Untouched.
Every muscle in his body locked up beneath me, hands gripping my hips so hard I thought he might leave bruises. A sound tore out of him that had nothing performed about it—raw and helpless and completely undone. I took in every second of it. Ifeltevery second of it. The sight of him, the sound of him, the way he said my name like it was the only word he had left—it hit me like a fist. The pressure that had been coiling tight for so long snapped clean through and took me with it.
I came right along with him, shaking, graceless, my fingers curling into his chest and his name breaking through my lips and absolutely nothing left of the composure I'd started with. We fell apart together and I couldn't tell anymore where the control I'd had went, only that it was gone and I didn't miss it.
After, the room came back piece by piece. His chest under my cheek. Both of us breathing hard. Sticky cum drying between us.
Then, quietly, a breath of a laugh from him.
"That's twice," he said. "The no touching thing."
I lifted my head and looked at him.
He smiled at me, soft and sweet and sated.
And I smiled back.
The shower wassmall enough that there was no pretending we weren't in it together. He got behind me without discussion and worked shampoo through my hair with both hands, thumbs pressing in at the base of my skull.
I'd already washed my hair this morning.
But who the fuck cared?
The water ran hot and the bathroom air was thick with steam. Brody's hands were gentle in a way I'd never really experienced before—at least, not since my mama bathed me when I was just a little girl. The tenderness of the moment had my mouth moving before my brain could catch up.
"I was fifteen when Wyatt joined the circuit."
Brody's hands paused, but he quickly continued—like he didn't want me to know he was listening.
"I'd been on the circuit for three years. Learned to read a limp and pack a wound before I learned long division. Figured out pretty quick that useful kept me out of my daddy's trailer."
I kept staring straight at the tile wall, not daring to make eye contact with the man who'd squeezed body wash into my loofah and was just getting started on lathering me up.
"But then I caught the attention of a hot new cowboy and all of a sudden the trailer was the only place we ever were. One day, my daddy walked in on us. And ya know what he said?"
I felt Brody's head shake behind me.
"He laughed and told Wyatt, 'knock her up and she's your problem.' Then he walked away. It was like he'd given Wyatt the permission he needed."
"For what?" Brody finally spoke up.
"To use me however he wanted."
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Rage caughtlike a lit match to gasoline.
But as with all things Calvin, my reaction mattered.
So I said nothin'.
Didnothin'.
Just silently burned alive under the seething anger at a grown man takin' advantage of a girl. The same girl who'd grown into the perfect fucking woman. The one whose body I was cleanin' my cum off of.
I kept my hands movin'. Slow. Even. Like I hadn't just heard somethin' that made me want to put my fist through the tile.
She was still starin' at the wall.
