I set the water’s temperature as high as it will allow before stepping beneath the blistering spray. My legs wobble slightly, threatening to collapse, and I give in to the need to sit down, wrapping my arms around myself in a futile attempt to hold all of those broken pieces together.
I don’t know how long I stay there. Long enough for my skin to turn pink from the heat, at the very least.
But then I hear the distinct sound of the bathroom door opening and closing. The sound of clothes being shrugged off. The rustling of the shower curtain being pulled open and then closed once more.
A naked Lucas very gently helps me to my feet and then turns me around, until my back faces him. Without a word, he grabs my shampoo from the shelf and squirts it into his palm before rubbing his hands together. Slowly, giving me the chance to tell him no or pull away, he begins to scrub at my crusty hair. He pays particular attention to my scalp, massaging it gently with his skilled fingers, before he washes the shampoo away with the shower head. He repeats this process three times until no more blood resides in my hair. Until the water no longer looks like the scene of a crime movie.
With a gentleness belying the hard glint in his eyes, he grabs my washcloth and pours a generous amount of body soap onto it. He starts at my arms, wiping away all of the dried and crusted blood from the wounds Emmett inflicted. I can see his lips tighten as he stares at the silver scars, but he remains silent.
He moves the rag down my back, over the curve of my butt, before spinning me around. His movements are just as clinical when he washes my breasts, stomach, and thighs. At the moment, there’s nothing sexual about what he’s doing.
I think for the first time in his life, he’s taking care of someone other than himself.
The enormity of my emotions for this strong yet broken man consumes me. I find myself reaching for him desperately, running my fingers through his red hair, made even darker from the water.
“Lucas…”
He swallows heavily, his blue eyes searching my own with raw need.
“Not like this,” he whispers. “Not when you’re hurting.”
“It’s not because of that,” I promise, standing on my tiptoes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. He trembles in my arms, even as his cock hardens, pressing against my stomach. “It’s because I realized something.” I pause, pulling back slightly to stare into his eyes. “You’re taking care of me.”
“Of course I am.” His hands glide down my sides, resting just over the curve of my ass. “I’ll always take care of you.”
“Why is that, Lucas?” I plant another kiss to his smooth-shaven jaw. “Tell me.”
“Because I…” He trails off, swallowing yet again.
“It’s for the same reason I want to take care of you,” I continue. “Because I think I’m in love with you.”
He inhales sharply, and every pore in my body is instinctively tuned in to his. I can feel his heart beating under my palm as if it were my own. And when his eyes connect with mine, I know he feels it too. This pull. This connection.
It’s always been there, lying dormant between two souls who thought they hated each other. But maybe it wasn’t hate that we felt. Maybe it never was.
“I love you so much that I can’t even breathe,” Lucas says doggedly. Almost helplessly, he presses his lips to mine. The kiss is soft and slow, the exact opposite of what I expected from my ice prince. Licks of fire dance through my veins as he pulls me tight against his chest, his mouth never leaving mine.
We’re still exchanging soft, reverent kisses when Lucas turns off the water, wraps me in his arms, and carries me out of the shower.
But we don’t get far.
We fall to the ground on the bathroom rug in a heap of tangled limbs as he reaches for the condom in his jeans pocket.
And when he finally enters me, it’s like two souls converging after centuries apart. It’s like soulmates wandering the earth, waiting for this exact moment when they find each other, and the heavens rejoice. It’s like stars colliding in the night sky, becoming one.
He’s not rough like Elias. Not fast or teasing like Cassian and Karsyn.