“Where are we going?”
“Bath.” Deklan takes my hand and pulls me down the hallway and into the bathroom.
I can hardly believe what he’s done.
The lights are off, and there are a handful of candles next to the sink, providing just enough light to see the bathtub full of bubbles.
“What is all this?” I normally despise when people ask questions with obvious answers, but I’m in shock. When I look at Deklan, he’s grinning.
“What the hell does it look like?” He pulls his shirt over his head, ditches his jeans, and then quickly removes my clothes before he steps into the tub and sits down, knees bent. He takes my hand again.
“Careful—it’s hot,” he says as he helps me into the water. “Also don’t want you falling again.”
“No, no more of that, thanks.” He’s right—the water is pretty hot. It takes me a second to let my feet adjust. As I start to sit down, the heat hits all my lady-parts, and I yelp.
“Just give it a second,” Deklan says. “Once you’re used to it, it will feel good.”
Eventually, I lower myself into the water, and Deklan holds me in his lap. He pulls my back against his chest and wraps his arms around me. I have to admit, once I adjust to the temperature, the water feels great.
“Just what you needed?” Deklan asks.
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “Thank you.”
“Just relax now.” I tense for a second, then quickly relax against him.
I’m surprised we both fit in the tub together though there isn’t a lot of extra room left. The tub is deep, but Deklan’s strong arm around me keeps my head above the water, and I have no fear of sinking too low.
The heat feels fantastic on my body, alleviating some of the soreness from last night’s activities. I lean my head to one side, melting into Deklan’s body and nearly falling back asleep. I feel the tip of his nose run along my neck and shoulder and hear him inhale as he holds me against him.
“Tell me about your family,” Deklan says suddenly.
“Not much to tell,” I say with a shrug. “It’s just me and my parents. No extended family except a great aunt and a cousin I’ve only met once when we went to my grandfather’s funeral. Aunt Mabel lives in Kansas, or at least she did. Her daughter Marie is a couple years older than I am. I kind of remember playing with her after the service, but that was the only time I ever met them.”
“I know your father.” Deklan runs the washcloth up and down my arms. “I know what he’s like. What about your mom?”
“She does what my father tells her to do.”
“Are you close?”
“We were.”
“Something changed?”
I shift against his chest, and Deklan wraps an arm around my stomach, just under my breasts. He hugs me to him, and I relax again.
“It was okay before Dad’s debts got bad,” I tell him. “The more money he lost, the more time he spent trying to win it back. When he won, everything would be great for a while, but then he would lose again, and…well, things weren’t so good then.”
“He hits your mom a lot, doesn’t he?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug again. “How much is a lot?”
“I shouldn’t even have to answer that.” Deklan’s words are mumbled, and I only barely catch them.
“Just when he’s angry or drinking,” I say. “Most of the time, he’s fine. He just has a bit of a temper.”
“Not here.” Deklan sighs and hugs me again. “That won’t happen with me, you understand? I don’t do that shit.”
I shrug again. Inside, I feel myself go numb. How many times did Dad tell Mom that it wouldn’t happen again? Eventually, he just stopped saying it, and she stopped asking for an apology.