“All right,” I relented. “I’ll check on you in a few minutes.”
“I’m okay. Really.”
I smiled and closed the door to give her some privacy. I wanted to believe she told the truth. I did, in that I believed she thought she was okay. Marjorie Steel was as strong a woman as I’d ever met. But she was also a woman who’d succumbed to pain in the past.
That damned blade.
I couldn’t help a smile. That blade might have saved her and Colin. They might not have been able to escape otherwise. Alessandra Booker had been armed, and I’d approached the unit alone because Talon had been dealing with his mother.
If Colin hadn’t cut their captor, she might have heard me coming.
I could be dead right now.
And I wasn’t.
Because Marj had succumbed to her weakness and hadn’t destroyed that blade like Mel and I had asked.
I could hardly be angry with her. That razor might have saved her life. And mine and Colin’s, though according to Dominic, their lives hadn’t been in danger.
What to believe?
I walked to the kitchen and put the tea kettle on the stove. My mother swore by chamomile tea for relaxation. Maybe it would help Marj.
A few minutes later, armed with a cup of steaming herb tea, I walked back through the bedroom to the bathroom to check on Marjorie.
I knocked lightly.
“Come in,” she said softly.
She sat in the tub, frothy lather bubbling around her. Her dark hair was wet and plastered to her shoulders and breasts. She looked like a shining angel.
“I thought you might like some tea.”
“That was sweet of you. Thanks.”
“I’ll set it here on the counter.”
She nodded and stood. Water dripped in rivulets off her wet body.
My groin responded.
She was so beautiful, so tempting…but the last thing she needed was me all over her.
Or perhaps I was wrong.
Her gaze dropped to my crotch.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Anything, my love. Anything.”
“Make love to me. Now, Bryce. I’m not asking for the earth to move. Just something soft and wonderful. Help me remember what’s beautiful in the world.”
She stepped out of the tub, and I handed her a towel. She squeezed the wetness from her long hair and then wrapped it into a turban while I encased her in another warm towel. Then I pulled her into my arms and held her close. Her body was warm from the bath, and it permeated into me, infusing me, saturating me.
Thank God.
Thank God.