Cherry Crush (5 page)

“Laney,” he quietly called to her.

His voice socked her out of the depths of her shame and guilt in which her mind had been descending. Choking back a sob, she lifted her head enough to spy his concerned face, then turned hers away.

“You…,” she stuttered, her chest heaving, struggling to control the tears that ran down her face that blended with the hot water that remained pouring over her. “Y-you must…m-must thi-nk th-that I’m a…a…a fool.” She needed to get rid of the pity she just knew was reflected in his eyes.

“Laney….” His voice sounded lower pitched than normal.

“I-I know….” She sniffed, forced her shudders to cease, and lifted her head to stare at him. “I should h-have p-paid atten-tion. I-I s-should have—”

“Nothing you could have done would have stopped them from acting the animal.”

“I should have waited.” She had to make him see that she was going to take responsibility for her actions. Didn’t he see that she was trying to cope with her mistakes?

“Then the fault lies with me,” he growled. His hands gripped her upper arms, regardless of the water that soaked him to the skin. “The fault lies with me, the one who should have been there waiting for you!”

“No!”

“And the fault lies with your boss for going home to his pregnant wife instead of offering you a ride.”

“I-it’s not— He offered....”

“So he should have forced you to accept. And the fault lies with the officers who did not hear your screams.”

She shook her head, her eyes wide as she tried to deny the truths he forced her to listen to.

“Then the fault lies with the ruffians that decided to take by force that which you have offered to me in affection.”

She looked up and into the quiet strength of Chan’s face, read the sincerity in his eyes, and her thought processes realigned.

His eyes…they…they swirled.

Odd things lingered in his eyes, one of them the way the colors melded and combined, creating a rainbow that reflected peace and contentment. So many things in those eyes, those beautiful glowing orbs. Her panic receded, and her thoughts righted themselves with her previous train of thought…the way she thought before the attack.

“It was not my fault.” She sighed, leaned into his grip, dropped her forehead to his collarbone, and tucked her head neatly under his chin. “Not my fault.”

“Never,” he breathed and pulled her tight against his chest, enfolding her in his arms. “Never your fault, my koi.” My love.

She was wet and shivering in his arms.

She was wet, naked, and shivering in his arms.

She was wet and naked and shivering and lying oh so trustingly in his arms.

And like any man, the feel of her soft warm body went straight to his cock.

He had only pushed a little when she looked into his eyes, just enough to help clear out the self-doubt and panic caused by her fear. But when she opened herself to him, the things he saw, he felt….

His Laney, his fierce little kitten, was in love with him.

The knowledge of that love, something that he wasn’t even sure that she was aware of, touched his inner core so deep it stole his breath, and for a moment, he basked in the awareness of that love.

When you couple that with the desire she felt for him…. Ah, his libido was flying out of control.

Now was not the time to act, he knew. His Laney, snuggled in his arms, needed more than the amorous attentions of a lovesick male. She needed kind words, comfort, and understanding.

So, with those thoughts foremost in his mind, he released her long enough to turn off the water, then swooped down and lifted her in his arms, his knight to her damsel in distress.

“Chan!” she cried and reached for him with both arms, burrowing herself deeply against his body, hopefully seeking safety and security until she could stand on her own once more.

Chan was stunned that she would offer up her trust in this way, so quickly after being attacked by those unworthy men. Because, above all other things he was to her - mind, friend, companion, protector - Chan was and would always be a man. It was a fact that couldn’t be escaped. And that his Laney would turn to him, even with the small mental push he gave her…Chan was humbled.

“I can still feel their hands on me!” she sobbed into his now wet chest, rubbing her face onto the damp silk of his shirt.

“Shh, Laney-kitten,” he murmured, burying his face in her wet hair. “I have you now. No one will ever hurt you again.”

“I feel so dirty,” she wept, trying to lose herself in the safety of his embrace. “Help me.”

“How?” he asked.

“I can’t wash them away. Please get them off of me!” She began to cry in earnest.

Chan eased them both back down to the tiled floor and retrieved the washcloth and soap. Gently he soaped her back.

“They can’t hurt you anymore Laney-kitten,” Chan crooned into her ear, such a tiny, kitten-like ear. “They are only in your mind.”

He kept up a dialog of comforting chatter as he carefully washed each part of her body. Finally he eased a finger under her chin to look into her deep liquid eyes. With
 
tears growing in his eyes, he softly kissed her chin, both eyes, and finally her trembling lips.

“None of this is your fault. Those boys acted on their own accord. Nothing you did or said would have changed that. If I had been there sooner....” He paused but shook his head and continued, “But that is neither here nor there. The truth is that they lacked control. You were brave and strong. You would have gotten away from them even if I hadn’t shown up. You are a brave woman. Feel no misplaced guilt for their actions.”

He tenderly wiped a tear away from one eye with his thumb and cupped her face in both hands.

“You are beautiful.”

She stared into his golden eyes for a moment, seeing only truth there, and smiled through her remaining tears.

After helping so many women deal with physical and emotional abuse, Chan had guessed what she was thinking and knew just what to say to ease her pain.

“I got you all wet,” she murmured as if in apology.

Chan only nodded as he dropped the sponge and climbed from the stall. Laney watched as he quickly stripped down to his shorts and pulled on a thick terry robe that hung behind the door.

All while he was undressing, the last traces of her nightmare vanished, obliterated by the sheer beauty of Chan’s unclothed form. Oblivious to her perusal, Chan grabbed a bath sheet from a low shelf and carefully lifted her from the stall.

“I want to look at the knife cut, Kitten,” he told her as he settled her on top of the closed lid of the toilet.

He retrieved some towels from the heated towel rack and briskly rubbed her dry, chuckling a little as he wrapped her head completely in the soft, lavender-scented folds.

She snatched the towel away from her eyes and glared at him.

In response, he bent down and placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose before opening the medicine cabinet and removing an oddly shaped green bottle.

The shallow cut had not reopened she noted, but he gently smoothed some sort of greenish brown cream into it before carrying her back into the bedroom.

He noted that she was staring at the ointment jar from the medicine cabinet, and smiled.

“It’s something that my father taught me to make.” He dabbed one last bit onto the wound and, almost instantly, Laney felt the nagging heat that indicated where the cut was dissipate. “It is good for cuts and bruises. It contains marigold petals, mugwort, and foxglove, along with a few herbs and plants I doubt you would recognize.”

He bowed his head and appeared to whisper a little prayer before he placed a small kiss on the wound and rose to his feet.

“Time for you to get some rest,” he spoke quietly as he lifted her slight weight into his arms. “I will leave you to your dreams.”

Alone? Laney thought. He was going to leave her alone? The thought of being in that big bed by herself gave her shivers.

“Please stay with me tonight, Chan,” she implored softly, gripping the sleeve of his robe as he placed her on the bed. “I don’t want to be alone.”

She didn’t know where the courage to ask that came from, but she knew that she would be okay if her Chan was with her.

“Ok, Kitten,” he replied, trembling as he closed his eyes in thought. Something agitated him, and Laney hoped he wasn’t spooked by her request, but she really needed to feel his body beside her tonight. She needed the comfort that only he could offer.

She examined his beloved face, the way his damp hair framed it and brought attention to his large nose and the sharp masculine plane of his chin.

That face, that unique and wholly masculine face never failed to send a tremor of electricity through her body, even now when she felt her foundations had been shaken.

“Just let me dry out some,” he finally spoke. “And get you something dry to wear….”

Laney gasped when she suddenly realized that she was dressed in nothing more than a towel. She had been crying on his shoulders and baring her soul… totally naked! She was naked in front of Chan, the thing that she had been dreaming about for months, and she never realized!

How could she be so comfortable with the man in her nude state, especially after what had happened in the alley?

But damn she felt safe and secure with Chan! If anything, the fact that she was talking and not taking the typical sci-fi solution to confront problems—when in danger when in doubt, run in circles scream and shout—was just another indication that she had picked the right man to be her first.