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“I don’t care how filthy you are, Ruslan.” I shake my head, letting him know I have every intention of touching him. So I continue forward and wrap my arms around him, holding him tighter than I ever have. Ruslan buries his face in my hair and breathes in deeply, a sure sign of relief.
“If this is a dream, it’s not one I want to wake from.”
“It isn’t a dream, Ruslan. This is real. I am real,” I tell him as tears flood down my cheeks. I was so afraid they’d be coming back with a body. I was terrified I’d never see this incredible man who makes me feel like I’m actually living. Before, I always felt like I was churning through life. It didn’t feel like I was here in the present moment, and now that I have a taste of it, I don’t want to let it go.
Ruslan takes his head away from my hair and presses his lips to the top of my forehead. “I thought of you every day. You were the only thing that kept me sane, Amelia.”
I glance up at him and see he’s speaking so honestly. He wouldn’t dare lie to me, not after everything we’ve both been through. “I had to nag the fuck out of Danill. It turns out he really doesn’t like disobeying your direct orders, so I came up with a compromise I thought was fitting.”
Ruslan laughs. “Danill told me all about how you steamrolled him into getting you and your cousin a flight out here. You are a spitfire, my Amelia.”
“Nothing was being done, and I was tired of being in the States with no progress. I figured if we all came here, Danill could do more, and I was right.” I smile brightly, and Ruslan kisses my forehead once again.
“I need a shower. A doctor will be here in an hour to look me over, give me antibiotics, and whatever else he deems necessary.”
“Okay, do you want help?” I ask, not meaning it in a sexual manner, but the men around us find it amusing.
“Yes, I need you to scrub my back, actually. I don’t want to have a bit of oil or grime on me from that place,” Ruslan grumbles and wraps an arm over my shoulders.
I help Ruslan up the stairwell until we reach his bedroom. Lom told me to sleep in here since I was with Ruslan, so it’s what I’ve been doing. The bed isn’t made, and the sheets are crumpled up from where I’ve been sleeping. Instead of being aggravated by the sight, Ruslan smiles. “I bet the sheets smell like you.”
“Probably. Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay, Amelia.”
I walk with him into the bathroom and help him get out of his clothes. Everything he’s in is going in the trash. He stands there before me, naked and filled with dirt, grime, and oil. “Go in the third drawer on the right-hand side.” I do as he asks, and there’s a pair of trimmers. I plug them in, and he tries to take them from me, but his hands are shaky.
I place my hand over the trimmers and look at him directly in the eyes. “No, why don’t you let me? I have a steady hand, and as long as you tell me how you want it, I can make sure it’s the way you like it.” I smile softly at Ruslan, and he nods.
“Fine, but grab the purple attachment for it.” I head back over to the drawer and find what he’s talking about. I slide it on the top of the trimmer and then turn it on.
Ruslan proceeds to tell me how he wants his beard trimmed, so I do as he asks. I’m sure he’ll want his hair done as well. I’ll do whatever he needs because I’m so thankful he’s standing in front of me. This could’ve ended so badly, and I know it.
Chapter Six
Ruslan
She is better than I deserve. I hadn’t ever thought about it before, but right now, I see Amelia for the genuine woman she is. She takes such time going over my beard, making sure it’s exactly the way I’ve asked her to do it. She even has me look in the mirror in case she’s doing something wrong, but she doesn’t do anything wrong. It’s perfectly done, just as I knew she’d do it.
After my beard, Amelia takes the trimmer over my hair, starting just above my right ear and then going over my entire head. She also has me check and make sure I like my haircut, but I do. It’s perfect.
Amelia strips out of her clothes and turns on the shower, and I give it a couple of minutes before I step in with her. In the meantime, I take the liberty to brush my teeth for the first time in a month and a half. The more I’ve been standing on my own two feet, the easier it is to move around. I think my strength will come back in due time. I just have to move around a bit and slowly increase my calorie intake over the next couple of weeks.
Lom stopped at a local restaurant, and he told me to order whatever I wanted, but I knew better than to order anything heavy. I ordered oatmeal and orange juice. He thought it was a bland order, but it wasn’t. Oatmeal and orange juice was a treat to me, given what I’ve been eating over the last several weeks.
I walk further into the spray of water, and the hot droplets hit my skin. It’s as if I can feel the grime and oil cascading down my body. I stand there for a few minutes before her arms wrap around my waist and pull me back. She pulls me out of the direct stream of water and lathers my hair with the soap. It’s a mixture of tea tree and eucalyptus oils with a bunch of others I can’t remember. The shampoo burns my scalp, but it feels so good. After Amelia’s done massaging the shampoo into my hair, I’m not sure if there will be any dirt or grime left. I have a beard shampoo on the same shelf, so she grabs that next, lathers some up in her hands, then works it against my beard. She rubs a little bit rougher now, and then we rinse off my hair and beard. My beard still feels a bit grimy, so I speak up. “My beard needs it again. It feels off.”
Amelia nods and puts more of the beard shampoo on her hands. She comes back up to my beard, and I step closer into her space. Sure, she needs to be close to me for this, but I want her close in general. I want her sweet scent to waft around me. I tried to remember it to the best of my ability when I was in that wretched place, but since we’re together again, there’s no comparison. Vanilla and lavender fill the air between us, and I inhale deeply. God, it’s so calming.
“Ruslan?” Amelia says in a concerned tone, which pulls me from my bliss.
“Yes?”
“You can rinse now. I think your beard is done.”
I turn around, and the water hits my beard. I stand here for a few minutes while the water takes the suds from my hair. There’s a conditioner on the shelf for my beard and for my hair, so I grab one and give her the other. Amelia puts conditioner in my beard as I put it on the top of my head, then I grab the scrub brush and get my pine tar soap. I rub the bar along my limbs and give her the brush to scrub. “I don’t want to feel like I was in that place when we get out of here,” I tell Amelia, and she nods.
She scrubs me with the brush, and the two of us continue our conversation. “You’re not going to. You aren’t there anymore, Ruslan. I can’t imagine what it was like to be there, but I hope you can rest easy knowing you’re no longer there. I…” Amelia pauses and looks over my entire body. “I hate what they did to you.” She grabs the hand where I’m not missing a finger and holds it tightly. “I hate that you came back to me chopped up and sliced.”
