Detangling myself from the sheets and her limbs, I drag her up from the bed with me. She doesn’t fight me as I guide her into the bathroom, her movements a little sluggish, fatigue weighing her down.
Switching on the shower, I test the water before I bundle us both beneath the spray, bringing her in close before I lower us both to the floor, cradling her between my thighs and against my chest. She sighs softly, leaning into me as the water cascades over us, soothing the sore skin and aching muscles.
“Will you stay again?” She asks so quietly her voice is almost lost to the sound of the water.
“I’ll stay for as long as you want me to,” I vow, running my hands over her wet skin.
She sighs, “So this won’t change come morning?”
“Why do you think it will?”
“Because we’ve been pushing and pulling for months,” Her red hair sticks to her skin, tinged pink with the heat, “If you’re going to pull away from me, can you warn me first?”
I swallow. She isn’t wrong in any sense; this has been a dance between us but one where we never touched until now. And guilt eats at me because of it, but it’s not enough to keep me away from her.
Not now that I have had her.
Not now that I have claimed her in every way I’ve always wanted to. I knew all along if I gave in to these base desires, I wouldn’t be able to back out and the mere thought of doing so makes nausea roll in my stomach.
“Did I not make myself clear?” I whisper against the shell of her ear.
She shudders against me.
“You’re mine, Willow. You always have been.”
She sighs and I know she doesn’t believe me, not that I’ve given her any reason to. But I can prove it, it’ll take time, but I can show her those words are the truest I’ve ever spoken.
I help her get clean, making sure to be gentle as I wipe away the evidence of me from between her legs. Hands touch and explore delicately, the months of pent-up longing and desire coming out in the soft strokes of our hands and the inches explored of our bodies.
My heart thuds inside my chest and I know, I just know this is how I will end.
This is my ruin.
Chapter Thirteen
“Hold still!” Willow huffs, her thighs spread over my hips.
“Why does it smell like that!” I complain, shifting beneath her and making her wobble over me. The food scattered across the bed shifts and balances on the edge of the mattress precariously, the half-eaten pizzas now cold and there are crumbs stuck to my back.
“It smells good, what are you talking about!?” She pulls away from my face, the green sludge on the end of the brush starting to form a drip since she hasn’t successfully smeared it over my face.
“We need to get you checked by a doctor,” I say dramatically, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead to check her temperature, “Do you feelokay?”
She swats my hand away, “You’re ridiculous! Let me put this on your face!”
“I’m serious, Willow! That smells horrible!”
She glares at me and for two whole seconds, we stare at each other in challenge. But really, that green slime on that brush smells awful, not at all like the green tea she said it would smell like – granted I don’t actually know what green tea smells like since I would never go near that stuff.
But then she lunges quickly, catching me off guard and slaps a big dollop of it on my forehead. Her grin is triumphant as she begins to smear it over my skin.
Why did I agree to this again?
Oh, that’s right! Because we were lying in bed watching TV after spending the night together and then the day eating take out and she felt gross. She convinced me to put a face mask on with her to detox after so much greasy food.
Not once have I been manipulated. Until she gave me those big puppy dog eyes and stuck out her bottom lip for good measure.
I’d conceded almost immediately.
