Page 39 of Ruthless Obsession

“Remove your bra and panties. Toss them in the trash.”

“I don’t want you in here,” she sneers.

“Too bad.”

“Now I have to get undressed in front of you?”

I peer down at her. “Yes.”

“So what you plan to take what you want?” she asks.

I curl a hand around her throat. “Remove your soiled bra and panties and get in the fucking shower.”

She scowls but obeys. She unhooks her bra, steps out of her panties.

The odor hits me, sharp and sour.

“This is fucking degrading,” she roars.

My gaze shamelessly sweeps over her ample breast, hairy mound, hips, and legs.

“This is what happens when my little captive couldn’t obey. You sat in your own filth for days.”

“Ah!” she screams, like the words snapped something inside her.

She kicks the underwear aside and lunges. Her fists pound against my chest. She wants me to hurt like she does. Doesn’t care I’m already in pain.

I catch her wrists mid-swing and drag her over to the sink. I don’t say a word as I line her toothbrush with toothpaste and hand it to her like we’re back at the clubhouse, that night when everything started between us.

Once she’s done brushing, she tosses back a paper cup of mouthwash and swishes before spitting it in the sink.

Her eyes catch her reflection—filthy, broken, vulnerable—and the tears fall. I take her hand and guide her into the shower.

“Leave me alone. I don’t want you here,” she spits.

I close the glass door, pick up a fresh washcloth from the shelf, and pour a generous amount of shower gel on the washcloth.

Sophie stares through me. She’s not here. She’s shut down.

I slide the washcloth down her arm watching how her mahogany skin tone looks shiny and renewed.

“Washing me won’t make me like you again,” she says.

“Noted,” I reply.

“Is Toby dead yet?” she asks bluntly.

“No, I’m working on it.”

“When you caught me leaving, I planned to take him out,” she says.

I lather her face next. “Oh, so you were going to come right back here huh?”

Silence.

“I don’t belong in your world,” she whispers.

“And I don’t wash my face with shower gel,” she mutters flatly.