Page 56 of Shattered Vows

He nods. “Now I’m back.” Kol appears deep in his thoughts for several moments before he speaks again, almost as though he’s trying to decide whether he wants to tell me. “It was time to stop running. To come home and take my role at Voss Enterprises. Asher had been asking me to for years, and by the time I met you, I finally felt ready.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” If he hadn’t, we might not have met, and I wouldn’t be here with this amazing, if complicated, man.

Kol places a chaste kiss on my forehead. “Why don’t we go take a bath? It might help with the discomfort.”

“Ohh, that sounds nice.”

Ten minutes later, Kol stands beside the large soaker tub, holding my hand and helping me step into the warm water. I sigh as I sink down into it, and the water cocoons my body like a warm blanket. Kol slides in behind me and immediately reaches for my long braid, removing the elastic from the bottom to unravel my braid.

I don’t mind—in fact, this ponytail is so heavy on top of my head that taking it out will be a blessing—but having my hair in the water means I’m going to have to wash it and then painstakingly brush it so that it doesn’t become a nest birds can live in.

“How would you feel if I cut my hair?”

Kol stills in his unraveling of my braid. “It’s your hair to do what you want with.”

“Sure but… would you still…” I don’t know how to voice my insecurities without feeling like an idiot.

Kol drops my braid and wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tightly and bringing his mouth to my ear. “Would I still think you’re as beautiful and sexy as I do now? Damn straight. No haircut is going to change that, sweetheart.”

The tension in my body eases, and I relax back into him. “I think I might then. Maybe Anabelle knows someone who can do it.”

“Let me guess, your mother didn’t want you to cut it.”

I shrug, for some reason feeling a little defensive of my mother even though he’s right. “I guess. She didn’t want me to cut it, but I grew to like it the longer it got, and I didn’t really fight back when I’d suggest cutting it, and she’d complain.”

We’re quiet for a few minutes, in our own thoughts and content to enjoy the warmth from the bath seeping into our bones.

“I was wondering something,” Kol says, breaking the silence. “Why did your mom start letting you go to church? When we met, it was pretty clear she didn’t let you leave the house except to see a doctor or dentist, things like that, so what changed?”

Out of all the questions, I didn’t think this would be one. We briefly talked about it before.

“After I got my first taste of freedom when she was in the hospital, it was hard to go back to the way it was before. I tried to fall in line, but I’d already seen more of the world in the month she was in the hospital than I had my whole life, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I begged and begged for her blessing to let me leave the house and do some things, but she wouldn’t budge. Said it was too dangerous, and my relationship with you was proof that I wasn’t a good judge of character.”

Kol runs his hand up and down my arm from my shoulder to my elbow as though he can tell how uncomfortable I am reliving this.

“One day I saw a commercial on TV for one of those at-home DNA tests, and I asked her if she’d consider letting me get one. I thought maybe I could find some third cousin or something and try to connect with them, but she refused. We got in a huge fight—probably the biggest one we’d ever had, and I threatened to leave. Shortly after, she agreed that I could go to church. Up until then, I didn’t know anything about religion, but it didn’t matter. She could have offered to let me go wash dishes in a restaurant, and I would have said yes.”

Kol chuckles behind me then grows quiet. “Do you miss him?”

I know who he’s asking about. I turn in his arms and look at him over my shoulder, holding his gaze. “No.”

He nods, and I think he believes me.

“Though I probably should reach out to him. I owe him an explanation.” When he opens his mouth to say something, I add, “Not the real one, but just to let him know that I never should have said yes in the first place.”

His jaw flexes, as does his hand on my arm. He clearly wants to tell me no, there’s no reason for me to speak to Alistair, but he seems to get that impulse under control and nods.

I turn back around and wiggle a bit so I can lean into him. “You asked me if I enjoyed everything we did tonight, but did you?”

“That’s not even a question, Rapsody.”

I roll my eyes. “Obviously, I know you enjoyed it to a certain extent, but was it everything you wanted it to be?”

He chuckles, squeezing me in his arms and pulling my ass back into his lap. “I think you can feel how much I enjoyed it. Just you bringing it up has me rock hard again.”

I wiggle against his erection, smiling at the mild buzzing sensation that starts between my legs. “Maybe we can?—”

“Nope.” He eases me forward and stands in the tub before stepping out. “You need a break. I’m going to take a cold shower.”

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