Page 32 of My Guardian Demon

Onyx appeared out of thin air. I didn't even react. I did wonder absently how he did that. He wore clean clothes and his eyes were their normal black now.

"Wynn," he said, walking to me. He sat on the couch beside me and pulled me into a hug. I closed my eyes and leaned into him. I tried to snuggle closer when I realized how warm and nice Onyx smelled. Spicy. Distinctly him.

"Is he dead?" I whispered.

"Not yet. I wanted to check on you. How are you doing?"

I took a moment to answer. "I think I'm in shock." Everything felt distant, like all this was happening to someone else.

Onyx stroked his hand up and down my side. "It'll pass." He brushed his lips over my temple. "You're doing great."

"What about you? He shot you so many times." My hand went to his chest, but I felt nothing unusual through his shirt.

"He didn't hurt me. It's okay."

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"I have some bruising but nothing serious. Don't worry about me." He squeezed me into his side. "I'm more concerned about you right now. Why don't we get you a shower? That should help you feel better."

"Do you think?"

He nodded. "Yeah, little one. I do."

Onyx walked me down the hallway into the bathroom, his hand on my lower back the entire way. He turned on the water to heat the shower then helped me out of my clothes and under the water stream.

I closed my eyes under the hot spray of water and leaned my head back to enjoy it.

I expected him to leave, so it surprised me when instead he stripped down to his boxers and climbed under the water with me.

"What are you doing?" I opened my eyes and asked as he shut the glass shower door behind him.

"We're getting you a shower. Relax and let me care for you. Right now, you're my biggest concern. I'm not worried about anything but you."

"Okay."

He turned me under the water so that I faced away from him. His hands found my hair and stroked through it.I knew he was simply wetting the strands, but his fingers on my scalp felt great, anyway, and I closed my eyes again.

He grabbed shampoo off a built in shower ledge and squeezed a fistful into his hand, putting the bottle back and warming the shampoo between his palms before rubbing it into my scalp. He took his time and massaged the shampoo in slowly, getting my hair sudsy and eventually piling it on top of my head. I shifted my footing to keep my soapy hair clear of the water.

When I opened my eyes to look at him again, Onyx looked at me with a tenderness that I didn't know he possessed. "Let's get you all clean, yeah?" he said.

Onyx picked up a loofah and body wash off one of the shower ledges. The soap bottle made a squirting noise as he squeezed body wash onto the sponge. He replaced the cap and put the bottle back on the shelf.

I relaxed under the water as he washed my back with the loofah. He lathered the body wash over my back and down my legs. When he reached to wash my front, I leaned my back to his chest and relaxed against him. His warmth was comforting.

He washed me without commenting on how close I'd become to him, though his breath hitched when I leaned against him.

"You're doing so good. Stay relaxed," he murmured against my neck.

When he'd washed me fully, he tossed the loofah aside and leaned my head under the water to wash the shampoo out. His hand shielded my eyes as he rinsed away the suds.

Onyx turned off the water and opened the door. He grabbed a towel off the shelf over the towel rack andpulled it inside the shower. Gently, he dried my hair and then my body. He wrapped the towel around my torso when he finished.

He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel for himself and wrapped it around his waist. He stepped out of his boxers, everything hidden by the towel.

Onyx stepped out of the shower and reached for me. "Come on, little one."

"This is very non-demon-like behavior," I commented, taking his hand and stepping out of the shower.

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