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“What are you doing?” I asked in a small voice.
“We’re going in.” He got rid of the other shoe and sock and encircled my waist. “Ready?”
“What ...” I started to ask.
Victor grasped me, sliding backward into the tub. I was swallowed up completely into the water, wrapped up in Victor’s arms.
He sat up quickly, raising me up until my face and shoulders were above the water line. His white shirt and the dark pants were now completely soaked. Bath bubbles mixed into his hair.
I sputtered a little, caught so off guard that I was giggling. I let go of him to wipe at my face.
He started chuckling after me. He released one hand around me to bring it to my face, pushing my hair back out of my eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said through my giggling. I wrapped my arms again around his shoulders. “I can’t believe you did that.”
He slid in the tub until his back was against the seat. He held me crosswise in his lap. He released his hold on my waist and brought both palms to my cheeks. “Told you I’d do anything for you, Princess. I mean it.”
I breathed out a giggle, lowering my head into his shoulder. I fingered the fringe of the towel around me. “The towel’s all wet now.”
“Sweetie, I have more towels.” He shifted until he placed me beside him in the tub. He kept an arm around my shoulders and gazed down at me. “We should tell the others, you know.”
“Hm?”
“We should tell them about ... about why you can’t take a shower right now.”
My face flared again. I lowered my eyes to his chest. “Maybe we can wait. It’s not important.”
“It is important,” he said. “I don’t think you were conscious when I first got to you. We’ll fix it. We have to tell the others about it.”
“But Kota’s busy with Mr. Blackbourne and the others dealing with the bomb threats and we’re having to take care of this new guy.”
He frowned. “You want to keep it a secret?”
“Just between us,” I said softly. “Is that okay? It’s not that I wouldn’t tell them, but they’re already overprotective and worry so much as it is. You know now. Isn’t that enough?”
Victor released a breath. His hand at my back rubbed along my body. “Maybe. I wish you’d told me sooner.”
“I was—”
“Trying not to worry us?”
I nodded. “And it’s stupid.”
“It isn’t stupid.” He turned on me, his palms finding my cheeks again. He held me still so I couldn’t look away. His eyes blazed. “Listen to me, Sang. You aren’t stupid. You’ve been through a lot, more than a few of us have. My father? He yelled at me. Big deal, right? Your mother tied you up in the shower and left you to die. Then McCoy practically kidnaps you. Now we’ve got all this other stuff to deal with.”
“Which is why I wasn’t telling anyone about the shower.”
“I understand that,” he said. “But don’t you feel better now that you’ve told me?”
I nodded slowly against his hands holding me. I wanted to look brave and happy but the way his eyes bore into mine with that fire, I broke and felt my lip trembling. Admitting to it was rough.
The assuredness in his face faltered. “Don’t cry, Princess.” He drew my head in closer, until his forehead was pressed to mine. “I won’t tell if that’s what you want. I’ll wait until you’re ready to tell them. No more showers. You’ll never shower again. Ever. I swear. Anything you want.”
“Victor,” I whimpered out, only I wasn’t tearing up because I was afraid any more.
“What, Princess?” His thumb traced over my cheek, sliding under the soft flesh under my eyes and wiping away the tears. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m fine. You’re just being so nice.” I couldn’t find the way to say it like I really meant to. My own family would never have gone so far for me. The guys proved themselves again and again for me. I couldn’t help how sometimes I felt I was still on the outside. They did their best, and they did so much for me. I couldn’t figure out how to tell him how much I appreciated him.
He laughed softly. “You can’t cry because I’m being nice. That’s not fair.” He pressed his face against the top of my head. “Sang. You’re a dream. I can’t believe we got so lucky to find you.”
“Victor ...”
“I mean it,” he said. He held his cheek to my forehead. “I keep thinking about that day I jumped on you in Kota’s bed. I wonder sometimes if I hadn’t done that, maybe he never would have told me about you. God, you’re so little. I don’t know how I thought it was Kota. And you were so cute and you’ve got those big green eyes that look so lost sometimes. I thought for sure we’d scare you off with our group. We’re always so loud and rough. I’m always wondering if one day you’ll wake up and realize how messed up we are and want to leave.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I whispered. “I was worried you all would see all these crazy problems and would leave me. I don’t want to be left behind.”
He grasped me tighter. “I’m not leaving you. You picked the wrong crowd if you expected us to walk away that easy. We’re too stubborn.” He smoothed his cheek against my forehead. “I don’t want to leave you with your problems. I want to fix them. They aren’t your problems anymore. They’re our problems. We’ll figure them out.”
I couldn’t stand it. He was overwhelming. I thought I would fall apart again just hearing his promises. “Victor,” I said in a tiny voice.
His cheek against my forehead crossed against my skin until I felt his mouth pressing there instead.
His lips puckered. His kiss touched just above my brow.
Flames erupted across my skin, zoomed from his kiss, bearing down into my heart.
A shiver lit up my insides. I inhaled sharply against him. My fingers curled against his chest, gripping the shirt. I tugged him tighter toward me, silently begging for more. I simply didn’t know how to ask out loud.
His hands traced up back to my cheeks, palms warming my skin. He held me still, and his lips met my brow again. He traced his lips across my temple, his thumbs smoothed over the crests of my cheeks. Victor seemed to understand, and I wondered how he knew.
Or maybe he didn’t know. Something Kota said before rang through me. They knew how I felt. Maybe they needed this, too.
And that last thought resonated through me stronger than I ever knew anything before.
Maybe Victor needed this.
I swallowed some air and some courage. I needed to show him. I needed him to know I understood. I realized this was what I was doing when I bit back at Nathan’s fingers, or when I reached out for them. I swore to myself that I’d try harder. They told me again and again they’d be there for me. I needed to show I was there for them, too.
I tilted my head up, finding his eyes. The fire engulfed me, almost stopping me.
I puckered my lips, zeroed in on Victor’s cheek. I closed my eyes as my lips met with his skin, close to the edge of the corner of his mouth, in the same gentle way as he had been kissing me.
I kept still once I’d kissed his cheek, afraid to back away and see if I’d done wrong. My trembling lips kissed his cheek again.
“Sang,” he breathed. His hands at my cheeks drew me back again. I wanted to close my eyes but those fire eyes were unrelenting. “My Princess, I’m taking you out today. We’ll do what you wanted for your birthday. I know it’s early, but I can’t wait. I’m glad we’ve got the day off. I’ll have time to do what I wanted to with you.”
“What are we doing?”
His smile lit up like his eyes. “You’ll see. Right now, I want to get ready. We’ll go to this spa. I love the spa. I think you will, too, okay? I want to share it with you.” He paused, his eyes swallowing me up. “But first can I ... will you ...”
I watched him, suddenly very amused that he was stumbling. Victor never stumbled. “Victor?”
His cheeks tinted. “Will you let me wash your hair?”
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My lips parted, surprised by his question. “My hair?”
“Gabriel plays with it all the time.” His fingers traced up along my cheek, catching a strand. He curled it between his fingers. “I’m not like him. I can’t cut it or style it or anything, but ...” He released the lock of hair. His fingers moved to the edge of hair near my ear, and he started threading his fingers through it. “Will you let me?”
“Of course. Yes,” I said, surprised he’d asked. Maybe I was more used to Gabriel flat out telling me he was going to wash it.
