Page 51 of Unveiled

“No, that won’t be necessary. If anything goes wrong with the stitches, or her head seems to get worse instead of better, then you can come back in. I don’t foresee any of that happening, though,” the doctor tells Cain. On the drive over, Cain told me we would see a doctor he knows well. My best guess is that this is who he sees if he needs to be treated without the police being notified. To me, the doctor says, “Take it easy for a little while and you’ll be good as new.”

“Thanks, Doc,” I say.

He turns his attention back to Cain, looking uncomfortable as he does so. “There’s something I want to discuss with you, if you don’t mind.”

He directs Cain to follow him into the hallway, leaving me in the hospital room by myself. They leave the door open just a crack, allowing me to hear what’s being said.

“You know I have to ask,” I hear the doctor say. “Her back. Was it consensual?”

“Not really,” Cain answers in an amused tone. “She kind of forced my hand, but don’t worry, I’m not upset about it.”

The doctor sighs as I try to hold in my giggle. Leave it to Cain to make a joke about carving his name into my back, even when he’s refusing to look at me.

“It’s healing pretty well. Apply ointment, but leave it uncovered. If it gets infected, bring her back. Knife wounds can be pretty nasty infections to fight,” the doctor tells him.

Nothing else is said before Cain walks back into the room, without the doctor. “Ready to go?”

He’s looking around the room, everywhere but at me as if he thinks he might have left something lying around. The amusement he had when talking to the doctor is gone, leaving me with the hollow, broken sound of his voice.

“Why baths?” I ask as I come back to the present. “You always take baths with me, and make sure to be the one cleaning me. Why?”

I’m pretty sure I already know the answer, but I still want to ask.

“Marry me and I’ll tell you,” Cain answers. If I were to open my eyes right now, I know I’d find a smirk on his face as he looks down at me. His fingers work through my hair, gentle and soothing against my sensitive scalp.

“It makes me feel closer to you,” he answers after a few minutes of rubbing my scalp. “No matter what’s going on, we’ve always made it better by taking a bath together. The night you gave into me, and we agreed to be open with each other right here. The night I finally brought you home, and we reconnected right here. Or, just the relaxing baths we took together just because we could.”

His fingers skim my arms as he talks, sending chills down my spine despite the warmth of the water. “We’re both naked and vulnerable here, and that’s when we’re best together. We’re great at fucking, too, but this is different. This is real, and hard. Many people can be great in bed together without ever feeling this level of intimacy. We have both.”

His words are sweeter than what anyone would expect a man of his background to say, making my heart jump into my throat.

If he had stayed away, I could have eventually convinced myself that my feelings for him meant nothing. I could have told myself it was Stockholm syndrome and moved on. Now, there’s no hope for me. My heart is open, allowing everything I ever felt for him to flood back in. The good, the bad, and the hard. All of it makes us who we are together, and to me, we’re perfect for each other.

“I’m sorry,” Cain whispers so quietly I almost don’t hear him. My eyes pop open at this, not caring if I get soap in my eyes. What is he apologizing for? “For thinking it would be best to push you away. It wouldn’t have happened, but I shouldn’t have even allowed myself to think of the possibility.”

“Promise me it won’t happen again,” I demand. Neither of us can predict the future, but I want to know that if we ever come to a situation like this again, he’ll work with me instead of against me.

“I’ll promise not to push you away again if you promise not to walk away from me again,” he answers. Words aren’t needed as my gaze clashes with his, love burning in both of our eyes. He leans down and gently kisses my lips, sealing the promises between us.

“Deal,” I answer when he pulls away. “I hope that doesn’t mean you expect me to stay here, though. I’m still planning to go back to school.”

At this point, I’m dreading going back. I’ve slept better in Cain’s arms this week than I have in the last three months, and I’ve been happier than I thought possible. There have been a lot of revelations, a lot of breakdowns, and a lot of fights, but I’m no longer a shell of a human being pretending to be happy. I’m happier with him than I am without him.

We haven’t discussed what’s going to happen when I go back. All he’s said is that I’ll be going back with his head of security, which I now know is Jonah. I imagine we’ll still see each other over the weekends if we can, but is that it? Cain isn’t the type of guy to wait all week to see me, and if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t think I could wait that long, either.

“I know, little one,” he answers. “I’m not going to stop you.”

“What’s going to happen after this week?” I blurt out. If I let myself dive into my imagination, I’ll think the worst until I eventually decide that we won’t see each other until the end of the semester. No way am I letting that happen.

“What do you want to happen?”

No secrets between us. I don’t need to filter my answer with him or fear his answer, though no one told my teeth that as they gnaw on my lip.

“I think having some separation might be good, just so we can both get our work done. I need to finish my degree, which I won’t be able to do if you’re throwing me on the bed before I can do homework,” I tell him. The idea of being apart from him is painful, though. “But, at the same time, I don’t want to be away from you.”

“Do you want to stay here and drive to campus every day? You know where all of my cars are, you can pick one out and make it yours.”

When I stayed here the first time, he showed me all of his cars and where he keeps the keys. Some are extravagant, while others blend in a little more. It sounds like a good solution, but that still doesn’t give me the separation to focus, unless I stay on campus to do homework before I come here each night.

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