Page 44 of Caged Bird

I slipped out of my underwear. Toed off my shoes.

A slight breeze kissed my skin, making every inch of it feel alive. Sinking into the hot water straight afterward was complete bliss. I couldn’t help the groan of pleasure that slipped from my mouth, and unlike last night, where Zane’s hand over my mouth had been necessary to keep me quiet, this time, there was nobody around to hear me.

Nobody but the man down by the stream who paused at the noise, hesitated like it had affected him, then went back to scrubbing his hands.

He had a bar of soap, I realized, a froth forming at the edge of the water as he rinsed it off his skin.

Another bar sat on the edge of the bathtub, nothing fancy, just the cheap stuff Eddie bought, but I was well used to it. And welcomed the feeling of getting clean.

I had no idea how we’d explain not reeking of shit to Eddie when we got back to the house. We’d have to sneak through the back. Maybe call out to him that we wouldn’t come near him until we smelled better, since it seemed to trouble his delicate sensibilities so much.

I stifled a laugh, remembering the way he’d gagged just from the smell wafting off Zane. It was the same thing he’d done whenever Otis’s diapers had needed changing.

I wondered if Zane knew about his brother’s aversion to feces. And if that was exactly why he’d orchestrated a sewage emergency.

I sank beneath the water, letting it wash over my hair and fill my ears. The warmth enveloped me deliciously, and when I came back up for air, it was with a sense of peace. It was foreign, but I welcomed it. Let it soothe away frazzled nerves that never felt relaxed. Let it ease tense muscles that knew no other way to be.

I rested my arms on the edges of the bathtub, the water just covering my breasts. “You’re going to rub your hands raw if you keep scrubbing them like that,” I called to Zane.

He didn’t turn around. “Maybe so. But you’re naked just a few feet away, and moaning. So I’m just going to keep scrubbing until you’re done and dressed.”

A tiny smile lifted the corner of my mouth as he did indeed scrub at his skin with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. But the more he did it, the more I really was concerned he was going to rub his skin right down to the bone. “You wanted to talk about last night—”

He groaned, standing abruptly. “I know that’s why I got you down here. We do need to talk. But fuck, Fawn.” His shoulders heaved with the weight of too-fast breaths. “I can’t talk about last night when you’re naked.”

“I could get dressed.”

“I would not enjoy that either.” Keeping his back to me, he pulled off his shirt and then his boots.

I laughed while he hopped around on one foot, trying to get his socks off, but the laughter died away as soon as he lowered his work pants, and then his underwear.

He splashed his way into the water naked, wading out into the middle of the stream, which was hip-deep on him, before ducking down to fully submerge himself.

He came back up, all bronzed muscle and water droplets running down his spine. The globes of his ass just peeking out from the water.

“Jesus Christ,” I mumbled to myself, mouth watering.

He still hadn’t peeked a single look at me.

But I stared shamelessly, taking my fill of everything I hadn’t gotten to see in the dark.

Remembering the way he’d touched me, and the response it had elicited from my body, a surge of lust filled me once again.

Zane would leave soon. I was sure of it. Eddie would get better, and he’d release whatever hold it was he had on Zane that currently kept him here. And when that happened, I’d be alone again. Maybe for years. Maybe for the rest of my life.

I couldn’t imagine going another day without having a man touch me the way Zane had last night, let alone years.

It lit up a panic inside me. One that overcame the fear that Zane was tricking me.

Being left alone again was somehow worse.

I got up from the bath, the water sloshing around me, some spilling over the edge of the tub onto the ground below. I stepped out, ignoring the sharp bite of crunchy leaves and twigs beneath my feet, as well as the towels Zane had left for me.

There was no way of keeping my footsteps silent.

“Are you decent?” Zane called. “You found the towels? Can I turn around?”

I wasn’t decent. I was completely bare-ass naked. But that didn’t stop me from softly saying, “You can turn around.”

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