"What did you you do!"
My hands flew to my hair, the movement pulling at my bandages and cuts.
Joshua held up the hair tie, which was now cut in half, and raised an eyebrow at me. "Got this out."
Then I realized my hair—all of it—was loose and tumbling down my back. Sagging with relief, I leaned back on the counter. "Okay. Let's get this over with."
He began helping me discard my wet and dirty clothing. His demeanor was business-like, expression blank, even as he clenched his jaw so tight his teeth might crack. His composure wavered when he uncovered my bruised and bloody knees that I had failed to let the paramedics mend. But it was when he saw the fingertip-shaped marks on each of my shoulders, some of them bandaged and still bleeding a little, that he let out a string of vile curses with fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
"I hope they find him," he seethed. "So I can kill him."
"Me first."
His eyes darted away from the wounds to meet mine. "Has he hurt you before? When you were with him?"
Crossing my arms over my chest, becoming too aware that I was only in my bra and panties, I shook my head.
He accepted that for the moment and studied the rest of my injuries. The growing knot on my head was probably the worst one, shoulders and hands the next severe. My knees looked worse than they were, the blood having been smeared by movement and water. They had been scraped up worse during soccer games. When his eyes returned to my face, he reached to finish his task but then paused to gauge my reaction.
I jerked my chin and turned away from him to face the shower. He was just as careful removing my bra and panties as he had been with the rest. The second he was finished, I lunged forward, jumping in the shower and slamming the door behind me. There was enough steam that the glass was completely fogged, allowing me a moderate amount of privacy. His blurred silhouette stood very close, though, ready to help if necessary.
Steam enveloped me, easing some of my aches and relaxing me at a startling rate. I let the water cascade over me, watching the blood-tinged water swirl toward the drain, creating mesmerizing patterns that I couldn't seem to break my gaze from. My bandages became water-logged and soon joined the swirling dance near the drain.
When the water first hit directly on the exposed nail marks on my shoulder, the pain was immediate and sharp, a chain reaction starting throughout my body as if all my injuries were awoken simultaneously. Waves of nausea piggybacked on the pain, and I whimpered, bracing my hands on the tiled wall as my head dropped, eyes shut, fighting with the onslaught of sensations.
Do NOT puke in the shower.
"Joshua," I croaked. "Help."
His arms were around me, offering a steadying embrace before I barely got the last word out. He had managed to strip to just his boxer briefs and T-shirt as if knowing I'd need his assistance at some point. Ever aware of my injuries, he slowly turned me to face him, eyes staying on my face.
I didn't care if he sneaked a peek at the goods—he'd seen it all before—but the gesture was still appreciated.
My voice was still rough when I whispered, "How'd you know?"
"Know what?"
"What had happened to me?"
"We saw Noah at the gas station and pulled in to talk to him. A few officers were there, talking about the call that had come in about you being attacked." Taking small steps forward, he positioned me under the water again. "As soon as Mal forced them to confirm it was your address, we all came running."
"We? Mal's here, too?"
Joshua nodded and picked up the shampoo bottle. "He immediately ran off into the woods to hunt down Stephen."
He silently went back to work, massaging the shampoo into my hair. When he started kneading my scalp, my traitorous feet took a step closer to him, my head dipping down a little to give him a better angle to continue this absolute magical act. It was impossible for me not to relax into it as the lingering pain and all my earlier panic thoughts were literally washed away.
My eyes opened for the briefest of instances when he angled my head back to rinse my hair.
Not aroused?
Here I was giving him full frontal, and he wasn't the slightest bit moved by it. Did he not find me attractive anymore? I had maintained my athletic form with regular exercise, albeit it might be a slightly curvier version of what he had last seen ten years ago. My breasts were still high and full, probably a little more than the handful they had been at eighteen, and my stomach was smooth and flat, hips a little flared, and an ass that even Beth was jealous of. But none of it was getting the slightest reaction from Joshua.
My body was having no problem reacting to him, which it shouldn't be for more than one reason. Hopefully, he'd think my hardened nipples were caused by being cold and not because the water had plastered his t-shirt to his skin and the dark material was showcasing his incredibly ripped torso. Six-pack? Try eight-pack. I could literally use his abs as a washboard.
Unable to help myself, I unclenched my hands that had been dangling useless at my sides and wrapped one around each bicep. For balance. No other reason at all to touch him.
Feeling the muscles move under my palms while rinsing the conditioner I hadn't realized he had put in was winding me up.
I'm so twisted.
When I snuck another peak at him and saw his face was completely impassive, I released my hold on him.
"You can hang on if you need to."
"I'm fine."
"Let me get the rest of you then."
More methodical cleansing by him. Considering what had just happened to me, his aloofness to this situation was totally appropriate, so I needed to get over whatever was making me pissed that he wasn't treating this shower like an opportunity to take advantage of me. My head injury was making me unreasonable and irritable. Under any other circumstances, I'd be thankful he was acting like a gentleman. My body and mind were not in a condition for him to be anything else.
Joshua's movements were soft with the washcloth, working the soap across my shoulders and down each arm, taking extra time to gently scrub over the scapes on my palms before moving on to wash my torso, then lower. When he went to his knees before me, I registered the movement and braced for some kind of illicit touch from him, except he just trailed the cloth down one leg, spent some time washing my feet, lifting one and then the other, and then cleaned up the other leg. My heart was thundering, my breaths a little shallow, and when he stood back up, I felt his erection brush against my belly.
He jerked back.
Ah, there you are.
"It's fine," I said.
He shut off the water and cleared his throat. "I'm going to dry you off now, okay?"
Our eyes did not meet the entire time he gently rubbed me down. He said nothing as he re-bandaged some places on my shoulders. It wasn't until I was wrapped up in my fluffy white bathrobe that he spoke.
"Time for bed."
Bed sounded heavenly. Burrowing under the covers and falling into a deep, blackout sleep was just what the doctor was ordering. "Yes, bed," I nodded.
Like he was leading a child, he took my hand in his and walked me over to my bed, pulling back the covers while I climbed in. My fingers tightened around his, thwarting him from stepping away from me, and I tugged him closer.
"Stay with me."
Every muscle in his body tensed.
With horrifying realization, I remembered that the last time he had been in this room with me, and in this bed, I was naked and having sex with Noah. Was he reliving that night at record speed, just as I was at that moment? Recalling what had happened when he had, in fact, stayed with me?
Darting my eyes away from his, knowing I was bright red once again, I released his hand. He remained standing where he was, still rigid with tension and staring down at me.
I rushed to explain my request. "I mean, until I fall asleep. Just stay until then. But here, with me."
"I need to dry off."
Pivoting, he went back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I was assuming he'd be coming back to join me. The assumption was correct. After a few minutes, he emerged, clad only in his jeans and probably going commando under them since his boxer briefs were soaked.
Dear God.
"Until you fall asleep," he agreed matter-of-factly, slipping under the covers with me.
When a contented sigh whispered from my lips, his body relaxed and he rolled to his back, pulling me into the curve of his arm so my head rested on his bare chest. My hand flattened over his heart, the steady thud pulsing beneath my palm. Letting it lull me towards sleep, I wiggled even closer to him and draped a leg over his, craving this closeness with him.
He cursed quietly and tightened his hold on me. "You have no idea how many nights I've dreamed of holding you like this again."
"This changes nothing," I muttered. My words were slurred, and for once, it wasn't due to alcohol.
"Greg thought it might be a good idea for you to stay somewhere else for a while."
His change of topic was not lost on me. "Going to stay with Beth. She was already packing my things before Stephen."
"Somewhere that Stephen would have no knowledge of. He might have been watching you for a long time here and knows where Beth lives."
"Then where?"
"With us. We're leaving tomorrow and you'll come stay with us in Boston."
That startled me from the sleepy daze I had been succumbing to. I looked up at him in alarm. "I can't go to Boston!"
Joshua gave me a confused look, blinking slowly as if I might be speaking a different language, and said, "Of course you can."
"Absolutely not."
"If you can come up with one good reason why you can't, we might listen."
I pushed off his chest to sit up and glare down at him. "You all lied to me. You've been living with Riley this whole time!"
"We all worked together, too, but that's not a reason." He sat up so he could be eye to eye and I must have telegraphed my intention of shoving him because he wrapped his fingers around my wrists to hold me off. "We all decided it was best not to tell you."
"Best for who? You?" I struggled in his grasp, desperate to strike out at him. Hitting him would somehow make me feel better, at least for a split second. I might be sorry after I did it, but right now, I needed to hit something, and he was the best target.
"For all of us. Damn it, Reggie. Let me explain before you try and kill me, okay?"
"You can try explaining after I kill you."
He rolled his eyes condescendingly as if I was a child. "We didn't do any of this to intentionally hurt you."
I snorted. "But it does. This hurts me! More than you can imagine."
And then the tears came back. Seeing them, he was going to try and hug me but my palm against his chest held him away. He looked down at my hand on him and sighed sadly. When he laid his atop mine, I jerked it away.
"I don't want to be comforted by the man who has been lying to me for a decade."
His jaw clenched but stayed put. "There are a lot of things that we need to explain to you so at the very least, the three-hour car ride will give us a chance to catch up."
"You'll tell me everything I want to know?" This was a price I'd be willing to pay. And he totally knew it.
"Yes." Sensing my hesitation, he continued. "And Riley's attorney has been eager to meet with you. There are a few things that need settling with his will and your inheritance."
"Riley had a will?" Of course, he did. Noah was also his best friend and they lived in the same city together. Nothing should be a surprise anymore. "Never mind," I grumbled.
"Once you get all of Riley's funds, you'll be rich enough to go anywhere in the world, safely away from Stephen. And us."
"Deal."
He started to ask something, probably which one of them I was so eager to get away from, and then he snapped his mouth shut when I lay back on the bed, snuggling deep under the covers. The silence between us stretched out so long that when Joshua finally lay back down beside me, the jostling of the mattress roused me from the pull of sleep. Our eyes met. He pulled me back against him, his blue eyes soft again as he tucked my head under his chin. When another pair of arms wrapped around me from behind and I felt Noah's warm body settle against my back, I was too tired to put up a fight.