Page 38 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

I bit back my anger and took a calming breath. “Do you feel better?”

I hadn’t washed her or done a damn thing to help her other than hold her up. I couldn’t. My mind was swirling with revenge.

“I wanna sleep,” she murmured against my pec.

“Okay.” I shut off the water and grabbed a towel from the shelf. “Can you hold onto this bar?” I asked, hoping she could stay on her feet.

She nodded in a wobbly way and I got to work drying her off. Morbid curiosity had me walking behind her to see the damage with my own eyes. Stark anger was the overwhelming feeling, but the deeper gashes, the ones I could almost feel biting my own skin, those made my eyes well up with tears.

There were hundreds of scars, some deeper than others. The skin was puckered from not healing properly. I doubted she even got the proper treatment for them when it happened. And yet, she was still here, still had attitude, even if she was a little damaged. It was just as I fought. My girl—my wife—was a fighter. I just had to find a way to bring it out in her.

I sniffled back the tears and finished drying her off, then hauled her up in my arms and carried her into the other room. I thought about leaving her naked, but then she would realize I saw her back, and she would be mortified. She had to tell me in her own time, otherwise she would never trust me.

I set her on the bed and grabbed some underwear and a t-shirt, one of my own that would cover her ass. She smiled sleepily at me and laid down as I held back the covers. Her head hit the pillow and her eyes closed. I quickly rinsed out the bucket and replaced it by the bed for her. I had to go for a run and burn off some of this anger or I was going to kill someone.

“Ash,” she mumbled, her hand snatching my wrist. Her eyes fluttered open and for just a moment, it was as if she really saw me. “Stay with me?”

I opened my mouth to deny her, but the scars came back into my mind full force. Had she ever had someone to comfort her? Did anyone just lay with her when she needed them? As much as I needed to go beat the shit out of something, or run until my legs gave out, I couldn’t tell her no.

I nodded and climbed into bed behind her. She rolled to her side and grabbed my arm, pulling it over her stomach. I was flush against her, my body molding to hers perfectly. With my cock pressed up against her ass, I would have thought I would have issues, but those images of her back killed any desire.

For now.

There was no denying my attraction to her, but I needed to get my anger under control before I even considered taking our marriage any further than it was now. I couldn’t risk hurting her. I laid with her in the warm bungalow and held her in my arms, finally settling down the longer I held her. The anger seeped from my bones, knowing she was safe as long as she was with me. And I would keep her that way for the rest of her life. I already vowed to, and whether or not I meant it at the time, my head and heart settled on the fact that she was mine.

* * *

“Just wake him up,” Patrick whispered.

“Are you fucking crazy? This is the most I’ve seen him sleep since we took this job,” Chase muttered.

“This is kind of important.”

“So, I’ll deal with it,” Chase said as they walked out of the bungalow.

I drifted back into a state of half-sleep as I kept my body curled around Jade’s. Chase was right, I hardly slept since taking this job. The stress of what was at stake had me constantly planning. But right now, I was warm and comfortable, and not much could move me.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but when I woke again, the sun was lower in the sky and Jade was very much awake, though she was trying to remain quiet. That’s when I realized that my hand was cupping her breast as I pulled her right up against me. My cock was also digging into her ass, rock hard and ready to sink inside her sweet pussy. But she was anything but comfortable. Her breathing was growing more erratic by the second and her body was stiff against mine, where she had molded against me throughout the night.

I didn’t immediately pull away. Instead, I pressed a kiss to her cheek and then slowly pulled away from her. “Morning,” I said gruffly. Then my eyes adjusted to the sky. Yep, it was definitely morning. I had slept the whole night with her in my arms.

“Why…um…what am I in?”

“My shirt,” I answered, but knew that wasn’t enough for her, so I lied. “You were pretty drunk and…you needed a change of clothes.”

“You…dressed me?”

“No, you took a shower and got yourself dressed. Not sure how,” I continued to lie. “You were like a newborn calf.”

She relaxed at my statement, then rolled to face me, tugging the shirt back down in the process. “And…what about you…”

“You asked me to stay with you, and then you pulled my arm over your body.”

She burned bright red as she ducked her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said, my voice still thick with sleep. I could snuggle up to her and sleep for another twelve hours at this point. “I haven’t slept that well in months.”

“We didn’t…”

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