Page 27 of When Day Breaks

deliverance

Rivian

I hated the way it felt to see my wife like that. Jaded, drained, and ashen. If I'd kept her down there much longer, she'd have likely desiccated due to lack of blood. I ached to just let her go. Instead, I found myself toying with her if only for a little bit longer because that's the side of me I've come to cherish, revel in. It's who I am in nature and no matter how deeply I feel for the path of destruction I led my sweet sin to, I can't help who I am.

The moment she bit into the cookie though—I watched the way her mouth chewed on the pastry and how her throat bobbed as she swallowed it, the little moan she'd hummed to indicate just how much she liked the taste of them—I saw the lavender working away at her curse. I could see it in the way her eyes glittered back to their normal silvery color. I didn't realize just how much I had missed looking into her normal eyes. I could also tell in her demeanor how the herbs coursed through hersystem and counteracted against the curse, bringing my little one back to me.

I ripped the chains from her limbs the moment I knew it was safe and I walked away. I left her a vial of blood to consume and hoped she would follow me in return.Needingher to follow me.

The bath water runs now, hot and sudsy. I light some kind of fancy gold-crusted candle that smells like smoked vanilla woods that Natasha brought up—thankfully Kacian was able to save her from the fire before it all went to ashes—and I turn on the same music I know Lucynda liked to listen to while she cooked.

That was next on the list, to get her to cook. Not because my sister thinks all women belong in the kitchen but because I know that's where my wife finds solace, amongst other places. But right now, I wanted to get her to relax and to help her clean off the sins she's committed in the last forty-eight hours.

I open the window to let the crisp October rain act as an angelic ambiance against the running water, the flicker of the candle glow, and the light reverberance of the piano tunes playing gently.

"Wow. All this for me?" I didn't realize I was holding tension in my shoulders, but the moment I hear her voice, her unaffected and serene voice, I let it all go. Sighing a soft breath of air and turning to find my wife standing at the door frame, a small smirk curled delicately on her perfect lips and a mess made of her otherwise. But God, is she still just as beautiful as any other given day.

"It's the least I can do," I say, knowing damn well that I probably could do more but right now, all that matters is giving her peace to find the quiet in her mind so that she can figure out what she wants to do next.

I hold my hand out for hers, waiting to see if she'll take it. And when she does, I bring my eyes up to hers where we meet each other once more. It's like the fire turning to ice, like whenI found her at the Gilded Hollow, but this time the warmth still radiates from her in other ways. I feel the thaw of her curse, and her heart is still dying for a safe place to land but her walls remain half built.

I look at her, and an eruption of regret berates me, knowing that with or without the tether, no matter who she was and where she came from, she was always meant to be mine. And I sacrificed her for my eagerness to enact reprisal in light of my childhood upbringing. I am a fucking fool.

"Thank you. Whatever you gave me, it-" I shake my head at her. I don't want her to think too much about what it was I gave her, because then her mind will go to all the things she's done. Once she realizes the severity of what she's done, I know she won't be too happy with herself.

"It won't last long," I say to her as I guide her to the tub. "So let's not think too much about it right now. I just want to get you taken care of while I still haveyouhere." I know she wants to argue, even if just a little bit. She's always fought me on things she felt she could excel in independence. And she's been right for that, but I admire her for letting me have this one thing even though I know I don't deserve her limited trust.

Lucynda and I get to the tub, the steam billowing out from under the bubbles foaming on top of the water. I reach over to turn the faucet off and all that we're left to is the sound of the music playing softly against the patter of the gloomy afternoon rain. That, and I can hear her heartbeat and her small breaths.

"Are you gonna just stand there and listen to me breathe or are you going to help me out of these clothes?" Her tone isn't sarcastic at all but laced with the softest plea, indication that she wants me to stay; her voice also layered with worry and regret.

I step up to her, a grin painted on my face as she turns her back to me. I come up from behind her and watch her in the faded reflection of the open window as she unbuttons her soiledblouse one by one. When she gets all the buttons fished through the loops, she rests her hands at her sides and waits for me to do the rest.

Carefully, I take one of my hands and trail it down the length of her arm until I reach her hand, interlacing our fingers together. I use my other hand to reach the top of her shoulder where I tuck my fingers under the blouse and pull it down her arm slowly. I lean in, watching the rise and fall of her chest in the reflection of the window, and press my lips gently against the back of her shoulder.

It's a dangerous move, especially when I hear her sigh. After the other night, I can't be too eager to throw caution to the wind, needing it to ground me as I touch my wife.

I skim my fingers down her shoulder, lowering the blouse until I can pull her arm through the sleeve to free her of the fabric. I spin her around to face me, the shirt hanging loosely off one side of her body, her bare breasts pebbled like gooseflesh as she watches me with lust heavy in her eyes.

I take my time to continue to free her from the button up, pulling one arm through then the other before finally allowing it to drop behind her to the floor. She gasps, the cold air brushes against her from the open window and it takes everything in me not to grab her and pull her into me to keep her warm. But the desire in her eyes is making it very hard to have restraint.

I won't touch her, though I want to. But I can't use her for my own selfish needs and I don't want her to fall victim to caving in to her own hidden needs as well. But fuck, I want to touch her. Just not yet.

I move back to let her pull down her panties before she steps out of them, tossing them and the shirt over to the laundry hamper, and then I help her step into the steamy tub.

I watch her as she closes her eyes and sinks in, positioning herself so that her arms rest on the rim of the porcelain, claw-foot tub and her head falls back to relish in the pleasurable warmth. I watch her breath through her nose and the sight before me is an image of absolution on its own; creating a desire in me to need nothing more than what's right in front of me. But I know all too well that it isn't that simple; it's too late to want the simplicity in life when I've carved my path to be nothing but villainous and alone.

I stare at her for only a few more beats before I decide I should leave her to herself, to think and relax. Turning on my heel, I make my way out of the bathroom when I'm stopped.

"Please stay." Lucynda's broken but sincere voice reaches me in a very calm cry for company.

Maybe I thought she'd want this time alone to take in the last few days. I can't imagine her emotions are doing anything but ravaging her mind, body, and soul right now. Just how I want to. But maybe, after feeling so alone in the dungeon and regret eating at her brain, all she wants is someone by her side and I won't be the one to deny her of that.

I turn back around and start to undress myself. Her eyes stay closed as I do, stepping out of my shoes and pants, everything hits the floors in an intimate fashion.

I walk up to the tub and she lifts her head up, eyes trained forward as she makes room for me to sit in behind her. Once I'm positioned, she slides back and presses her back to my chest, leaning back into me as she did with the tub itself.

The cold breeze from the rainy air mixes with the incredible warmth from the bath water, creating an intense pleasure as Lucynda presses her skin into mine, as if we are a true married couple without any problems to face once this bath is over.

---