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He stepped back into the shower. Reaching behind me, he turned the water off, then extended his hand to help me off the floor. I kept one arm across my breasts, as my shirt was now completely see-through. Once I was standing, he opened the shower door and handed me a towel. He turned his back to me and said, “You should leave your shirt in here.”
I watched to see if he was going to peek, then I turned around and slipped my soaked shirt off over my head, dropping it on the floor of the shower. I wrapped the towel around me quickly and slipped my soaked panties off too.
While I was getting out of my wet clothes, he was too. We were both only in towels. He extended his hand to me. “Come,” he said. I placed my hand in his and followed him out of the bathroom. He walked right past my bed to the still open door of my bedroom.
“Wait, where are we going?” I said as we walked past my bed.
“Your bed is wet. You can’t sleep there. Besides, I made a pinky swear. How can I protect you from across the hall?”
I grinned at him. “You have excellent negotiation skills.”
“It’s a gift,” he said, looking back at me with his signature smirk.
Once in his bedroom, he led me next to his bed. “Wait here,” he said, kissing the top of my shoulder as he walked to his closet. He returned in a new pair of pajama pants, still with no shirt, carrying a t-shirt. “Here. You can wear this,” he said, handing me his shirt. He turned around so I could slip it on. I used the towel to dry my hair.
“I can turn around now?” he asked.
“Yes, you can turn around now,” I said, still drying my hair.
He turned to face me, and his mouth fell open slightly. He inhaled sharply, “You might have to wear nothing but my shirt from now on.”
I blushed, looking down. He stood in front of me, taking the towel from me and throwing it over his shoulder. I laughed at his blatant disrespect for proper towel storage. He grinned at me, pulling me to him. “Now, I made a pinky swear, which I take very seriously. This means I’m going to have to hold on to you the rest of the night while you sleep.” He cleared his throat, “For protection.”
I smiled at him, reveling in how much he was opening up to me in such a short time. I never would’ve guessed he had this side to him that first night we met, but the more I saw, the more I wanted to see.
“For protection,” I said as I climbed into bed. He turned the lamp off and slid under the covers next to me. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me to him. His chest against my back was so warm. I sighed, hugging his arm that was around my body. I felt my body relax as I concentrated on his steady breathing next to me. I felt so safe in his arms. Like I had never felt with any man before him. I kept listening to his breaths get slower and felt his body relax as he fell asleep. His arms stayed snug around me, not letting go even in his sleep. I found myself hoping he would never let go as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Adrik
I felt her stir in my arms, trying to reposition herself. I opened my eyes just enough to see that it was daylight outside and to make sure that she wasn’t wanting out of my grasp. She was still sleeping, her breathing still steady and heavier than it would be were she awake. Her head was on my arm, one of her arms draped over my chest. Instead of closing my eyes, I found myself watching her as she peacefully slept next to me. I gently brushed her wild hair away from her face. Her porcelain skin giving her a doll-like appearance when she was sleeping. Freckles dotted her face. Her long eyelashes resting on her cheeks. I could stare at this woman sleeping every day for the rest of my life.
She inhaled and made a small whimper noise. I gently raised my arm underneath her head, moving her to my chest. She barely stirred, only snuggling into my chest, and draping her leg over mine. I smiled, knowing she was sleeping peacefully with me. It made me happy to know that she felt safe with me. That her nightmares wouldn’t haunt her when she was with me.
My mind went back to the night before, as I gently twirled her curls around my fingers. She mentioned she was at her uncle’s house when her dream first started. What uncle? What had happened that night that she couldn’t say? If her uncle had hurt her, I would end him. How did she know about Anthony’s plan? She wasn’t even in the meeting room when I lost it on Anthony for disrespecting her. She couldn’t have known.
I sighed. I needed to stop thinking about that right now or my anger was going to get the best of me. I ran my hand down her back to the bottom of my shirt that she was wearing. It had ridden up and was exposing just the bottom of her ass. My hand found its way under the shirt to her soft skin. I started to run my hand up her back underneath the shirt when her hand caught mine and stopped it.
Without moving, she sighed. “I…I have scars.”
“Everyone has scars, solnishko. I have scars too.”
She stayed silent but sat up. She turned away from me and grabbed the bottom of the shirt, lifting it over her head. As she lifted her shirt, she revealed at least thirty lash marks crisscrossed across her back. Her milky white skin helped to camouflage them slightly, but they were evident. It was shocking. Her shoulders slumped and her head was down.
I did the only thing I knew to do. I sat up and kissed the back of her shoulder. I ran my hands lightly over her back. At first, she jumped at my touch, but eventually relaxed into it. After a few moments, I said, “You’re beautiful.” I kissed the back of one shoulder, across her back, to the other shoulder. I could feel her relax a little and her breath hitched like she was trying to hold back tears. I moved her hair out of the way and kissed the back of her neck. She leaned back to me, still silent. I moved so that she was sitting in between my legs and pulled her back against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her, like we were in the shower the night before. She leaned her head back against my shoulder, so I bent down and kissed her neck. She was clutching my shirt to her chest, but her grip relaxed the longer I held her. It wasn’t like her to stay silent for so long. I knew she was fighting demons of the past in her head.
She took a deep breath in. I could almost feel her gathering her strength. Before she could speak, I asked, “Uncle?”
She nodded but remained silent. I pulled her close and gently said, “You don’t need to tell me right now. When you’re ready. Right now, you just need to know that you’re my solnishko and that will never change.”
She reached up with one hand and quickly wiped her eyes. She leaned her head all the way back and looked up at me, over her shoulder. “Good morning,” she half-laughed, like she was still choking back a sob.
“Good morning. How did you sleep?” I asked, still running my hands over her naked body in my lap. My morning wood unabashedly poking her in her back. Her nakedness was not helping that go away anytime soon.
“Better with you,” she said more steadily this time. She smiled sweetly up at me. I felt my heart stop every time she smiled at me.
“Then we will have to do it more often. The pinky swear must be upheld.”
