“Boss.” Quinn’s voice is loud as the car comes to a stop. Ryken’s hand touches my leg, and I remember then that I was bleeding. Looking down, not moving much from where I am, I see the dried congealed blood from where Amy cut me. His hands are touching around it to check, but there’s nothing he can do. Hands pull me from him, and Quinn picks me up like I’m a doll from the car, and from Ryken. He carries me as if I’m a child into a house that I don’t recognize. Ryken follows behind, opening the bedroom door. A fog clears from my head when he isn’t touching me, like I can finally breathe and I look over at him. He’s bruised badly and hurt. Yet, here he is more worried about me than himself. Then I remember the way he cut that man’s throat, sliced it open as if he was a nothing, and then left him to bleed out on the ground.
A shiver breaks over my skin as Quinn puts me on the bed. I still haven’t changed clothes, and all I want to do is get out of this stupid dress. It reminds me of that place. Smells like that place, and that’s a place I don’t want to think about. Quinn walks out shutting the door behind him, and I stand, pulling the first dresser drawer open. Nothing’s in it. Looking around the room, I walk to the closet. Just before I pull it open, the door to the room opens, and Ryken stands there watching me.
“Planning on escaping again?”
I bite my lip, it didn’t even cross my mind. I just need to shower and change. I need the smell of them gone. “I need clothes and a shower. Please.”
He pulls his shirt off carefully. His ribs are purple, and they appear damn sore. I try to stop myself from cringing. He undoes his trousers, pulling them off, so he’s naked in front of me.
“What are you doing?”
He walks to where I’m standing, opens the closet door, and pulls out one of his shirts. He passes it to me then looks to the shower then back to me. “You want to shower. I need to shower.”
I want to tell him no, we need to stop crossing these boundaries. Why can’t we seem to stop it? It’s like he doesn’t realize that we’re doing it. How can I see it and he can’t? The word no has trouble leaving my lips when he’s around, though and I think he knows that.
“Not together,” is all I say, pulling the shirt to my chest.
He shakes his head while opening the door to the shower. “I’ve seen you naked. I’ve had your ass up in the air. All it is…” he waves his hands around in the air, “… is a shower, Barbie. I’m way too tired and sore for anything else.”
I believe his words, so I follow him in. Like a lovesick fool that should know better. But he has no idea. He turns on the shower. The cubicle is huge. More than two people could comfortably fit. Dropping the dress to the ground, I step out of it, and into the shower with him. His back is to me, and what an incredible fucking back it is. Muscles contour with each movement.
He looks at me and shifts out of the way. I step into the water with him, and it falls all over my face and down my hair. The feeling is out of this world. The water warm and inviting, the little droplets belting my skin and removing every piece of scum from that place.
Ryken reaches for the soap and starts washing me. He’s careful like I’m breakable. And he’s true to his word, not once does he try anything. He may linger in places he shouldn’t, but that’s as far as it goes.
After I wash all the soap off me, I feel him behind me. His lips kiss my neck, and he whispers, “Now you smell like me.” It’s hard to move when someone you want, but you know you can’t have, is touching you and whispering in your ear. It takes everything in me to not overdose on his touch. Because that’s all that seems to happen. He touches me, I melt, and I’m his.
Stepping out, he follows me back to the room. I pull the shirt on and curl myself into a ball. He isn’t next to me when I pass out, and for that, I’m thankful because having him there would lead to other things. Things I’m not ready for and know it would be hard to say no to.
That’s the problem with Ryken Lord… he likes to make you overdose on him.
Chapter Twelve
Ryken
It didn’t take long for Barbie to fall asleep when I went back in to check on her. She’d crawled herself into a ball. I placed the sheet gently over her and kissed her cheek before I walked out of the room.