“I can wait until you’re done if you can handle the smell,” I replied.
Her fingers fidgeted in mine. “I dreamed about this moment for so long, the moment you would come rescue me.”
Hearing her say those words made me feel like shit. I know it hadn’t been her intention, but the result was the same. I had so much regret, and not getting her out of that house sooner was one that would haunt me always. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
She squeezed my hand. “You got there when it counted. That’s all that matters.” She took a deep breath, glancing around the room as her eyes soaked everything in before landing back on my face. “You’re not afraid I’ll run off again?”
Iscowled. “That’s not remotely funny, little raven.” I raised my brows. “Are you saying I can’t trust you? Do you plan on taking off?”
Her head shook quickly, the tiniest twinkle glinting in her eyes. “No. Never. I just…” She paused, releasing her fingers from mine to grab the front of my shirt and tug me forward so my legs bumped her knees. “Turns out, I like being wherever you are.”
“Good,” I said, and I meant it with every fiber of my being. “Because I was planning to lock you in the bathroom anyway.” The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. How utterly stupid and thoughtless of me.
Her face changed, panic flaring in her eyes, and her whole body went rigid on the bed.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” I immediately gentled my voice, cursing myself for the poor choice of words. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just?—”
“I know,” she interrupted, tipping her chin up to look at me. “And I’m not afraid of you, Kreed. I never have been.”
“Maybe you should be afraid of me. Look what’s happened to you. Look at all you’ve had to suffer.” How could she not blame me? I’d been so laser-focused on finding her I hadn’t stopped to think about how I would feel once I did or the amount of guilt weighing me down.
“This isn’t your fault,” she whispered.
“Isn’t it?” I shot back, unable to keep the self-recrimination from bleeding through. “If you’d never met me, if you’d stayed away from my world?—”
“Pretty sure it was Rusty who kidnapped me,” she cut in. “Not you.”
“You know what I mean.” I didn’t want this to become a blame game because I would win every time.
“I do,” she said with certainty that surprised me. “Just like I knew you would come for me and what you meant when you said you’d lock me in the bathroom. We can’t tiptoe around each other, Kreed. That’s not how I want us to be.”
“How do you wantusto be?” I asked, genuinely curious about her answer, but also terrified.
She shrugged, a gesture so tired it made my heart ache. Her fingers continued their restless dance against my shirt. “I don’t know yet, but we have time to figure it out now.” Her eyes held mine, misting slightly. “I haven’t thanked you yet for coming to get me. Thank you.”
“There was never any other choice for me, little raven.” I meant every word. I sensed she had more to say, and I could guess what would come next, but I didn’t want her apology, not because I was upset or angry with her but because she didn’t owe me anything. Certainly not an apology when my brothers and I had done worse to her. “The missing you was driving me crazy.”
Her lips twitched. “You make it sound like missing me was a bad thing.”
“It was. I don’t like the hollow ache inside me when you’re not here.”
“I’m here now.”
And yet somehow, she felt so far. I banished the frown from my lips, softening my features. “Come on, let’s get you in that shower.”
She stood, and her legs shook. “Do you have a hoodie or shirt I can borrow?”
My arm slipped around her waist, letting her lean on me as I guided her toward the bathroom. “Evan brought some of your clothes here for you.”
“I want it to be yours. I need it to smell like you.”
She was killing me. If she kept saying things like that to me, I was going to forget myself and have her pressed against the wall. The last thing I wanted to do was attack her, but my lips were dying to touch hers. “I’m sure I have something here for you to wear.”
She sat on the top of the closed toilet lid, giving her legs a break. A shower wasn’t going to work, not if she couldn’t stand on her own, and as much as I liked the idea of climbing in the shower with her, I wasn’t pushing her into something she wasn’t ready for.
Patience. I needed all the patience I possessed, which honestly wasn’t as much as probably required. “Stay put,” I said, moving to the oversized bathtub dominating one corner of the bathroom.
Her eyes stayed on me as I turned the taps, adjusting the temperature until steam began to rise from the rushing water. The bathroom slowly fogged around us as I added bath salts, lavender, and eucalyptus that would help with the bruises I could see darkening her skin. I lit the candle sitting on the tub’s rim and dipped a finger in the water to check the temperature.
