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Ian and Joe trade looks, stopping to look at the unmoving body in Joe’s arms. “And before then?” Ian asks hesitantly.
Scar rolls her eyes. With each little bit of attitude seeping out of her, she seems more like herself. “Just throw him on the bed and keep an eye on him. He’ll be out for at least a couple more hours.”
“That’s it?” Ian isn’t the only one who is surprised. When we captured William, she immediately had us bound and string him up like some type of fucked up pinata. She just wants to leave this guy to take a nap in the guest room?
She takes a deep breath, clearly trying not to snap at any of us again. Even that is out of character for her. “For now, yeah. I haven’t decided how we are dealing with this yet.”
“You got it, Boss,” Ian murmurs before he and Joe disappear into the room Declan pointed out to them.
D grabs Scar by the hand tentatively, waiting to see if she flinches again. When she doesn’t we all collectively release the breath we had been holding. He uses his grip to pull her along with him until we walk into a spacious living room. I’m quick to nab the spot on her other side as soon as she sits down on the couch. Kade flips me off, dropping into a loveseat to the left of the couch. Noah smiles but is quick to smother it and peek at Scar to see her reaction before sitting in another open seat.
Luca refuses to sit and begins pacing around the room. I watch Scar’s profile but she doesn’t react to any of us. She’s looking over Noah’s head at a blank space on the wall, lost in her own thoughts. I look past her to Declan, waiting for him to direct us on what to do. I’ve never seen Scar go so silent. With each passing second I feel more anxious than the last. Maybe we should get her whiskey. It made the voices in my head go quiet. At least for a little while.
If I was hoping for D to have a better idea I would be severely disappointed because he looks as lost as I feel.
For my own sanity, I snake my hand out and rest it on her thigh. When she doesn’t react, I slip it under the slit in her dress and start to draw circles over the soft skin on her inner thigh. After a few minutes it seems to draw her attention to me.
Her small smile throws me off, worrying me even more. She’s been practically silent since we walked into the house and when she did talk, she was closer to snapping than anything else.
“How about a shower?” I take a chance and ask, pulling on her dress. It has to be uncomfortable, she hasn’t even slipped out of the death traps she calls heels. I think more than anything, she needs a restart. A chance to clear some of the thoughts that are consuming her. A hot shower always seems to be the answer.
She sighs in relief and I know she’s glad for the break. For that much longer to sort out her own thoughts. On second thought, maybe it’s better she isn’t going straight for a bottle of whiskey like I did when I realized it was someone close to me that tipped my life into chaos. I was useless for weeks, okay months, being too drunk to string two words together let alone an entire plan.
I slip my arm under the crook of her knees and my other arm around her back to haul her into my arms in a bridal hold. She doesn’t fight me like I half expected her to, but melts into my arms, resting her head against my shoulder.
Noah pops out of his seat. “I’ll go grab our bags.”
“I’ll help,” Kade agrees.
I’m not sure what Declan and Luca decide to do as I carry her out of the room as they begin their own conversation, but it doesn’t really matter. I know we are all going to be doing our part to help our girl out in any way we can.
I push into one of the rooms D had pointed out earlier. It’s as far from the room Joe is in as we can get, but I remember that D said it has an ensuite.
I walk her straight into the bathroom and set her ass on the counter. She watches me as I turn to the shower and study it for a moment before turning it to as hot as I’ll be able to stand. Scar likes her showers on this side of scalding for some ghastly reason.
I move back to her and grab ahold of her hips, giving her a small smile as she steals all of my attention without even trying. She’s never far from my mind and the smirk she gives me tells me she knows it too. Even when we are like this, unsure and just trying to survive, when I look into her eyes I find home. I find peace. I find the courage to believe that no matter what, we will be able to figure it out.
Her zipper is easy to find at the back of her dress and I don’t hesitate to slide it down her spine, letting my fingers brush against her bare skin as I go. She trembles under the touch and goosebumps rise along her skin. She looks almost serene as I dip my fingers under the fabric at her shoulders and slowly start pushing it down to reveal her chest to me.
She arches her back and I let her dress pool around her waist. I move my hands to her hair and carefully find and remove the pins holding it in place, letting it fall in long waves down her back.
She smiles as I trace my fingers against the weapons and syringes strapped to her body, now exposed. One by one, I remove each as the bathroom begins to fill with steam until I can only barely make out our shapes in the mirror. She stays silent as she observes me, just relishing in the simple touches as I let my fingers linger on her skin with each removal.
Her nipples peak despite the now warm air. I grin as I brush my knuckles against them, making her chuckle. A rough and husky sound. Not quite the same cadence I can usually pull from her. It lacks the full throatiness of her usual laugh, but it makes me smile nonetheless.
“I shouldn’t even be surprised,” I whisper. “My girl is always so needy.”
I hadn’t brought her in here with the intent to distract her. I really thought a shower would be just the way to reset and come back to our problems with a clear mind. I won’t complain about this turn of events. If she needs more than just a mental break, needs an orgasm or two to really clear her head, I can give that to her. I can always give that to her.
I pick her up and pull her from the counter until she’s standing, those damn heels still on. Her dress falls to a puddle at her feet, and I leave it abandoned there. As beautiful as she looked, it’s now marred with these memories. I pull free the knives and harnesses from her thighs, grabbing the diamond chain as well. I lay all of them out on the counter at her side before picking her back up and placing her in the same spot as before.
She flinches at the cold tile against her bare ass and cocks her head to the side in confusion as she watches me, but I have a plan. If my girl needs to relax, she’s going torelax. I drop to my knees and wrap my hand around one of her heels, slowly removing it from her foot.
She laughs, a small breathy sound. “I think the prince is supposed to put the glass slipper on my foot.”
I shake my head at her as I remove the other shoe and begin to massage her feet. Slow, deep caresses to work out the pain I know she must be feeling in them. Jen always hated wearing heels.
“We both know I’m no prince,” I tease her back. A small moan slips through her lips as I continue to rub her feet. “But I’ll still slay the monsters with you.”
