Chapter 6 Theo
THEO
“DAMN. I SHOULD get kidnapped more often,” I said, admiring the eyeful I got when Shep bent over the soaking tub off the primary bathroom. The man really did have a spectacular ass.
“Not funny.” Those blue eyes met mine over his shoulder, looking far too serious and full of too much worry when I was standing upright and only a few feet away.
He hadn’t even given me a minute to sit down before carrying me off to get naked…
though that was unfortunately more to do with his urgency in checking my wounds than wanting to worship my body.
“Oh come on, your ass is practically begging for attention and I’m not supposed to notice? You think a crowbar beat the urge out of me?”
Shep’s shoulders went rigid, and the hand he had under the faucet to check the water’s temperature dropped out of view.
“Crowbar,” he said slowly, his voice dropping so low I almost missed it over the sound of the running water.
On second thought, maybe mentioning specifics wasn’t the best idea, not when Shep looked ready to murder a man twice.
“Not something I would’ve chosen. ‘Assailant in the jungle with a crowbar’ doesn’t have quite the ring that ‘Miss Scarlet in the library with a candlestick’ does.
” I tried for an easy smile to reassure him I wasn’t completely fucked up—even though the jury was still out on that—but it was harder than it should be to move my face when it was throbbing like a motherfucker.
I’d avoided the mirror when we walked in, resting my weight on the counter instead, but now I was curious just how hideous I was. Would I need to make up a story about a freak accident for any permanent injuries the public would see?
Eh, I didn’t give a shit about that. The only thing I cared about was if Shep would still look at me the way he had this morning.
The nerves as I braced myself for what I might see were ridiculous. I was alive, if barely. And wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Shep.
I took a deep breath, let it out, then opened my eyes.
Bordel…de merde.
The man looking back at me was a mess of blood and dirt, one side of my face completely swollen and bruised. No wonder Shep had been in a panic to get me back here.
I wished I could say I felt better than I looked, but every part of me ached in a way I’d never felt before. It wasn’t often anyone got the better of me.
A long trail of drying blood ran from my forearm, where the asshole had somehow managed to find and cut out my tracker, and my wrists were raw and swollen from the handcuffs.
I looked back up at my face as Shep watched me silently from where he sat on the edge of the tub. Inspecting each cheek, I said, “I think I could still make People magazine’s sexiest list. Guys love battle scars, non?”
Shep’s eyes softened as they met mine in the mirror. “Theo—”
“I know, you don’t have to say it. This’ll give me a rugged edge.
” I grinned, but then my ribs seized and I began to cough so hard I wondered if the bastard had cracked one or two of them.
Pain shot through my side with every rough hack, and I gripped the counter with one hand and held the tender spot around my ribs with the other, like I could keep them from breaking.
Shep cursed under his breath and then wrapped his arms tight around me to hold me together.
“You’re okay,” he murmured, over and over again, possibly more to himself than to me. In his arms my body relaxed, and slowly the coughing fit eased. “That’s it,” he said, rubbing my arms. “Just breathe.”
I closed my eyes and took in a long, wheezing inhale, then another, until the band clamping down on my ribs eased and I could breathe normally again.
Shep’s hold on me loosened, and then I felt his fingers move down to the edge of my shirt. “Can you lift your arms for me?”
I nodded even though I wasn’t sure how well any of my body parts worked at this point. It was like lifting a fucking car to hold them up over my head, but I did it and that was what mattered.
With careful hands, he pulled my shirt off, and I had to grit my teeth so I didn’t hiss in pain.
He tossed the shirt on the floor, and when I caught his eyes inspecting every inch of my body in the mirror, I could see the fury boiling over as his jaw clenched tight.
“Fuck.”
I looked over the cuts along my wrists and arms and the deepening bruises, especially from the kicks to my ribs, and knew they would be looking even more gruesome tomorrow.
“Well,” I said, “could be worse.”
Shep shook his head and turned me to face him, leaning me back against the counter. Then his gentle fingers skimmed over my bruised skin. “Does it hurt to breathe?”
“No. But the coughing’s a bitch.”
“Probably just badly bruised, but we need to get you checked to see if any of your ribs are cracked.”
I didn’t even fight him on that one. I didn’t have the energy. “Probably,” I said, nodding.
Those concerned blue eyes met mine and then he cradled my head between his hands and gave me the sweetest kiss I’d ever gotten.
Thank God I was propped up against the counter, because I sank into those pillowy-soft lips that felt like heaven.
I hadn’t thought I’d get a chance to feel him like this again, and it almost didn’t feel real that I was here and we were safe.
If I didn’t have the physical reminders, I would’ve thought the last few hours were nothing more than a nightmare.
“Let’s get these off you,” Shep murmured against my mouth as his hands moved down to the waist of my pants.
But then he pulled away suddenly and cursed, and I opened my eyes to see him rushing to the tub to shut off the water.
Just in time too, because it was dangerously close to spilling out, and he had to drain a few inches to give room for me to get in.
“Sorry,” he said, running his wet fingers through his hair to push it back before holding his hand out to me. “Where were we?”
“I believe you were trying to get me naked, mister.”
He pulled me toward him where he sat on the edge of the tub. I could see him swallow at the marks marring my body, but it didn’t stop him from unzipping my pants and pulling them and my boxer briefs down my legs.
As I stepped out of them, I realized Shep was eye level with my cock, and even with the amount of pain radiating through my body, my dick still jerked under his gaze.
Looking up at me, he gave me a small smile and then leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my shaft. But that was all the attention it got, because then he helped me into the tub. The feel of the warm water made me want to sink my entire body beneath it.
Only the cuts in my skin didn’t agree with that plan.
I sucked in a breath once the water got past my hips. “That stings like a bitch.”
“Not surprising, but we need to get them clean. The last thing you need is an infection out here in—”
“The jungle? This hellish landscape?”
Shep scoffed, straightened, and reached for his own shirt. “I was going to say ‘the middle of nowhere.’”
“Pretty sure they all mean the same thing.” My eyes trailed down over his rigid abs as he tossed his shirt aside, and it wasn’t lost on me that while the jungle had beaten the shit out of my body, it had somehow only made his look better.
Every muscle appeared more ripped than the next, his biceps bulging from cutting through thick vines to get to me, and don’t even get me started on his legs. My man had climbed through hell to reach me, and damn if he didn’t look better for the experience.
“You okay?”
“Huh?” I dragged my eyes up to his face to see a frown pulling between his brows.
“You look like you zoned out for a minute there. Do you feel okay?”
“I feel…” I took a deep breath and offered a small smile. “Very lucky that you’re mine.”
Shep’s lips quirked as he crooked a finger for me to shift forward, then he climbed into the enormous tub behind me. As I settled into his arms, he kissed the shell of my ear and whispered, “Yours, huh?”
“Mhmm.” I sighed as Shep ran his hands along my thighs under the water, gently massaging my tired muscles. “You trekked through a deadly jungle to save me, sooo yeah, I’m thinking you’re mine. Either that or you’re just a glutton for punishment.”
“What was that you said a second ago? Pretty sure they mean the same thing.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“No, what I am is sorry.” Shep reached for my hands and entwined our fingers. “I’m so fucking sorry, Theo.”
I let his apology echo off the walls of the bathroom and swirl around us with the steam, not to punish him, but to really feel the emotion behind his words, and it was there, as strong as the steady beat of his heart. The strength and conviction were as clear as the actual words themselves.
Shep felt this to his core. He’d taken my kidnapping as some kind of punishment he deserved, and while I’d been angry at first with everything that had gone down, all I felt now was gratitude that this amazing human being was mine.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I finally said, bringing his hand up to my lips. “You came for me, you found me, you saved me.”
“Something I wouldn’t have had to do if I’d been open and honest from the second King walked into our bedroom.”
“Our bedroom?” I turned my head to look at him, a grin on my lips. “I like the sound of that. Can we have one of those in every safe house we own?”
“We can, but I’d rather not have to visit any more of them for a while.”
“Good point. But seriously, Shep, you don’t have anything to apologize for.
” I swept my eyes over his stunning features, stopping on the cut by his cheek.
I couldn’t help but reach up and stroke my fingers over it.
“Plus, it’s not like you came out of this without a few cuts and scrapes to show for your effort. I think we can call it even.”
“Then that blow to your head must’ve rattled a few brain cells loose. I have plenty to atone for—”
“Shep—”
“—starting with how I spoke to you when King…interrupted us. I should’ve taken a moment to get on the same page as you.
You were right. King could’ve waited, should’ve been made to fucking wait while we worked out what we wanted to tell him.
My only excuse is habit. I’m so used to falling in line, doing what I’m told that I never questioned it. Not until—”
Shep abruptly stopped, and while I wanted to demand he continue, I could sense he needed a moment to get his thoughts in order. A moment to process all that had happened. A moment to realize the nightmare was over.
“I never questioned it until you were gone. Until you were taken from me.” Shep wrapped his arms around me, pulling me gently back against him, until his lips were pressed against my temple. “No one could’ve stopped me from getting to you after that.”
I closed my eyes and relaxed back in his hold. “I knew that. Felt it somehow… Is that crazy?”
“No. I felt it too. That you were alive. That you were out there.”
I wasn’t one for overly soft moments or deep introspection, but as I lay there in the tub with Shep’s arms warding off any and all danger, I felt a soul-deep connection to him unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
“I don’t want to hide this anymore.” Shep’s words floated over me, making my heart skip and my pulse skyrocket. The last however many hours had been such a whirlwind of emotions that I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to decipher what he was saying.
I needed to hear it in words. I needed him to be clear. I needed to know we were finally on the same page.
“Meaning…?”
“I almost lost you tonight.” Shep brought a hand up to gently cradle my cheek. “I almost lost you before I ever really had you. I’m not going to risk that again. I’m never going to risk it again.”
I leaned in to press a soft kiss to his perfect lips. “Are you asking me to go steady, Mr. Winchester?”
Shep’s chest vibrated behind me, his low chuckle a seductive whisper across my damp skin. “Steady?”
“Isn’t that what you Americans call it?”
He snorted, and it was so nice to see his face relax a little. It made me happy to give that to him.
“Maybe back in the fifties. But yes, I suppose I do want to go steady. I want to tell the rest of the guys. I want to date you—publicly. I want—”
“Me,” I said, a smug grin stretching wide across my lips. “You, Shepard Winchester, want me. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m okay with that.”
He busted out a loud laugh at that, and Dieu, it sounded magnificent.
“Is that right?”
I nodded, moving back into his embrace. “Because I just happen to want you right back.”
Shep hummed as the water sloshed around us, lapping at our bodies, relaxing our aching muscles. “This is going to be complicated.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Oui, in every way. But you always did say I was a royal nightmare.”
“Maybe so…” Shep pressed a kiss to the top of my head, tightening his arms around me in a way that said he wasn’t about to let go anytime soon. “But I’m starting to think you’re my royal dream.”