Page 32 of Bound By Obsession

Reaching for the shampoo, Avery busies her hands working up a lather and massaging it into her scalp, her eyes still appraising Garrett’s muscles. “Do you think you’ll ever get a tattoo that has meaning behind it?” Garrett pauses, the vulnerability flashing across his face as he answers.

“I’m contemplating it.” Avery misses the longing look he gives her, too busy washing her hair and peering through the material at the rest of his artwork. His body is fascinating, and this is the closest she’s ever got to fully seeing it.

“I like them,” she says quietly, her hands dropping to her side. “They suit you.”

Garrett lets out a breath he’d probably been holding. “Thanks.” The tension between them shifts, becoming more intimate. Garrett slowly turns her to finish washing out the shampoo, his movements gentler now, more focused. Avery closes her eyes, leaning into the sensation of his hands working through her tangled strands.

I stay quiet, watching from my spot by the door, not wanting to break the spell they’re under. Garrett, for all his bravado, isn’t used to being seen like this; exposed, vulnerable. He doesn’t even like me pressing him too hard to open up. But with Avery, it’s different. She doesn’t judge him, doesn’t pry too hard, but she sees him. Really sees him.

The water runs clear, and Garrett shuts off the shower. “You’re done,” he says, his voice softer than before. He reaches for the towel and drapes it over her shoulders, his fingers brushing against her skin for a brief moment before he pulls away.

Avery looks up at him, smiling softly. “Thanks, Garrett.”

He nods, his usual cockiness muted. “Yeah. No problem.” As Avery stands, wringing out her hair with the towel, Garrett steps back, giving her space. His shirt clings to him, outlining every muscle and tattoo, but he doesn’t seem to care as much. Maybe he’s starting to get comfortable in his own skin around her. Around both of us.

Avery looks over her shoulder, her voice, light and teasing. “You know, you should really wear your tattoos with pride, Garrett. They’re kind of hot.” I grin, knowing that comment is going to stick with him for a while. Garrett finally laughs, coming back to himself.

“What do you mean, kind of?” he nudges her, a smirk dancing across his lips.

“Come let me dry your hair for you, Beautiful,” I hold out my arm. “A Princess deserves pampering after all.” Instead ofgiving me shit for that princess comment, Avery approaches me, shooting back the wink I gave her earlier.

Turning us both towards the bedroom, I slowly and silently clap for a job well done. She’s a sneaky one, even if she doesn’t know the extent in which she just helped Garrett through multiple demons he faces alone. Just letting her scratch the surface of his trauma is a feat that took me years.

But maybe that’s because Garrett doesn’t realize he’s already falling for her. It’s just a matter of time before he admits it to himself.

Breaching the salty surface, the burn in my lungs starts to fade as I gasp in mouthfuls of clean air. Seagulls fly overhead in the sky, heading towards the heavy gray clouds rolling this way. A deep rumble in the distance is a sign I need to get out of the sea before the storm hits. Diving back into the icy water, I kick as fast as my nearly frozen legs will move, coming up for air every few powerful strokes of my arms. The beach is in sight when the rain hits, pelting mini bullets of water down onto me. Finding the seabed beneath my feet, I push myself up and wade the rest of the way to shore.

Not slowing once back on land, I grab the towel I’d left on the sand and force my legs to carry me towards the beach house. Leaving the violent crash of waves behind, the calm sea I had entered turning turbulent, my feet hit the wooden porch steps.

Taking a second to collect myself, I lean against the blue exterior and watch the dramatic weather shift from the safety of the porch’s timber cover. A dense sheet of rain hides the sea from my vision, a bright flash lighting the landscape briefly. The back door beside me flies open and a hand flies around the corner to latch onto my arm, dragging me inside.

“What the hell were you thinking, swimming in that?!” Huxley whisper-shouts. By his hunched demeanor and low tone, I conclude that the others are still asleep upstairs. He crowds me against the now-closed door, his bare chest heaving beside my face. I glare up at his chocolate brown eyes, hidden within the curtain of his wavy hair.

“What? You’re allowed to decide when you come and go alone but I’m not allowed to take a swim without permission?” I snap bitterly. Hux holds my gaze, his chest heaving. “Obviously it wasn’t raining when I initially went into the water. I just needed to think for a while.” Huxley’s brown eyes narrow in the way they do when he’s about to lecture me, so I try to shove past him to leave. A puddle starts to form at my feet, my hair dripping onto the Lino floor. Thunder rumbles around the building, rivaling the rain’s noise.

Hux is like a whippet, snatching the towel in my hand and creating a cage around my middle with his strong arm. I buck as if I would be able to escape, even if I wasn’t dripping wet and slippery. In a battle of wills, Huxley holds me tight and drags the towel through my hair with the other hand, squeezing tightly at the ends. My elbows are flying and a few times, my feet leave the floor.

“Hey!” Huxley jerks me roughly. “I’m not your enemy here! I’m fighting too damn hard for your safety, for you to go and catch pneumonia in the early hours.” I continue to throw myself around like a rag doll, as if the act of him drying my hair is burning me. In actual fact, I just needed a break from beingcared for. I’m not some precious princess who can’t look after herself - this morning’s swim is exempt from that notion.

“No! My enemy is a real father who won’t let me be free of him, an adoptive father who sent me here to hide away and a mom who never told me anything of importance until it’s too late and now she’s not here for me to defend herself but if I’m angry with her, I’m the asshole because she’s dead!”

My limbs drop, hanging loose. If it weren’t for Huxley’s hold around my middle, I’d have collapsed on the floor. His chest pressed against my back, wet hair forgotten over my shoulder.

“Avery,” Huxley slowly turns me and plants his hands on my waist. I refuse to look at him, shame lacing my cheeks. “Hit me.” My eyes fly upward, widened as I snort.

“I’m not going to hit you Huxley.”

“Yes you are. You’re either going to fight me or fuck me, but either way, we’re not leaving this kitchen until you’ve found whatever release you were searching for out there.” He jerks his head to the door. The rain is roaring now, punctuated by flashes of light and rumbles of thunder. The storm is crawling closer, beating as viscerally as the pounding of my heart. The cold seeps in then. The water clinging to my skin creeps beneath the rage bubbling inside. I’m so fucking cold. The sea water was freezing, and it did nothing to freeze the thoughts plaguing my mind.

Drifting my gaze back to Huxley, my hands ball into fists but there’s no weight behind my thumb to his chest. Instead, my forearms settle against his abs and I fall into him.

“How can you see me when I have no idea who I am?” I breathe, voice hitched. Strong fingers tilt my chin upward, the tenderness in Huxley’s movements too much to consider.

“You’re Avery Hughes. An incredible, strong and stunning woman. You dance without fault and you love without limitations. You’re our Little Swan.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be with me anymore.” Weakness leaks into my voice, and I don’t have the energy to care anymore. Huxley already knows I’m broken. Deft fingers tuck a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

“There hasn’t been a single day since meeting you that you haven’t held my heart, Aves. I just needed to take a step back to think logically. If anything happened to you because of my infatuation, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

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