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“I would have been a distraction,” I murmur.
Ransom nods. “Yeah. And you know how we are,” he teases, tugging gently at the lock of my hair. “Very business oriented.”
I snort, but then something occurs to me. “So… why did you and Malice fuck me last night, then? What changed?”
Ransom’s eyes gleam in the early morning light that trickles into the room. “I guess we just realized it was too late for all that. You’re already under our skin. There’s no hiding it anymore. No denying it.”
My heart skips a beat. Hearing him say that does something to me. I have no idea what’s going to happen now, but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who feels… changed. That I’m not the only one who feels like I’ve been infected by the others. I’ve affected them too, and that’s something I never expected.
When I first met them, they seemed so larger than life. Like angry gods that strode out of the darkness to wreak havoc and then returned to the shadows. Invulnerable. Untouchable. As if nothing could break through their armor.
But I did.
The three of them may have turned my whole world upside down, but I’ve left my mark here too.
“I’m glad you broke your rule,” I whisper.
Ransom chuckles warmly. “Me too.”
He drops his head to press a kiss to my forehead, then gets up out of bed. He stretches, and I watch shamelessly, enjoying the way the morning light plays over his skin. If he’s getting up, I guess I should too, so I drag myself out of bed, wincing a little when my body complains about the movement. I walk gingerly, and Ransom notices.
He considers me for a moment, then strides over, scooping me up into his arms.
I yelp in surprise, throwing my arms around his neck and holding on automatically. “What are you doing?”
“I have an idea. Come on.”
He carries me down the hall to the bathroom, kicks the door closed, and sets me down on the counter. Then he turns the taps on and starts to fill the tub, drawing a bath for me.
“Oh,” I breathe as the warm water sends steam curling through the air.
“This should help,” Ransom tells me, glancing over his shoulder as he kneels down to test the temperature.
Once the tub is full, I slide off the counter and get undressed. I was so wiped out last night that I didn’t even put on my usual pajamas. Ransom gave me one of his shirts to wear, so I went to sleep in that.
Now I peel it off, leaving it on the floor in a heap.
Ransom watches me, his blue-green eyes locked on my body. Some of that old self-consciousness flares as his gaze tracks over my scars, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I don’t feel the need to cover myself up and hide them away, and when Ransom reaches out to help me into the bathtub, I don’t flinch at his touch.
I settle into the water, and for a second, it’s too hot. But then my body gets used to the temperature, and I let out a soft, contented sigh. The heat feels good on my sore muscles, soaking into my skin and easing the aches that were causing me pain.
“This is really nice,” I murmur, and Ransom smiles.
“Can I join you?”
I glance around at the tub. “Yeah, if there’s enough room.”
“There’s always enough room for a bath with a pretty girl.”
He winks, then strips out of his boxers to get into the tub with me. It’s a tight fit, but we manage to make it work. I scoot forward a little, and he gets in behind me, tucking me between his legs and pulling me back against his chest.
I lean against him, closing my eyes for a moment as steam rises around us, feeling more at peace than I would have thought possible.
For a while, we just soak in silence. There’s the occasional splash of water as one of us shifts position a little, and Ransom starts trailing his wet fingers up and down my arm. It’s the one with the most scar tissue, so the feeling is a little muted, but even with the dulled sensation, I shiver at his touch.
He grabs a washcloth and some body wash from the shelf behind us and lathers the cloth up, dragging it over my skin as he starts to wash me up.
After everything that happened last night, I should feel absolutely filthy, but there’s no frantic need to get clean. Ransom is washing dried sweat and cum and whatever else from my skin, but I don’t want to wash it from my memories. The reality of what happened last night will linger even after this bath is over.
