Page 72 of His Enforcer

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

Halfway dragging him into a guest room on the far side of the house, I open the window so he can hear the rain, and then pull him to the ensuite bathroom. I turn the shower on, knowing he’ll want to wash the smell of smoke from his body. The smell reminds him of it, whatever happened. And I want to bring him back to the present. I strip him until he’s completely naked and help him inside. I use my hands to scrub at his skin, the fresh smell of soap washing everything else away.

Fuck. I should probably shower too.

I’m still naked from earlier, so I just step into the narrow stall with him, leaning into his wet body and holding him to me.

He’s quiet, so I just let him be.

I get it.

I fuckinggetit.

The way certain things trigger me. Trauma has a way of burying itself deep inside, worming its way into your bones, and never leaving.

My hands move up his back, and he leans into me. My fingers spread across his shoulder blades and he turns his face into my neck.

“Let me wash myself and then we can lie down,” I say gently, and he huffs.

He probably hates that it’s me in here with him, comforting him, but fuck it. I’m the only one here.

I pull away for a moment, scrubbing the bar of soap over me and rinsing off before turning off the water and stepping out. Luca is just standing there, his gaze on me.

I toss him a towel and he catches it, holding it against his chest. He makes no move to dry off, so I do it for him, dragging it over his skin until he’s no longer wet.

Then I pull him into the bedroom and onto the mattress, tugging the covers over us.

It smells like rain in here, wet and earthy. The sound of it pounding the ground outside has me relaxing slightly. Not that Luca is. He seems to be back in that dark place, his gaze slightly far away. So I pull him into me, both of us on our sides, our knees pressed together, my arm wrapped around him, and my hand settled on his back.

Our foreheads are just inches apart, and I press my nose against his.

“Come back, Luca. You’re safe. You can come back now.”

He blinks up at me, those dark eyes meeting mine.

But he says nothing, so I just press in closer to him. I can feel his heartbeat against my chest and I drag my fingers across the skin of his back.

He shivers, so I do it again.

“How about we play a game?”

When he doesn’t answer, I add, “I’m going to draw a letter on your back and you guess what it is.”

He swallows and so I drag my finger over his back.

A moment later, he murmurs, “C.”

“Yeah. Okay, ready for the next one?”

He nods, that faraway look starting to disappear. I draw another letter on his back.

“O.”

“Mhm. Next?”

He nods and my fingernail traces a shape on his back, bumping over his spine as I go.

“C.”

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