Chapter 50
50
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t you trust me?”
“That shaving gel . . . whose is it?”
“Yours,” he replied. “I bought it for you. I told you that I’ve never brought a woman to this apartment. Do you think I’d have another woman’s shaving gel in my bathroom?”
Okay, that was kind of a stupid thought.
“Sorry.”
He grunted and proceeded to coat her right leg in shaving gel. Then he started to slowly and carefully shave her leg.
He did it with far more precision and care than she ever did. But as the minutes ticked on, she saw the tension leave his shoulders.
This really was helping him.
That realization let her relax. She leaned into the wall as he took the shower head out of its holder and used it to wash off her leg.
After putting the shower head back, he lifted her other foot onto his other thigh. When she tried to drop the foot of the leg he’d already shaved, he placed it back and shook his head.
“I didn’t give you permission to move.”
He shaved her left leg. She sat there, feeling surprisingly empty, yet content.
It was a weird feeling.
Then he washed off that leg before placing both of her feet up on the bench so her pussy was fully exposed. He grabbed the towel again and patted her pussy down.
He picked up another bottle. Exfoliating scrub? Squirting some onto his fingers, he rubbed it over her pussy. “Don’t worry, it’s fragrance free and gentle.”
She hadn’t been worried, but it was sweet he’d thought of that.
Reuben concentrated on her bikini line then over all of her mound. She sucked in a breath.
“How . . . how did you know to do this?”
“I like to do my research. Especially when it comes to looking after someone who belongs to me.” He washed off the scrub, very thoroughly. Next, he picked up the shaving gel.
Was she really going to let him shave her pussy?
“Lean back and stay still,” he ordered.
She moved without thinking. And he started to carefully but confidently shave her pussy.
Yes, it seemed she was.
It felt like her mind went somewhere else, drifting. She wasn’t really aware of anything except the feel of him touching her.
When he was finished, he rinsed her, then quickly washed himself before picking her up and carrying her out of the shower.
He dried her off, taking some time to blow dry her hair. Then he wrapped her in a clean towel before drying himself off.
“Do you have to pee?” he asked.
Faith shrugged. Maybe? She seemed out of touch with her body right now.
He carried her to the toilet and set her down, making sure that the towel was out of her way.
Almost instantly, she started to pee.
“Huh. Seemed I did.”
Reuben just gave her a knowing look. “Stay there. I’m coming back.”
When he returned, she’d already cleaned up and flushed. She was standing but leaning against the wall because her legs just didn’t want to move her over to the sink.
“Faith,” he scolded.
Instantly, her lower lip started to tremble.
Shock filled his face. “What? What is it? Is it your stomach? Your throat? You’re in pain? Shit! We need to get you to the hospital.” He swooped in and picked her up.
“I’m not in p-pain. Don’t c-call me that.”
“What? Call you what?” He drew her up into his arms as he walked out into the main area of the bathroom.
“Faith.”
Reuben stilled. “Is that what’s wrong?”
“You call m-me Faith when I’ve been a b-bad girl. I don’t want to be a b-bad girl.”
“Oh, baby. Oh, my sweet baby girl,” he murmured, cradling her against his chest as he rocked with her.
She pressed her face into his hard chest.
There was that tone of voice again. The one she lapped up like a puppy with a bowl of milk.
“You’re okay. You’re all right. You’re safe.” His hand was heavy on the back of her neck and head. Protective.
His other arm was under her ass, keeping her held up.
Safe.
“You’re not a bad girl. You could never be a bad girl.”
“B-but you said I-I’m gonna be p-punished.”
“Just because you’re punished doesn’t make you bad. Good girls can be naughty. They can need to be punished. But they’re never truly bad. I’m sorry that you associate me calling you by your name with being bad. We need to change that.”
She didn’t quite understand what he was saying, and she was too tired to figure it out. He carried her to the sink to wash her hands. When he tried to put her down on the counter, she let out a worried noise, reaching for him and nearly falling off the counter.
“Careful, baby. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. I just need to get your toothbrush ready. Can you sit there on your own or should I lie you down on the floor?”
“I can stay here.”
He eyed her for a moment before grabbing the toothbrush she’d been using, putting some toothpaste on it.
After he’d brushed both of their teeth, he picked her up again and carried her into the bedroom.
Faith didn’t even think about protesting that she could walk. The honest truth was, she didn’t think she had the energy. And she really didn’t like the idea of him letting her go.
Reuben laid her down on the bed and she watched him grab a pair of boxers, putting them on before he pulled out a T-shirt from a drawer.
It was another Wishingbone, Montana one.
“I feel that you might like that place more than you let on,” she mumbled quietly.
“Not likely.” He sat her up and pulled the T-shirt over her head. She shoved her arms through the holes. Then he picked up her hairbrush from the bedside table. Huh, he must have gotten that at the same time he’d grabbed her other toiletries.
He brushed her hair, then loosely braided it. She knew it would likely be a nightmare in the morning, but that was tomorrow’s problem.
It wasn’t until they were both settled under the blankets that she realized she wasn’t wearing panties.
“I need panties.”
“No panties in bed.”
“Is that rule ten?” she attempted to tease.
“It could be, brat,” he grumbled at her.
“I should go check on Cammie,” she said.
And how are you going to find the energy to do that?
“No.”
She held his gaze steadily. He huffed out a breath. For a man who didn’t like to be told the word ‘no’ he certainly liked saying it. And with no other explanation.
But he’d promised to try to communicate better. To bend . . . just a little.
“She’s fine. I gave her a couple of sleeping pills. But I’ll go check on her.” He got out of bed and she immediately sat up and attempted to throw herself at him.
Frustration filled her as the blankets got in the way.
“No! Daddy!”
“Hey. I’m right here. I’ll be right back.” He sat and she crawled onto his lap, holding on like a Grade A clinger.
The thing was, she didn’t even have it in her to care that she was clinging like a baby monkey holding its mama.
“You let me leave before. What’s different?” he murmured in a quiet voice that reassured her that he wasn’t annoyed, just curious.
“I wasn’t feeling anything before. Now, I’m feeling it all. Like it’s rushing through me, trying to . . . to overtake me. And I can’t . . . I’m finding it hard to breathe without you. Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. Is Colin in your bag?”
It sounded like he was changing the subject, but she knew that he was trying to help her.
“Yes.”
“I’m going to put you down and get him. It’s all right. I’m not going far. You can watch me.”
He sat her on the bed, and she watched as he grabbed Colin and her pacifier.
“This pacifier looks a bit worse for wear, baby.”
It did. But she didn’t care. She squeezed Colin tight as she lay down. Then she parted her lips as he put the pacifier between her lips.
He crouched, brushing the hair back off her face. “I just need to check on Cammie. Then I’ll be back. I want you to stay right here. Can you do that for Daddy?”
She nodded.
Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead. “That’s my good girl.”