Page 54

I shake my head. "No."

"I'm sorry," he says. "Declan told me to."

"Luca, please, I'm—"

He squeezes the garden hose nozzle, and I scream when the ice-cold water hits my skin, taking my breath away.

"Stop!" I yell. "Please! It hurts!"

Eventually, he does stop, and I stand there, chilled to the bone, and watch as he does the same to himself before shutting off the water. He flashes me a smile. "Now we can go in," he says.

"I don't th-th-think I can m-move," I tell him, teeth chattering.

He sighs, then lifts me into his arms. I fold my body into his as much as I can in a shitty attempt to get warm.

"You know, I kind of like you like this," he says as we step inside. "Is that terrible?"

"Y-y-yes."

He laughs like I'm joking, and we pass River and Hazel in the living room.

"What the fuck is going on?" River asks.

"Nothing," Luca says. "Go to bed."

"Fuck that," Hazel says. "Tell us what's going on now, Luca!"

"Declan will talk to you about it in the morning," he says as he ascends the staircase. "Good night."

"Luca, wait!" River calls out. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine; I just need to get her into the shower."

"Well, let us help you."

"No. Leave us alone."

"Luca, don't hurt her!"

"I'm not going to fucking hurt her, River. Go to bed. It's what Declan wants."

We continue down the hallway to what I assume must be his bedroom and then to his bathroom. He sets me down on the toilet and turns on a shower like the one in Layla's room. Once it feels warm against his skin, he removes his wet underwear, then pulls me to my feet and slides mine down my legs, too. I step out of them, and he ushers me into the shower first.

"Ahh!" I scream. "It's burning me!"

He steps into the water and sucks in a breath through his teeth. "It's not," he says. "It's not burning you—you just think it is because you're so cold. Give it a minute, breathe through it."

He wraps his arms around me, and I grimace under the painful spray. He holds my naked body against his own, brushing my wet hair away from my face with his fingers.

Eventually, it stops hurting like he said it would, and I sigh with relief.

"See?" he says. "What'd I tell you? You're okay, Teagan."

He grabs a loofa and, without saying anything else, he washes me and then himself. I wonder if shock is finally setting in because I just stand there and let him, barely able to move or speak. And it doesn't even feel sexual. It feels…loving. Like he's trying to care for me.

He wraps a towel around his waist and then grabs another for me, wringing my hair out before patting me dry. I wrap the towel around my body and he guides me back into the dark bedroom. I'm about to ask him for something to wear when he comes up behind me and pulls the towel from my body.

He presses his body against the back of mine, and I feel him hard against my ass. He leans down, kissing my neck, running his hands over the front of my body, over my breasts and my nipples.