I looked down at myself and really took it in for the first time. My arms were smeared with blood. It covered my chest, my shoulders, even my hair. My beautiful dress was ruined, but not in the fun way Ethan and Alec had both hinted at. It felt as if the dress itself were blood, soaking into my skin.
“OK.” I lifted my eyes. “I, uh . . . I need to get out of this blood . . . the dress . . .”
Tyler leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Kid, Josh, take our girl home. I’ll send two teams to meet you in the underground parking garage in the north wing. Uncle Luce . . .” He ran his hand through his hair again as he eyed Alec lying helpless in the hospital bed.
“I’m here.” Lucian’s tone was calm and firm. “I won’t leave his side, and I’ll call if there are any changes. Go. All of you, get out of here.”
The finality of his words pushed us into action. Knowing he was staying made me feel better. It may’ve been one of the most fucked-up situations I’d been in, but I couldn’t help thinking it was nice having a family.
Tyler marched down the hallway first. Ethan, Josh, and I went a little slower, making our way to the parking garage.
We were driven back to the apartment in an armored vehicle with another following close behind. Both were filled with agents armed to the teeth.
All ten of the agents escorted us up from the underground parking garage, through the lobby—where we got some shocked looks from the doorman—and all the way to the penthouse. They made us stand outside the front door while four of them swept the space. I leaned on Ethan and held Josh’s hand while we waited.
When they were finally satisfied, they allowed us to enter. Josh locked the doors, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. No doubt the agents were positioning themselves around the building to ensure our safety. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were waking up all the other residents and sweeping the entire building top to bottom.
The guys took their shoes off as I stood there, not quite sure what to do. I needed someone else to make the decisions, maybe even move my limbs for me. Plus, I didn’t have shoes. My feet were barefoot and bloody.
And my dress felt as if it were squeezing the air out of my lungs.
“Get it off,” I whispered to the ground. Tears began to track down my cheeks for the millionth time that night. “Get it off me!” My raised voice sounded more than a little manic as I pulled at the collar of the dress, trying to tear it away from my skin.
Both Ethan and Josh were beside me in an instant. One of them pulled my hands away from the dress while the other undid the zip at the back. They pushed the filthy fabric down over my hips and let it flop to the floor.
My breathing calmed but only slightly as my blurry eyes met Josh’s worried ones. Ethan’s big, comforting hands rested on my shoulders, lightly caressing, but his clean fingers pulled at my tacky skin. I started rubbing my arms, trying to get the crimson off, but it was nearly completely dry, and I couldn’t unzip it like the dress.
“I need to get it all off,” I pleaded.
Josh looked over my shoulder, sharing a worried look with Ethan, and then they moved at the same time.
Ethan hurried down the hallway as Josh picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as he carried me into the bathroom. Ethan had already started the shower, and steam was billowing from it.
Josh set me down and, once he was sure Ethan had a hand on my shoulder, started undressing. Ethan kneeled before me and gently took my underwear off, letting me use him for balance as I stepped out of it.
I stood before him naked, bare, and bathed in blood. He took my face in his big hands and leaned in, placing a tender kiss on my chapped lips and wiping my tears with his thumbs.
“We got you, baby,” he whispered against my lips. His breath was minty, his clothing and hair clean. Not draped in death like mine.
Josh finished undressing and adjusted the water temperature. The shower had limited space, and there was no way we would all fit in there.
Ethan released me and Josh took my hand, pulling gently forward.
“I’ll make us something to eat and a warm cup of tea while you get cleaned up.” Ethan picked up the discarded clothing and closed the door behind him.
Josh coaxed me into the shower with gentle but sure hands. He pulled me in close, then walked me backward until the almost too hot spray hit my shoulders. I gasped, the water waking me out of my stupor a little. I was pretty sure I was experiencing shock, my reflexes slow, my breathing shallow.
“Is the water too hot?” Josh immediately reached for the tap, but I shook my head.
“No, just . . .” I didn’t know how to finish the sentence.
Josh settled his hands on my hips, holding me down to earth so I wouldn’t float away into a full-blown panic attack. I tried to focus on his slow, even breathing, the way his chest rose and fell, the very fine bit of blond chest hair between his pecs. Droplets of water sprayed off me to land on his chest, shoulders, and belly, gathering together until they started to trail wet paths down his body.
Within a minute of standing under the hot spray, the droplets started to take on a pink tinge. I furrowed my brow, worried I was starting to hallucinate. Then I remembered—the dried blood was finally melting off me.
I lifted my hands to his chest, covering all the red droplets, and looked down. Mesmerizing swirls of red circled the drain, fed by crimson tracks of water traveling down my legs.
Josh reached behind me for a loofah and a bottle of something that smelled like Tyler. He worked some of the bottle’s contents into a lather in his hand, and then with slow, careful movements, he washed me.
He cleaned my neck and shoulders, then reached around to do my back, my ass. My breasts and belly followed. He added more bodywash to do my arms.
I kept my eyes on the drain. The blood mixed with the suds, fluffy pink swirls disappearing into the pipes. For some reason, that made it a bit easier to watch.
Josh moved my hands up from his chest to his shoulders, then slowly kneeled down. He cleaned my legs one by one, lifting one foot, then the other. I’d completely forgotten about the cuts on my feet, which stung as the sudsy water washed over them. Thankfully, Alec had carried me over most of the glass.
When Josh stood up again, I let my hands drop back to his chest. I liked feeling his breaths, the faint thud of his heartbeat. I leaned my forehead on my hands. The water running into the drain was now perfectly clear.
Once again, Josh moved, and then shampoo was in my hair. He lathered it slowly, massaging my scalp and spreading it all the way to the ends.
“Lift your head so I can rinse the shampoo.” He didn’t raise his voice, but the way it bounced off the tiles made it sound louder than it was.
I tipped my head back into the spray. Josh rinsed the shampoo and wiped it away from my eyes.
I lowered my head to look at him and took my first deep breath. My shoulders were relaxing; I was no longer covered in blood. I couldn’t be sure if I was still crying or not as my whole face was wet, but my nose wasn’t blocked, so that was a good sign.
Josh’s vibrant green eyes fixed on me, and as always, I felt as if he could see right into my soul. The water had turned his dirty-blond hair dark, and he licked the moisture off his full lips.
He reached behind me again. Conditioner this time. As he spread it through my hair with care, I trailed my hands over his shoulders to play with the damp hair at his neck. Then I leaned forward and kissed him gently beneath his ear.
It was meant as a thank you—to show I appreciated how attentive he’d been—but as my lips tasted his skin, my body began to crave more.
Maybe it was fucked up that I wanted sex after the horrific shit I’d just been through, but it was never just sex with them. It was healing and comfort and connections and coming home all at once.
After he’d finished working the conditioner into the ends of my hair, he brought his hands back to my hips and swallowed audibly. �
�Eve?”
He was waiting to figure out what I needed, but his body was already reacting to mine. He was getting hard.
Maybe now wasn’t the time. I looked up at his clever, watchful eyes and thought about getting out of the shower, drying off . . . but then I’d have to deal with the rest of it. I’d be out of this steam-and-tiles cocoon, and I’d have to think about the blood circling the drain, Alec unconscious in the hospital, all the people who’d died. Because of me.
My eyes stung, and a relentless, unbearable tightness squeezed my chest.
I wasn’t ready.
“Just . . . I need . . .” I struggled to articulate my jumbled thoughts between increasingly erratic breaths. “I don’t want to think about the blood . . . I can’t . . . make me forget . . . please, just . . . make me forget, Josh.”
He pulled me against him and kissed me hard, pushing his tongue into my mouth. I threw my hands around his neck and held on, focusing fully on his perfect lips, on my stiffening nipples, on his wet body plastered against mine, on his hard cock against my belly.
He broke the kiss, his mouth trailing a path over my jaw, then my neck, as his hands kneaded my ass. He sucked up the water with licks and kisses against my skin, but they were much gentler than that first kiss had been.
I tugged on the hair at the back of his neck. “More,” I whispered hoarsely.
He looked searchingly into my face. Whatever silent question he was asking, he must’ve found his answer, because in the next instant, he spun me around so I was facing the wall and pressed into my back, the shower’s spray still hitting our shoulders and sides.
He pulled me back against him, one hand on my hip, one on my shoulder.
“Feel my body against yours, Eve.” He moved against me, our slick skin making it easy, then ground his erection into my ass. My lips parted. Yes, this was exactly what I needed.
“Listen to my voice.” It was low and all kinds of sexy. He spoke close to my ear, then bent his head and gently bit my shoulder.
“Feel my hands.” He squeezed my hip and shoulder. Then he moved one hand to my breast and the other between my legs.
I gasped, my breaths coming faster and shallower.
I placed my palms flat against the slick tiles, my elbows half-bent as I leaned forward. My ass ground into Josh’s rock-hard erection, and he groaned. The sound bounced off the tiles and sent another wave of desire straight between my legs, where his hand started moving against my aching flesh.
Josh’s long, artistic fingers were nimble, and it wasn’t long before the sound of my heaving breaths filled the bathroom. I closed my eyes.
But that was a mistake.
As soon as I didn’t have anything to look at, images assaulted my brain: Alec falling to his knees, the blood pooling around him, the blood swirling around the drain.
I forced my eyes open just as Josh pushed two fingers in. It felt incredible, but I wanted more. I leaned forward until my forehead rested against the tiles, my hands on either side of my head.
“More,” I demanded with my words and my body, arching back into him.
He removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock. He wasn’t slow or careful. He drove into me in one precise thrust. I was ready for him—his hands had made sure my pussy was as dripping wet as the rest of my body—but the sudden sensation of having him completely inside me, the wonderful fullness, surprised me in the best way.
“Yes,” I grunted.
All the bloody images were driven from my mind as Josh started to move. As I knew he would, he figured out exactly what I wanted. What I needed. He pounded into me, deep powerful strokes that had my whole body moving, my breasts bouncing.
He squeezed my hip hard with one hand, pulling me back onto him as he drove forward. His other hand went back to where we were joined. This time his fingers weren’t so gentle and exploratory. He went straight for the most sensitive spot and started rubbing firmly in time with his thrusts.
I kept my eyes open. I watched his hand moving between my legs, my boobs bouncing, his calves and thighs flexing with every movement. I focused on watching us fuck, listening to our grunts and moans echoing in the hot bathroom, feeling Josh slide in and out of me.
The pressure built low in my belly, and I chased it, let it take over. Pleasure traveled up my spine and spread to my chest, my head. Almost animalistic noises burst past my lips as I completely gave in to the orgasm. Stars burst across my vision, the intense waves of pleasure making me stiffen and press my cheek against the wall.
Both Josh’s hands gripped my hips as he continued to push in and out of me, but his movements had lost intensity. Now he was taking it slow, making me feel every inch of him as he slid in and out, careful and gentle as I came down from my orgasm.
As I started to catch my breath, I realized my eyes had closed. Images of blood and violence once again seeped into my mind. Alec falling . . . blood pooling . . . blood circling the drain.
I ground my teeth and grunted in frustration, pushing against the tiles until I was upright again.
“More,” I demanded. I wanted him to drive every bad thing from my mind until I couldn’t think straight. I wanted him to make me forget.
Josh stilled behind me. “Eve . . .” He sounded unsure, worried.
“I don’t need your pity.”
“I’m not pitying you. I’m trying to take care of you.” His voice was calm and patient as he nudged me around to face him.
I immediately felt bad for snapping at him. “I know. I’m sorry. I just . . . please make me forget.”
Without waiting for an answer, I reached between us and started stroking him. He was impossibly hard and covered in the evidence of my orgasm, mingled with the spray of the water.
He let me touch him as he searched my face again. Then he gave me what I wanted.
He pushed me back against the tiles and kissed me forcefully, teeth scraping, tongue battling for dominance. One of his hands slapped the wall next to my head, and the other lifted my leg. He hooked my knee over his elbow and pressed his palm flat against the wall near my hip, keeping my leg angled out. I guided him back inside me, and he pressed his forehead against mine, his breath washing over my wet face.
Then he started to move, driving into me as he had before, his intense eyes watching my face. After a few moments, I felt the nudge of his ability. I lifted my other leg and wrapped it around his hip as he held me up with his mind. The new position allowed me to spread my legs wider, tilt my hips forward. Josh’s strokes reached deeper and deeper, and I held on to his shoulders and let my head rest against the tiles.
I watched him as intently as he watched me. He was beautiful—his full lips parted, his soft hair falling over his forehead in a wet mess, his green eyes hooded yet still watching, seeing, knowing.
His movements became more erratic as he chased his own release. I could tell he was close. I was too. He was hitting just the right spot with every slap of his hips, and that heady feeling was building again.
“Come with me,” he growled out as he drove into me one last time and ground his hips against mine.
Just as he’d obeyed all my demands, I now obeyed his. We both crashed into orgasm the same way our bodies had been crashing into each other—with intensity and urgency.
We cried out but kept our eyes open, our gazes locked.
As our breathing slowed, Josh pulled out and lowered me to my feet. My knees shook, but he kept me steady. He moved me back under the spray and rinsed out the conditioner I’d completely forgotten about. I held his gaze, reading his unspoken message even as he read every expression on my face.
He’d given me what I asked for, but now he was taking care of me.
As the last of the conditioner left my hair and the water washed our sweat away, I leaned forward and kissed him gently.
He sighed against my lips, and his shoulders relaxed under my hands. I hadn’t realized how tense they were until I felt the muscles soften.
I pulled back an
d looked him in the eye, running my nails over his scalp. “Thank you, Josh. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He gave me a small smile, and I knew we would be OK. I was where I needed to be.
I shut off the water as Josh stepped out of the shower and reached for the towels.
I dressed in a pair of Josh’s sweatpants and Alec’s T-shirt. It smelled faintly like him, and even though it made my heart ache, it also made me feel closer to him.
We came out to the kitchen just as Ethan dropped the last plate of steaming food onto the counter.
“Creamy pasta with some of last night’s leftover roast pumpkin and crispy bacon bits,” Ethan explained as he pulled out a stool for me. “Nothing fancy, but it’s comfort food.”
“Ethan, everything you make is fancy and delicious.” I gave him a smile, but it didn’t feel like it reached my eyes.
Josh took the chair next to me, and as soon as I started eating, I realized how hungry I was. We both stuffed our faces. Ethan ate half of his, then jumped up and disappeared down the hall. He came back moments later with a hairbrush and positioned himself behind me.
“You don’t have to . . .” I trailed off as his warm, comforting hand landed on my shoulder, rubbing lightly.
Silently, I got back to eating as Ethan brushed my damp hair. He was so careful, so gentle, I never felt a painful tug at my roots, never had my head jerked back.
Once we were done, they led me to the bedroom in the back.
My body was ready to give in. All my basic needs were taken care of—food, hygiene, sex. Now it was time to rest. But a faint blue glow was peeking through the curtains, and I made myself stop at the threshold. “It’s morning. We should go back to the hospital.”
Josh reached out to me. “Eve, you need to rest.”
Ethan, on the opposite side of the bed, did the same. “Uncle Luce said he’d call as soon as there was any news.”
I looked between them. I couldn’t crawl into a warm comfortable bed when Alec was lying in a hospital with a bullet wound—that he’d taken to protect me. “He needs me.”
Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3) Page 16
