Heath’s scruffy jaw firmed. “Nothin’. I just thought that maybe you’d like to wait till Denver got back. He’ll need a shower as well.”
Zara pushed away from the table. “Don’t lie to her.”
Noni’s legs trembled, and she grasped the back of her chair. “What’s going on? Something is. Tell me.” Her voice rose on the last.
“Denver has to tell you part of it.” Zara winced. “But we can tell you some. Try not to freak out.” She stood and gently tucked a finger into the neck of Noni’s borrowed shirt.
Noni stilled. “What the hell?”
Zara pulled. “Madison wrote a message on your back.”
Noni partially turned to see dark ink down her back. Her breath heated and expanded in her lungs. Fury and fear grabbed her. “She did what?” Noni’s voice shook, and she pulled away to run into the bathroom and take off the shirt. Turning around, she tried to read the message in the mirror, but it was backward.
Zara followed her and leaned against the door frame. “Denver is furious, which is why he went running. Well, one of the reasons.”
“Why does that bitch want him so badly?” Noni shook her head, reality crashing around her. Vulnerability and the sense of being violated hit her sharply. She turned and jumped into the shower, turning the water on and scalding herself. “Help me get this off,” she yelled.
“I’ve got it.” Denver was suddenly in the doorway, his sweats and sweatshirt soaked with snow and perspiration. His hair was wet, and his tractioned snow boots covered in ice.
Zara quickly disappeared.
Noni let the panic sweep her and started scrubbing the areas she could reach, not caring if she scratched her skin off.
Within seconds, Denver was inside the shower with her, his hands on her wrists. “Stop.”
“I can’t.” She struggled against him, her body feeling like ants were crawling across it. Her voice rose high with the panic. “The bitch marked me. Shemarkedme. I have to get it off.”
Denver pulled her against his hard body. “I’ve got you, Non. Deep breath. We’ll get it off. Gone. I promise.”
Noni closed her eyes and tried to slow her racing heart. A sob rolled from her chest. “Get it off, Denver. Please.”
If Denver had been more furious in his entire life, he couldn’t remember it. But he kept his hold gentle and turned Noni around, grabbing the soap and a washcloth. “I’ll make sure it’s all gone,” he whispered, his voice soft while his hands trembled with the need to punch something. Hard. Instead, he rubbed circles across her skin with the soap and then the washrag, rinsing it out several times. The offensive ink swirled down the drain.
“Tell me it isn’t permanent marker,” Noni said, her voice low. Hurt.
“It isn’t,” he said, wiping right above the twin globes of her butt. She’d been marked because of him, and he felt that to his core. That responsibility and primordial sense of possession. She was his, and they’d hurt her because of it. But now wasn’t a time for fury. Oh, that would come later. “The ink is coming right off.”
Her shoulders slumped, and her head lowered. “What else did she do to me?”
His breath hitched like he’d been punched. Thank God her back was turned to him. It took several seconds for him to be able to control his voice. “Nothing, baby. I’m surprised she had time to write the message before taking off.” Of course, Madison had plugged her full of drugs as well. “The message is just her messing with us.” And showing Noni how fragile she was—in addition to proving to Denver what kind of havoc Madison could create. “I’m so sorry about this,” he whispered.
“Not your fault,” Noni said, her head lifting. “Don’t for a second think this is your fault.” She rubbed her feet on the tiles and warm water. “We should hurry. There’s only one shower in this house.”
“No hurrying.” He finished with her back, making sure not one spot of ink remained. “It might be my fault.” His voice broke.
She settled. “Impossible.”
Right. How the hell could he explain this to her? He tuned in to the outside world to make sure it was safe. Heath and Ryker would return to the searches while Zara organized the data and Anya tried to get inside Madison’s head with the notes she’d already collected. At the moment, his only job was to make sure Noni knew she was safe and had faith that they’d get the baby back. He reached for the shampoo to work through her mass of hair.
She let her head fall back into his hands. “That feels good.”
Everything about her felt good around him. He wished he had the words to explain that to her, but maybe his touch could convey that. The silken threads wound around his hands, and he rinsed them off, moving next to the conditioner.
His body reacted to her, even with the stress surrounding them. It was totally inappropriate, and he tried to force need for her away. Truth be told, he could be half dead in a coma and her scent would arouse him. There was something about her—something made just for him. On a level he didn’t understand, one too primal to describe, he recognized her. And he wanted her, just one more time, before he told her all of it. That he was made from evil.
“You warming up?” he asked.
“Yes,” she breathed, her voice soft in the steam.
