Page 123 of Deadwood
“Off,” she muttered into my still-damp shirt.
“Are you okay to stand?”
She nodded.
Gently, I lowered her to the floor, keeping a hand on her waist to steady her as she swayed.
“I can step out?—”
She quickly shook her head, fisting my shirt where she kept her hand on my shoulder for balance. Despite the mud, the smear of blood by her lip, and rain mixing the two substances together, her green eyes shone brighter than the meadows in the spring. “Please don’t leave me.”
I’d stay forever if she asked.
“I won’t.” Dropping to my knees in front of her, I hesitantly reached forward, looking up to find her watching me. “May I?”
She nodded, her hand still propped on my shoulder for support.
With deft fingers, I worked at the sodden laces of her boots. Once one foot was undone, I gently grabbed her ankle, indicating for her to lift it. She did, and I slid the boot off, tossing it aside. After her foot was back on the ground, I got to work on the other.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I stated, lifting her other foot to slide the second boot off. “Who did this to you, Auria?”
“They were wearing hoods,” she answered, a tad too quickly.
Standing, I leveled her gaze. “Why are you protecting them?”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You know exactly who they are.” My fingers worked on the front laces of her corset, undoing them before shoving it to the ground behind her. Her gaze on mine while I did so awoke a craving so deep, I nearly couldn’t hold it back, but now wasn’t the time.
I moved to her blouse, my hand wrapping around the hem, now completely brown and soaked through, and gently lifted it. I watched to make sure no doubt crept into her eyes. “And by the looks of it, you fought them off.”
Despite her current condition, her chin tilted up slightly. “I did.”
Pride seeped in. “Good girl.” In one swift motion, I lifted the shirt off of her, tossing it to the ground beside her boots. She wore nothing underneath, and it took all I had in me not to look, clenching my jaw to fight off the allure of her. “Pants next.” An inch closer, and my fingers were working on the tie of her leathers. Her breath, so warm and inviting, heated my neck as I kept my eyes on hers. This was torturous when it shouldn’t be.
Hooking my fingers in the waistband, I slid them down, letting them fall to the ground once they were past her knees. A brush of my hand found her underwear still perfectly placed. “These, too?”
She nodded, her throat working. We both knew she was capable of taking them off herself.
My cruel, tantalizing Auria.
Her lips parted as my thumbs hooked in the band. I was gentle with the sheer fabric, tugging them down until they slid the rest of the way off, landing atop her pants.
Her gaze fell to something behind me, her eyes vacant. “They asked how it felt to suffocate,” she said quietly, her voice almost lost in the spray of the shower. It was all I needed to know exactly who had done this. My smoke flickered inside me, urging me to go find our target.
“Well, you’ll never have the answer,” I told her. They wouldn’t live to see the morning.
“I did,” she admitted. “For a moment, I knew what it felt like.”
My hands, thankfully not touching her in this moment, instantly tightened into fists, my fingers nearly breaking as I imagined crushing them to pieces.
“Shower’s ready for you,” I gritted out.
I stepped to the side, giving her space to pass, but the moment her hand left my shoulder, she stumbled forward a bit. I gripped her elbow, steadying her. Had they broken a bone? Injured her worse than I thought? She wouldn’t be able to stand on her own in the shower.
But then my eyes fell to the contact her body had with mine, where her breasts brushed my leather jacket. Fuck, she was beautiful, so godsdamned jaw-dropping, even in this condition.
As she exhaled, I could see her stomach and the bruise blooming on her side.
