“Just hold onto me,” my voice came out, a throaty whisper.
“That I can do,” he replied, his eyes soft on me as he wrapped me up in his arms. I sagged into him and breathed in his reassuring scent as my arms wrapped around his waist inside his leather cut. We stood like that, by the door for a while before he pulled away gently. “You were in the bath?”
“Yeah, I was. Wanna join me?” I asked with my brows knit.
He gave me a squeeze. “I don’t really do baths, babe, but I’ll wash your back,” he replied, giving me a lopsided grin.
I could work with that, definitely.
I ditched my robe and sunk back into the blissfully warm water as he sat on the edge, his large hands caressing my neck and shoulders.
“Why would anyone fuck with me to get to you?” I demanded quietly, my wet fingers tracing the lines of the tattoos on his right forearm.
Sal let out a heavy sigh as though searching for patience. “Birdie, clearly you missed it, but anyone who knows me worth a damn, knows you’re under my skin like no other woman ever has been. No amount of time or distance would change that and whoever this is obviously knows it.”
“Really?” I asked, and even I could hear the hope in my voice.
He moved off the edge of the tub and kneeled beside it, his eyes level with mine. “Really,” he affirmed, biting my shoulder gently and sending a shiver down my spine.
Hearing that was almost enough to erase the traumatic events of the evening. “You couldn’t have picked a better night to tell me that,” I said quietly.
“Your mother really did a number on you, didn’t she?” he asked, his eyes warm as they assessed me.
“They both did,” I admitted.
“Earlier, that look you had. I couldn’t place it. I want to say it was embarrassment, but I couldn’t imagine why you’d feel that way.”
I winced just remembering it. “Are you kidding? It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life to have you witness the trash I come from,” I grimaced. “Not even Scarlet has met my mother and I hope she never does.”
“Baby,” he interrupted, “you don’t get it,” he argued as he squeezed my arms briefly for emphasis. “The last thing you should feel is fuckin’ embarrassed. You should be over the moon proud because of what you had to work with and you got yourself to where you are. It’s unbelievable. I had no idea. The only thing running through my head was how amazed I am at what you’ve achieved.”
“Then why did you run?” I asked, bracing for his answer.
He sighed. “Because I’m shit with emotion,” he admitted. “I’ll work on it,” he added simply.
“Me, too,” I agreed quietly.
“That comment you made at the hospital, about you not being the girl for me, was this what you were getting at?” he asked quietly. “Feeling ashamed of where you came from?”
His fingers had begun stroking my collarbone with a promise to dip lower, and I was suddenly finding it difficult to concentrate.
“Yes and no,” I swallowed. “At the time, I meant I hadn’t been enough to keep you, to make you share yourself with me. But, I suppose those feelings are all rooted from the same place,” I mused.
“It was never about you. Do you get that now?” he asked pointedly.
“It’ll take time,” I answered honestly. I just wasn’t there yet.
“I get that,” he agreed. “But you have to know, not only were you enough, you were so much more that I had to go sort my shit out so I could be good enough for you, not the other way around,” he said firmly, his eyes holding mine.
I sucked in a breath at the rare vulnerability in his words.
He leaned closer still. “Now, baby, are we done talkin’? I’ve been sitting here staring down at your wet, naked body, and I don’t know if I can take much more.”
I smiled, my skin heating as I watched his eyes travel my body hungrily. “Yeah, we’re done,” I agreed, my voice sounding breathy.
“Fucking brilliant,” he muttered, taking my mouth in a controlling kiss. My mouth opened for him, welcoming his forceful tongue as I moved to a kneeling position, wrapping my arms around his neck. I wanted him as close as I could get him. His hands traveled over my slick skin before settling on my ass, squeezing as he let out a low groan. “You have the most amazing ass,” he murmured against my mouth.
“You have too many clothes on,” I responded with a smile.