Well, more like slams it.
Knowing there’s nothing I can do, I put her meal in some Tupperware and stick it in the fridge. I’ll eat it tomorrow if she doesn’t. We’re not wasting one bit of food.
I finish cleaning the kitchen, then make my way around the small cottage, securing the windows and doors, locking them with devices that will alert me if they’re shifted or moved. I can’t be too cautious about security, especially after what I’ve been through.
Satisfied, I move to the bedroom, exhaustion taking over me, just as Lilly pops out of the bathroom wearing a towel around her torso. “What are you doing in here?” she asks.
“What do you mean what am I doing here?” I sit down on the bed and pull my shirt up and over my head. Her eyes immediately fall to my chest. “I’m getting ready for bed.”
She doesn’t hide the fact that she has no problem checking me out as her eyes peruse for a few more seconds. Clearing her throat, she says, “Do you think you’re sleeping on this bed?”
“Yes, I do,” I answer, standing now.
“It’s far too small for us both. Take the couch.”
“I’m not sleeping on the couch, and I’m not sleeping in a separate room than you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Keller, we’re not together—”
“For safety, not for anything else,” I answer, my voice terse. “I don’t make a move on a woman who’s with someone else.”
Her nostrils flare, and I can see the stubborn side of her immediately fall in line, ready to war. “Fine.” She smiles brightly. “Sleep in the room, not like I care.”
“Fine,” I say as I move past her, our shoulders bumping. I head toward the bathroom when she gasps.
“What the hell happened to your back?” she asks.
Oh . . . fuck. How could I forget about the scars and scabs on my back from Banamaor and his whip?
Shit. Keeping my back toward her, I wince while saying, “Fishing line accident.”
She thinks I was out on a goddamn boat all this time, might as well ride with that lie.
“Oh . . .” she says, her voice a touch softer but still having an edge. Not wanting to elaborate, I move into the bathroom and shut the door behind me.
I grip the counter in front of me, taking a few deep breaths, my mind returning to that first night when Banamaor was ruthless with his whip, striking me so hard that I thought I’d throw up. After that, he didn’t do much with the whip, and I’m grateful for it, just a few slashes here and there.
I push off the counter and turn so I can see my back. At least eight gashes, deep enough to leave scars, strewn across my back, the barely healed skin puckered and purple. They are ghastly to look at, so I don’t blame Lilly’s reaction. I could put a shirt back on, but I don’t want anything, and I mean anything, to distract me from my sleep, including a shirt getting tied up around me.
Even the idea of sleeping in a bed has me itching to climb in. And how I’ve missed the luxury of cleaning my teeth. They’ve felt furry for so long now, I’d forgotten what freshly cleaned teeth felt like.Heaven.I nearly cried when I took a shower earlier.I’d never take these things for granted again.
Once done, I turn off the light, entering the bedroom just as Lilly drops her towel, revealing her completely naked and gorgeous body.
Fuck . . . me.
She braided her hair, so it’s gathered to the side and over her shoulder. Her pert nipples are puckered from the evening air, and her nipple piercings glitter under the moonlight, making my mouth water. Fuck, I can’t remember the last time I had those in my mouth. And her waist, it looks thinner than before, causing a jolt of concern to run through me because she was already small as it was.
“What, uh . . . what are you doing?” I ask her.
“Getting into bed,” she says. “There aren’t any pajamas to wear, so I’m just going to sleep naked.” She then lifts the blankets and slides into bed.
Well, fuck. How the hell am I supposed to sleep now?
My fists clench at my sides as I try not to show how much this is affecting me. She isn’t going to make this easy on me. I strip out of my shorts, leaving me in just my briefs, and I slip into the bed as well. When my shoulder presses against hers, I realize just how small this bed really is.
Christ.
“You’re touching me,” she says.
