Chapter 12 Kreed
KREED
Icarried her up the stairs, her head nestled against my chest and the hair on the crown of her head tickling the underside of my chin. Each breath she drew was shallow and ragged, barely stirring the fabric of my shirt, but the rhythm of it was the most beautiful sound I’d heard in fucking days.
Below us, voices drifted through the closed door, the boys and the Elite in Brock’s living room. Mason’s deep laugh cut through the murmur, followed by what sounded like Maddox telling him to shut the hell up. Normal sounds.
I didn’t want to take my eyes off her. The hallway stretched ahead of us, her bedroom only steps away. I set her on the bed and flipped on the bedside lamp, crouching in front of her, careful not to move too quickly or crowd her too much despite the urge to feel her body pressed to mine.
She tracked my every movement, eyes rimmed pink with exhaustion and uncertainty. The blue that had once blazed with fierce independence now seemed dimmer.
The sacrifice she made for her friend had taken more from her than she probably realized, and I hated that I hadn’t been able to stop her but not as much as I despised the man who took her.
It was a constant pulsing in my veins, but Kaylor didn’t need my anger right now.
What did she need? I had no experience dealing with a girl suffering, let alone one I had uncontrollable feelings for, feelings I had yet to sort through and understand.
I wasn’t big on feelings, or I hadn’t been. This girl turned me up inside.
“Do you need anything?” I shoved my fingers through my hair and tried to be casual, tried to pretend my heart wasn’t hammering against my ribs.
She blinked. “I don’t know what to do next,” she admitted. “Maybe a shower?” She said it like it was a question, like she was asking permission instead of stating what she needed. The Kaylor I knew didn’t ask. She took what she wanted and made no apologies for it.
My lips curled slightly. “I think we can manage that.”
Her hand reached out, lacing her fingers with mine as I stood. “Will you stay? I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’m not leaving you. Not for a second.”
She gave me a look then, half humor, half suspicion. “You could use a shower, too. You smell like…” She paused, nose wrinkling slightly. “Gunpowder and smoke.”
“I can wait until you’re done if you can handle the smell,” I replied.
Her fingers fidgeted in mine. “I dreamed about this moment for so long, the moment you would come rescue me.”
Hearing her say those words made me feel like shit. I know it hadn’t been her intention, but the result was the same. I had so much regret, and not getting her out of that house sooner was one that would haunt me always. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
She squeezed my hand. “You got there when it counted. That’s all that matters.” She took a deep breath, glancing around the room as her eyes soaked everything in before landing back on my face. “You’re not afraid I’ll run off again?”
I scowled. “That’s not remotely funny, little raven.” I raised my brows. “Are you saying I can’t trust you? Do you plan on taking off?”
Her head shook quickly, the tiniest twinkle glinting in her eyes. “No. Never. I just…” She paused, releasing her fingers from mine to grab the front of my shirt and tug me forward so my legs bumped her knees. “Turns out, I like being wherever you are.”
“Good,” I said, and I meant it with every fiber of my being. “Because I was planning to lock you in the bathroom anyway.” The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. How utterly stupid and thoughtless of me.
Her face changed, panic flaring in her eyes, and her whole body went rigid on the bed.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” I immediately gentled my voice, cursing myself for the poor choice of words. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just—”
“I know,” she interrupted, tipping her chin up to look at me. “And I’m not afraid of you, Kreed. I never have been.”
“Maybe you should be afraid of me. Look what’s happened to you. Look at all you’ve had to suffer.” How could she not blame me? I’d been so laser-focused on finding her I hadn’t stopped to think about how I would feel once I did or the amount of guilt weighing me down.
“This isn’t your fault,” she whispered.
“Isn’t it?” I shot back, unable to keep the self-recrimination from bleeding through. “If you’d never met me, if you’d stayed away from my world—”
“Pretty sure it was Rusty who kidnapped me,” she cut in. “Not you.”
“You know what I mean.” I didn’t want this to become a blame game because I would win every time.
“I do,” she said with certainty that surprised me. “Just like I knew you would come for me and what you meant when you said you’d lock me in the bathroom. We can’t tiptoe around each other, Kreed. That’s not how I want us to be.”
“How do you want us to be?” I asked, genuinely curious about her answer, but also terrified.
She shrugged, a gesture so tired it made my heart ache. Her fingers continued their restless dance against my shirt. “I don’t know yet, but we have time to figure it out now.” Her eyes held mine, misting slightly. “I haven’t thanked you yet for coming to get me. Thank you.”
“There was never any other choice for me, little raven.” I meant every word.
I sensed she had more to say, and I could guess what would come next, but I didn’t want her apology, not because I was upset or angry with her but because she didn’t owe me anything.
Certainly not an apology when my brothers and I had done worse to her. “The missing you was driving me crazy.”
Her lips twitched. “You make it sound like missing me was a bad thing.”
“It was. I don’t like the hollow ache inside me when you’re not here.”
“I’m here now.”
And yet somehow, she felt so far. I banished the frown from my lips, softening my features. “Come on, let’s get you in that shower.”
She stood, and her legs shook. “Do you have a hoodie or shirt I can borrow?”
My arm slipped around her waist, letting her lean on me as I guided her toward the bathroom. “Evan brought some of your clothes here for you.”
“I want it to be yours. I need it to smell like you.”
She was killing me. If she kept saying things like that to me, I was going to forget myself and have her pressed against the wall. The last thing I wanted to do was attack her, but my lips were dying to touch hers. “I’m sure I have something here for you to wear.”
She sat on the top of the closed toilet lid, giving her legs a break. A shower wasn’t going to work, not if she couldn’t stand on her own, and as much as I liked the idea of climbing in the shower with her, I wasn’t pushing her into something she wasn’t ready for.
Patience. I needed all the patience I possessed, which honestly wasn’t as much as probably required. “Stay put,” I said, moving to the oversized bathtub dominating one corner of the bathroom.
Her eyes stayed on me as I turned the taps, adjusting the temperature until steam began to rise from the rushing water.
The bathroom slowly fogged around us as I added bath salts, lavender, and eucalyptus that would help with the bruises I could see darkening her skin.
I lit the candle sitting on the tub’s rim and dipped a finger in the water to check the temperature.
She began to undress, her fingers fumbling with the zipper at her back.
“Here, let me,” I offered, taking the zipper from her fingers and carefully tugging it down her spine.
Once I reached the end, she peeled the material off her body, letting it pool onto the floor, leaving her bare, and I just realized she hadn’t been wearing any undergarments, but that took a back seat to the bruises covering her body.
A new surge of rage streamed into my veins.
I’m going to kill him. I’m going to murder Rusty with my fucking hands.
And every person who touched her. I didn’t care how many people I had to hunt down or how long it took.
They wouldn’t get an ounce of mercy from me once I tracked them down.
Holding on to the wall, she bent and tossed the dress into the bin. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to rip this off me.”
Schooling my features, I did my damnedest to control the undiluted fury coursing within me. “Hold on to me.”
“I think I can manage to get into the bath on my own. I’m not helpless, Kreed.”
“No, you’re definitely not, but it would give me an excuse to keep touching you.”
“You weren’t joking about not letting me go.”
I shrugged, unapologetic, and leaned against the sink counter, staying close just in case she had a misstep, but she managed to make it to the tub and sit on the ledge before swinging her feet inside.
She went still, her eyes fluttering closed as a sigh escaped.
Slowly, she lowered herself into the water, the bubbles rising and covering her up to her chin as she sank deeper.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. After a few minutes of the warmth and the scented bubbles seeping into her skin, I pushed off the sink, moving to sit on the edge of the tub. Her eyes opened, finding me watching her.
A shy smile curved her lips. “Hey.”
I rinsed a washcloth in warm water and turned back to her. “Close your eyes,” I told her.
Her lashes brushed her cheekbones when she obeyed, and something shifted in my chest. She was still as stunningly beautiful as I remembered, and I’d been such a fucking jerk. I’d been given a second chance to do things differently. I wouldn’t fuck it up. Not again.