“I almost lost you today.”
A shiver runs through me, and this time it’s not due to the cold.“But you didn’t.”
“Let’s get you warmed up.”He steps around me and turns the shower on.
He helps me strip, letting the wet clothes hit the tiles underneath our feet.With care he places me underneath the warm water and then strips away his own clothes to join me.There’s nothing sexual about the way he gently cleans my body with his bodywash.
It’s soothing to simply feel his touch, and when he guides my head back to make sure he can wash my hair without getting shampoo in my eyes?I know this man holds a tenderness he doesn’t show others.Like he said, there hasn’t been another woman he claimed before me.
Once I’m all warmed up and clean, he turns off the water and wraps me into a fluffy blanket.Fatal quickly wipes himself dry and wraps the towel around his waist.
“Stay here so I can grab you a clean shirt of mine,” he tells me and slips through the door.
I hear voices and then he’s back.“Your father and uncle are fucking annoying.”
The only one I called uncle was someone who wasn’t related to me, or so I thought.Now he turns out to be my father and someone I just met is my uncle by blood.
It’s why I find myself saying, “It’s good to have family, even if they’re annoying.”
He places his hand at the back of my neck and pulls me close.
“Damn right,” he murmurs and captures his lips with mine.
I sigh into his kiss, eagerly opening to welcome his tongue brushing mine.He groans, the sound rumbles through his chest where my hand is placed over his heart.His thumb presses against my jaw to tilt my head, allowing him to deepen the kiss.My hearts skips a beat, my clit throbs, and my belly flutters.
Alive.I feel alive and it’s a kind of happiness I’ve never experienced.It must have been the near-death experience I just had because everything is heightened.
It’s why I pull back and then feather my lips against his to say, “I’m really starting to like you.”
“Good.”He grins.“’Cause it would really suck if I was stuck with a woman who hates me.”
I snort out a laugh, completely unladylike, but Fatal doesn’t seem to care when he chuckles right along with me and pulls me in for a hug.
He smacks my ass and stares down at me.“I should have grabbed some sweatpants for you to wear besides my shirt.I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later I’m walking into the room where Sevrin and Swade are still standing near the door.
“Why isn’t the doctor here yet?”Fatal asks Swade.
Sevrin is the one who answers instead.“She doesn’t need one.Can’t you tell she’s fine?”
