And it always did. Rain came and left. The sun shined and then darkened. Snow froze and then melted. Flowers rose and then died. Nothing ever remained in one moment, in any set stage—whether happiness or grief. Life was forever changing and transforming into other things.
The night he came for me, I tried to run.
I breathed in and out, pushing through my unease.
Yesterday, I protested the handcuffs with silence. . .and won. . .I think.
I slipped off the sink.
Today, I stay and. . .just. . .be. . .
I stretched my legs and then walked over to the immaculate shower.
Tomorrow, we’ll see what I do next.
Before entering the shower, I nodded at Cloacina—apparently the goddess of sewers.
And then I stepped into pure luxury. The glass door had a pattern of gold roses. The walls smelled like lemons and roses. I swore there was some sort of perfume misting within the foundation.
I scanned the space.
This is a lot.
A long gold arm reached out fifteen inches from the wall and held the shower head in a gold hand. Meanwhile, the shower head was flat and wide probably measuring twenty by twenty inches long. Due to the shower head being so big, I bet there would be no place in the shower where a person wouldn’t be wet.
So, this is what rich people like. . .arms and shit coming out of the walls?
Smirking, I turned on the shower. A deep humming sounded. Then, water rained around me. Pouring down. Spilling and soothingly streaming. Giving me the sensation of a waterfall bursting over my body.
The lemon and roses scent filled the air more.
Damn. I could get used to this.
Warm water flowed down my aching body, feeling like a masseuse team was giving me a deep tissue massage.
I leaned back against the wall.
It was heavenly. Every pin prick of pain in my muscles relaxed under the water. I couldn’t point to where all the soreness came from. It could have been from fighting Cain nights ago or fucking him today. It could have been from the stress of his appearing or the shock from his cutting his name into my body. In the end it didn’t matter. In this moment, I was soothed and at peace.
I closed my eyes. “Thank you, God.”
A relaxing sensation spread throughout my body, pouring over me like heated honey dripping down stacks of chocolate, melting and merging into one. I pictured that image in my head. My stomach growled.
Damn. I guess I am hungry.
Still, I didn’t move. I remained against the wall with my eyes closed, letting the exquisite water take care of me. The tightness in my scalp eased.
My neck and shoulders turned from hard cords into soft dunes of flesh. The water lovingly washed over my shoulders and the scarred letters. The relaxing effect continued down my arms, where my nerves happily tingled. It spread across to my chest, calming first one side, then another. The relaxation moved across my back until it reached the tips of my shoulder blades and worked its way down to each vertebra.
The sound of glass sliding rose.
I opened my eyes.
Cain stepped in. As usual, he sucked up all of the space, towering over me with that massive body.
He shut the glass door and watched me.
Unease etched the corner of his eyes.
I blinked away some of the water. “What’s wrong?”
He quirked his brows and moved in closer to me. “You know my facial expressions that well?”
“I know when you look mad and stressed.”
He placed his hands on the wall behind me, caging me in. “And you know how I look when I cum.”
I blushed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” He leaned forward as if trying to kiss me.
I slipped away and went over to the other side of the shower. But, I only got a few inches, before Cain captured my hips and turned me around.
I looked at him. “What am I right now? Prisoner or Lover?”
“Unfortunately, it’s both.”
“Does it need to be both?”
“You have a history of running—”
“Because you have a history of killing people.”
“But I decided not to kill you.”
“I didn’t know that at the time.”
“And now do you know that?”
I glanced at my name on his chest. “I’ve gotten some good clues that you won’t kill me.”
He let me go. “Then, we’ll see about your status as a prisoner.”
“So, you’re not going to tell me things because I’m your prisoner?”
Sighing, Cain grabbed the bottle of shampoo and smeared some on his hand. “It’s not that. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why not?”
He put the bottle up and smeared the liquid on his head. “Because it’s got me on edge.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, too bad.”
He quirked his brows.
“I’m stuck with your brothers and you in Paradise. I still don’t know what’s going on with this job. And I’d like to have an idea, especially when new things pop up. So, what’s going on?”