Page 15 of Shiner's Light

“You could, but that doesn’t mean I’m letting you out of my sight, Olive. Last time I did, you ran.” Did he growl at me while speaking? The gruffness in his tone sends a different kind of shiver down my spine, straight between my legs.

I squeeze my thighs together to help ease the ache there, but it doesn’t help. It dawns on me when he returns his focus to me, that he came after me. He refused to let me go. I don’t understand him. Not in the least bit. Why go to all the trouble?

Without speaking, he steps into my space, strips me of my clothes, tossing them toward the little trash can in the corner of the bathroom. He then surprises me by scooping me up and planting me in the shower. The water feels amazing, and there’s no containing the moan from my lips. Closing my eyes and tilting my head back, I savor the warmth of the water flowing over me.

The enjoyment is only for a split second before the curtain being shoved to the side gets my attention. I widen my eyes at the sight of a naked male chest as Shiner climbs inside with me.

“What are you doing?” I stammer.

“Making sure you get clean,” he states, a smirk toys at the edges of his lips.

“I can do that myself, you know.”

What is it with him? Why does he need to do this to me? Is it his new way of torturing me?

“Yeah, I know you can, honey, but doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the sight of you while I have my hands on you and, at the same time, getting you cleaned up after weeks of you being away from me.” The huskiness in his voice has my body aching for something else besides his hands on me.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I keep from moaning at the touch of his hands as he goes about doing just what he said he was going to do. The whole time, I can all but feel the wetness seeping from between my legs. Thankfully, it’s the one place he’s yet to touch in his exploration of my body with the soap.

Shiner grips one of my wrists and places the cloth in my hand. “You can do the rest.” I’m relieved yet disappointed at the same time. I wish he’d have just taken the choice out of my hands. Regardless, I nod and finish washing my body myself.

Finishing up, Shiner shuts the water off, grabs two fluffy towels I hadn’t seen him set on the towel rack, and wraps the first around me and the second around himself. He at least leaves me alone to dry myself.

Tucking the edge of the towel in, I look at him and ask, “Do you still have some of my clothes?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asks, cocking a brow. “Come on, let’s get dressed so I can go see Milo.”

I tense at the mention of Milo, and my footing falters. “Did you tell him who I was? He seemed excited when you came in with me.”

“I told him who you were,” Shiner remarks. “He’s only three, but my kid is smart as hell. I know my kid and what he can handle. So, I told him that his aunt needed rescuing and that I was going to do that. Then she was going to finally be in his life and be there for him.”

“What?” I whisper, my breath feels lodged in my throat. “Why would you tell him that?”

“Because it ain’t a lie.” Shrugging, Shiner opens a drawer, pulls out a T-shirt, and turns to me. “Now put this on and get in bed. You don’t need anything else. Once I get Milo to sleep in the room across the hall, I’ll be back in here. Then we’re talking.”

I don’t want to talk. I go to tell him this, but he takes that moment to drop the towel from his waist. The sight of him in all his glory leaves me tongue-tied. To keep from gawking, I take the shirt from Shiner and give him my back as I pull it over my head. It’s all I can do to ignore him chuckling behind me, but I manage to do so.

A moment later, I climb in the middle of the bed, pull the blankets over my legs, and sit with my legs crossed. Shiner takes his time to dress in another pair of jeans that conform to his ass just right and a black T-shirt. He slides his feet back into his boots without socks and grabs his cut to put on.

I don’t bother speaking as he does this or as he makes his way to the side of the bed, leans forward, bracing an arm on the bed right next to my hip. “I’ll be back shortly. Don’t bother trying to run again. There’s going to be someone right outside the door to make sure you don’t.”

“Whatever,” I mutter and roll my eyes.

“You need something to eat?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” I grumble, but my stomach takes that moment to make itself known. I’d eaten, but not much in the past two weeks. Mostly, it was crackers that were stale.

“Right, I’ll order a pizza for us to split and bring it in when I come back,” he announces and surprises me by gripping my chin with his free hand, holding me still as he brings his face that much closer and presses his lips to mine. It’s a brief kiss, but still a great one. “Be back, honey.” The words brush against my lips as he says them. Those words also have my stomach doing somersaults.

* * *

The door opens, and I slowly move my gaze from the movie playing on the TV to find Shiner coming back into the room. He’d been gone for a good two hours, maybe even longer. It took me a bit to regain my composure after he left the room earlier and when I did, I turned the TV on to try and focus on something else besides being back here. In Shiner’s room. In Shiner’s life.

“Got pizza,” he announces and closes the door.

“Did you get Milo to sleep?” I find myself asking.

“Yeah, honey, he’s finally asleep. The kid was hyped up tonight. He wanted to come in here, but told him he could finally meet you tomorrow.”

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