Once he finishes undressing, he takes hold of my hand and pulls me with him into the shower. He positions me near the water and stands a few steps away with his arms folded. “Go on then, have your shower.”
I enjoy the way he watches me as I tip my head back under the water, and I particularly like the way his fists clench and his cock twitches. I’m in control here.
Hiding my smile, I inspect the bottles of soap and shampoo on the rack. “This stuff is going to wreck my hair,” I mumble picking up a two-in-one bottle of hair and body wash. Pine-scented. Does Zack use cinnamon-scented products? Is that why he smells so good?
I squeeze a dollop out onto my hand and begrudgingly massage it onto my scalp.
“Not good enough for your standards?” Zack asks as he observes the motions my hands make with a weirdly intense interest.
“I had products that helped maintain curls, but I had to leave them behind.” I leave out the part about how I got those things by being agood girlfor one of the older Fathers.
A single word hangs between us.Why?
Zack is desperate to know my past, my truths. To me,it’s all still fresh. An open wound that I want to leave untouched so it can heal.
“Why are you still here?” he asks after I’ve finished washing.
Flattening my palm over his heart, I ask, “Why are you so eager to keep moving?”
“Chloe…” He looks torn up about something.
Before he shuts me out, I say, “I’ve spent my life not belonging anywhere. All I’ve done is question the world and my existence in it, but right here with you it feels right.”
“Even after what I’ve put you through?”
I’ve always craved something more, something forbidden. No matter how many times the Fathers tried to show me how wrong that was, I knew that somewhere out there in the world there’d be someone who understands me.
Sex isn’t sinful. What the Fathers did to me is. The way Zack forced me into it is. But the way my body responds isn’t. I can’t control it, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
With this man who’s as equally damaged as I am, I get to finally explore my dark desires without guilt or consequence.
We’ve only known each other for a few hours, yet I’ve never felt safer than I have here naked and under the watch of a killer.
“It’sbecauseof what you put me through that I want to stay.”
Zack steals my breath as he wraps his arms around me, our wet bodies sliding together, becoming one and the same. Leaning into his chest, I listen to his rapid heart beats.
Safe.
I’m safe.
He carefully takes hold of my chin and guides me to look up at him.
“Chloe…” His raspy voice breaks. His blue eyes shine with vulnerability. “Can I kiss you?”
He’s asking and not taking?
I nod, and he plants a delicate kiss on my lips. It breaks my heart. This is everything I’ve been deprived of. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kiss him back.
Pressing my body to his, my nipples graze his chest, making us both whimper.
I place one hand between us, breaking that skin-to-skin contact, so I can find one of his piercings and run my thumb over it.
“Fuck,” he gasps. I force my tongue deeper inside his mouth, claiming him, and he grabs me by the ass, lifting me so I have to wrap my legs around his hips.
That deliciously sinful taste of him has my body melting into his once more. Being able to feel the heat of his skin against mine has me feeling like I’m ascending. I don’t want this moment to ever end.
I need him so badly.
