Satisfied, we holster our guns, and then ransack the place, looking for food and medical supplies. Once that’s done, I look around the living room with its chipping baby-blue walls and outdated wicker furniture. The ceilings are about eight feet high. Two chairs and a couch sit across from each other, and a brass lamp stands by the door. From the living room, I make my way to the open kitchen where the faded wallpaper, pine cabinets, and countertop remind me of pea soup. My stomach growls.
There’s no dining table, just a bar with two black stools separating the kitchen from the living room. I make my way down a narrow hallway that leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom. I turn into the first bedroom and collapse on the mattress, letting out a sigh of complete exhaustion. Just then, I hear thunder crack outside as rain assaults the rooftop. It’s enough to lull me to sleep.
Cole lowers himself to the bed and leans over me as my heavy eyelids slam shut. “Oh no you don’t. You, my girl, need a hot shower.”
I open my eyes, ready to protest, but stop when I see his lips half-parted an inch from my face. I feel the fight go out of me. All I want is for him to melt into me, but he’s right. I’m freezing, and I stink.
He hesitates before kissing my forehead, then my lips, and when he lowers himself onto me to kiss my neck, my breath quickens. Part of me still cannot believe he’s mine. After getting our start in the Hole, he as my guard and me as his prisoner, who would have ever believed we could end up together? My lips quiver beneath his, and warmth begins surging through me. Somehow, I find the strength to push his face back and hold it with both hands. His eyes search mine, eager and vulnerable.
“Didn’t you promise you’d never leave my side?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?”
“Then I guess you’re showering with me?” I give him a sly smile.
He grabs my hand, a smile playing at the edge of his lips as he leads me across the hallway.
Once inside the bathroom, he closes the door behind us and gently sets me down on the edge of the bathtub. He kneels in front of me and removes my boots and socks, tossing them aside. He looks up at me and runs his hand over his head.
“There’s something I need to say.”
“Okay,” I say, pulling on my belt. “I’m all ears.”
I notice his lower lip shake, and when he realizes it, he presses his lips together before speaking.
“The last thing I ever want to do … is hurt you.” He scratches his neck and looks at the wall behind me, seemingly unsure of exactly where to look.
“Hurt me? How could you possibly hurt me?” I run my fingers down the side of his face, tracing his jawline. My fingers tingle at the touch of his skin.
“Well, if you left me … that would kill me.” He reaches up and takes my hands in his. It feels as if something heavy is weighing on him. Something more than nearly getting killed before. Something he hasn’t been able to say. Something that has hung in the air between us ever since our first kiss.
“Cole, I could never leave you.”
He releases my hands.
“What’s wrong? Tell me.”
“It’s everything. It’s how we met. Where we ended up. Where we are now. What kind of life is this? What kind of future can we have?” I feel my legs starting to shake so I press my feet harder to the ground. How did we go from almost taking a shower together to not even being able to look at one another in the span of one minute?
“Will you please look at me?” I ask, placing my hand under his chin. I tilt his face up to mine. “For the first time in my life, I’m proud of who I am. There’s no more shame, guilt, or disgust. I’m satisfied with the person I am today, and you’re a huge part of that. I had to leave my normal life and be sent to the Hole to find out who I really am. You did that for me. And as crappy as life in the Hole was, I wouldn’t change anything that happened because it led me to you.”
Cole’s face relaxes, and he blinks a few times before he reaches up and wraps his fingers around mine. When he tilts his head to the right and gives me his dimpled smile, I can’t help but need him.
“Come here,” he says.
I stand while looking into his eyes. Holding my gaze, he slowly tugs at the edge of my shirt and slides his hands up my back. As if a train runs up my spine, my body shakes uncontrollably.
“I think it’s time we get warmed up.”
“Sounds like heaven to me.”
He turns the shower on. It doesn’t take long before steam fills the room. The warmth just adds to the moment, heating up my already burning flesh.
“Mind if I help you with your shirt?”
I manage to nod as I raise my arms toward the ceiling. Cole lifts my shirt over my head, and I watch it fall to the floor. His eyes, still locked on mine, burn through me as he steps forward, closing the few inches left between us, and unhooks my bra in one quick motion. The straps slide off my shoulders, and it joins my shirt on the tile floor.
“You’re so beautiful,” he says, soaking me up with eager eyes. His cheeks flush, and his dimples are so cute I want to kiss each of them.
“I look like a lion with a wild mane.”
But he just shakes his head at me. He brushes my hair away from my face and tucks it behind my ears. Then he kisses my neck slowly and gently, running his soft lips up and down the right side of my neck.