three.
All was easy on a warm summer morning in the Ross home. The birds cooed ambiently as a free breeze oozed through the open windows, carressing the harmlessly light face of a smitten man bathing his child. His fingers worked expertly through the curly, wet tendrils of her hair as she toyed indolently with her toes, subdued by his hard gaze.
"Look at me," he murmured.
She did as asked, her eyes wide as she carefully turned to see him.
"Such a beautiful face," he whispered, running the backs of his knuckles against her pearl pink cheek, his fingertips leaving a trail of suds in their wake. "My beautiful baby girl."
She mewled when he kissed her cheek, her forehead, the tip of her nose...
"You are loved," he murmured.
Silently and ever so delicately did he douse his hands beneath the thick blanket of froth and into the water, skidding his nails gently along her little spine.
"Daddy," she purred, her voice catching in her throat as his hand drifted lower.
"Hush now," he admonished softly, his deep mahogany eyes clouding over into something raw, something vile. He took his free hand and allowed the tips of its fingers to dance on her front, stopping them at her sternum, tapping each of them in turn.
"Daddy, no!" Before she could breathe, her entirety had been dunked into the wet bed, sinking as she thrashed and writhed, splashing water every which way.
This only abetted him to push her deeper and deeper, his eyes unseeing and utterly vague while the veins in his arms protruded his skin.
"You. are. loved."
❀❀
Jane stirred with a crude pain in her head, her eyes large and wayward as she searched the bedroom, daunted and confused as to where the nightmare ended and reality began. Marvin's old flannel shirt clung to her skin, sopping and wretchedly uncomfortable as she gradually acquainted her equilibrium.
"Hey." Jane peered warily at Marvin and quickly clambered into his lap, shedding her dejection all over his chest as he gently rocked her to and fro.
"breathe, baby, breathe," he whispered, holding her flush against him as she wept, combing his fingers through her sodden, now curly hair.
Jane nestled her head into the crook of Marvin's neck, his warmth a welcome succor to her unquieted psyche, shattered and trembling.
"Do you need a drink?" he asked gently into her hair.
She nodded.
Comfortably and with little effort did Marvin stride down the hall and into the kitchen, setting his wounded wife upon the soft opal granite island. She watched vaguely as he gracefully poured her a glass of water, casually noting the little things about him; how the simplest of tasks made his supple muscles flex, the small dots on his back contouring a beautiful constellation against his flesh, the overlong mane of deep curls hugging his face and kissing his neck, the way his pajama pants hung from his hips... He was absolutely beautiful.
"Admiring the view, Mrs. Sparks?" he asked, a sexy smirk on his lips.
"That I am, Mr. Sparks."
He held the glass to her lips and tentatively watched as she sucked, drinking in every drop of the cleansing, cold beverage.
