Before we’re halfway home, Roscoe pulls me and Silver to one side and lowers his voice to a murmur. “So, Zeph’s gonna head back to his apartment for a few hours. Sounds like he needs to decompress.”
“I’ll go with him,” Dante offers.
“And I’ll head next door to check on the kids when we get back,” Ro says.
I’m aware that they’re offering an opportunity for me to spend some time alone with Silver, and I’m not about to turn that down.
She looks up at me a little shyly as soon as I unlock the door and gesture for her to head inside.
“You want to get a shower, Silver? Wash the last few days off you? I can wash your hair for you, if you like.” I feel like a pathetic schlub, practically begging for her to allow me to touch her.
Silver bites her lip and gives a little bemused laugh, like something I said surprised and amused her in equal measure.
“What?” I ask.
“Just, I appreciate you taking care of me. I, um, I did something similar when you were sick with the blood curse.”
I don’t remember that. There are huge, confusing gaps in my memory still, spanning entire months. Silver might have washed my hair for me, taken care of me. But did I ever do the same for her when we were first... falling in love?
“I have so much to make up for,” I tell her earnestly. “I swore I was going to do better. To stop hurting you, but it feels like I got lost in my head in a whole new way. Ro tried to tell me I was being an ass, did you know that? But it felt like the ship was sinking and I didn’t want to drag you along with it. But I swear to you, I’ll work every day for the rest of our lives to do better for you, Silver. If you’ll let me.” I pause, staring into her starburst eyes and taking a steadying breath. “And there are some things I don’t think I ever fully forgot.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Like how I feel about you,” I tell her seriously, using my thumb and index finger to tip her chin so we’re looking each other right in the eye. My breath catches and I have to swallow hard before I can continue.
“Even when I couldn’t remember you, I still knew something was missing. I couldn’t get my head around it. How I could feel like a piece of me had been surgically removed, and I had no idea what it could be.” I take her hand and tug her into the bathroomand then slowly undress her piece by piece, removing the dirty clothing she’s been stuck wearing for the past few days.
“You know, I couldn’t remember you—” She flinches, but I plow on, needing her to hear this, to understand. “—I couldn’t remember you. But I was still jealous of Zeph and Roscoe. The scent of your soap in the shower had me growing hard at the weirdest times, had me dreaming things that were confusing as all hell. I missed you. I obsessed over you. It was like you’d tattooed your name into the deepest part of me.”
I feel like I’ve said all of this to her before, but it needs repeating. I’ve fucked up so many chances with this witch. Her choosing to give me another chance is a true fucking miracle.
She blinks a few times, swallowing hard. “Keep going.”
“And then after we nearly lost Ro, then straight after, we got attacked and I felt like I was doing a shit job of protecting you. I got distracted. I was trying to fix things, to make things safe for us all. Foryou.But I know that was fucking dumb. I was an idiot. When I should have been spending all the time I could with you, I was—”
“Working yourself to death,” she says, tipping her head forward to bash her forehead on my chest.
I wrap my arms around her for a moment, relishing the sheer damn good fortune that’s got me here.
“Never again, though, love,” I vow to her. “If I ever lose myself like that again, I want you to punch me in the dick.”
“I can do that,” she tells me with a cheeky grin. “Now, are you gonna get naked, or am I expected to wash my own hair?”
I kick off my boots and jeans, tearing my t-shirt over my head until I’m standing in front of her naked. Twisting on the shower, I wait for it to warm up before gesturing for her to step under the warm spray.
“If I have my own way, you’ll never have to wash your own hair again, Silver. Now, close your eyes for me.”
She sticks her head under the spray until she’s soaked all over. I squeeze a palmful of shampoo into my hand and gently massage it into her hair. Once she’s good and lathered up, I gently tip her head back to wash off the shampoo. Conditioner follows before I soap up my hands and run them methodically over every inch of her skin.
I clean her all over before soaping up my hands again and running them over her once more. This time, I work even more slowly, cupping her tits and thumbing her nipples until they’re stiff peaks, relishing the little gasps she makes.
Those sounds, I etch them into my memory.
Every moan, every little gasp. I hoard them greedily and tuck them close inside my chest.
My hands move down over the soft swell of her stomach. Her hips. The perfect ass that I’d love to sink my teeth into.
“Can I open my eyes now?” she asks with a wide grin on her face.
