could do was hope that my life would be restored, wherever my newfound journey would take me.
Through the clamorous noise of the spewing water and the incensing pipework, the drape was pulled back, the shower gel and loofa torn from the metal shower caddy. Within a few seconds, over my back and shoulders, lightly cleansing circles were made, resulting in pleasurable moans being ripped from my throat, and an amused chuckle torn from his. My ankle was tapped twice, indicating for me to part my legs. As I did, the sponge was taken down my behind, thighs and calves. Sensitivity spawned from the pinnacle between my legs as the sponge, alongside the burning heat of the water, stroked each round and oval blemish. My tales of a very much remembered and inescapable story…
Sucking air between my teeth, I was asked if I was alright, the pressure behind my cleansing easing minutely before returning to a northern site.
Smiling, I craned my head over my shoulder to face him. “You’re getting wet.”
“’Aye, I’ll be fine, darlin’. A little water won’t kill me.”
“Just come in with me…please,” I pulled my best doe-eyed, pleading expression with pouting lips, still, he sniggered and shook his head, decisive.
“Kady, I just want to look after you for now. I’ve wanted to do it for as long as I can remember. Please, don’t take that from me.”
Taking extra care not to slip in the tub, I turned my entire body to face him. The rebounding spray of the shower blanketed his arms, turning the black ink of his tribal tattoo almost gloss-like, and although his tank top was black, I could see it was absorbing its fair share of water. I watched him as he studied me, with his simple smile displaying his adoration in plenty. Yet I could sense a further underlying explanation, and it was one I knew was going to be a mammoth of a hurdle to overcome.
“Are you scared to show me again?”
An exasperated breath followed my name as Walker groaned his complaint. The sponge dropped back into its place and his hands found their way into his hair as he turned his back to face me.
“Walker they won’t keep me away, I can handle it.”
I jolted when he spun at high velocity on his heel to face me once again, with a riled glaze in his eyes. His arms were demanding, maddened and heavy as his hands left his hair and gathered the hem of the tank-top containing his perfectly imperfect body.
“You think you can handle it?” he snapped, winding me with his intensity of his incense and affront. Muscles rippled and hardened, shadows formed below each abdominal making them even more distinct as he dropped the material to the floor. “For Christ sake, look at me, Kady,” he raised his voice over the sound of the torrent, his lilt coming thick and grave as he stood motionless, his arms outspread like wings of a fallen angel, offering an unobstructed view of his body. “I’m a fuckin’ wreck. Each one of these holds a painful fuckin’ memory.”
“Then let me help you.”
“It’s not that simple, darlin’,” his voice was smoother, yet still held a discernible amount of mockery. “This one,”––he motioned to a gash just above his left hipbone,––“was done when I was fourteen, my very first self-inflicted wound all because a kid at school insulted my ma, and I was under assessment after God knows how many suspensions and I couldn’t afford to get kicked out. I smashed a glass bottle and hacked myself up at lunch. This one,”––he pointed to a round blemish, slightly larger than the ones on my thighs,––“I used the exact same method as you when I found out my ma was sick. This one,”––his fingers came to the silver slash over the right side of his ribs, the first one I had touched.––“This one I did last year, the day I came to visit you when I found out that cunt had you locked away in Pinewood.”
I was standing in front of him as he bared his all to me. Seeing his emotional pain and his anger