Downfall(57)

Orley



I was relieved Solo hadn’t locked me out of the bathroom when he disappeared, his heavy, dark mood lingering behind him. He was obviously trying to put on a happy face so Noble didn’t pick up on whatever had thrown him off his game, but he was only slightly successful. She asked me no less than five times why Solo was sad when I got her settled into bed, knowing it was going to be a minute before she fell asleep in this new, industrial place. I read her a short story, hoping that would help the process along, but all she wanted to talk about was the odd way Solo had acted when he returned from our apartment complex. I answered her questions to the best of my ability, not knowing what was going on in that handsome head of his. Eventually, Noble’s eyes got heavy and she seemed sleepy enough that I dared leaving her on the pull-out so I could go check on the man who had made it his personal mission in life to protect both me and the sleepy little girl.

I wasn’t ready for the sight that greeted me when I walked through the bathroom door.

Solo had been in the shower for so long, I was sure he had to be simply hiding out to avoid my questions. Instead, the tiny space was filled with steam and fog so thick it was hard to breathe. Solo was on his knees in the glass enclosure and his wide shoulders were hunched over and shaking ever so slightly. I gasped in surprise and put my hands over my mouth to muffle the sound. I didn’t want to interrupt his moment. He was clearly lost in his own feelings, and now was not the time to force him to deal with mine. When someone as strong as Solo was brought to his knees, it was going to take someone equally as strong to lift him back to his feet. I wasn’t sure I was that person, but there was no way I wasn’t going to try to be. It was the least I could do after he lent me his strength so many countless times.

I quickly stripped out of my clothes and tiptoed into the shower enclosure behind him. He didn’t lift his head or move in the slightest aside from the tiny tremors working their way through his entire body. His breathing was ragged and his hands were curled into fists so tight his knuckles were as white as the tiles where he knelt. The stark environment made the mottled bruises covering his entire side seem even angrier and more severe than when I initially wrapped him. Seeing this leviathan of a man on his knees, clearly emotional over something monumental, was a vivid reminder that he wasn’t invincible after all.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as hard as I could. His skin was hot, and every muscle in his back was as tense as a tightly strung guitar string. He felt like he was going to shatter if I moved wrong. The water was still warm, which was a miracle considering how long he’d been holed up in here. I kissed the back of his neck and did my best to soothe away whatever hurt he was feeling.

He didn’t say anything for a long time. He was quiet while I rocked him softly and whispered the same sounds in his ear that Noble liked when she was having a moment. It wasn’t until the water started to chill that Solo finally seemed to shake off the shroud of sorrow he’d been wrapped in so tightly. His fists unclenched and one reached for my hand, while he used the other to pull us both to our feet. His face twisted in a small grimace of pain when he used his core strength in a way his ribs weren’t entirely ready for yet. My knees protested at the sudden change in position, and I shivered as the droplets of cold water traveled down my skin.

With one hand braced at the base of my spine and the press of his body, Solo effortlessly backed me against the slick tile wall. His dark head dropped to the hollow where my neck and shoulder met, and I felt the brush of his lips against my collar bone.

“Is Noble asleep?” His voice was a husky rasp, which sent an entirely different kind of shiver through my naked body.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and nodded. I kissed his temple and pulled him closer, partly for comfort and partly for warmth. It was getting cold without the warm water surrounding us. Luckily, his big body emanated heat like a furnace.

“She was on her way when I came to check on you. Do you want to fill me in on what’s going on with you tonight?” I ran my fingers along the nape of his neck and he leaned more fully into me.

We were pressed together so tightly there was no room between our bodies for anything to fit, including the water still clinging to our skin. My nipples beaded into tight, painful points against his chest, and my legs moved instinctively when he shifted one of his knees between mine. The wide palm resting on my low back slid downward until it was caressing the curve of my ass, and his breath was warm and damp against the pulse at the base of my neck. He roughly whispered, “Not right now. I feel so bad inside, but holding you, it feels so good. I’d rather focus on that.”

The strong thigh shoved between mine moved and my hips shifted involuntarily in response. I used my thumb to trace little circles on the back of his neck and moved my lips to the curve of his ear. “But you will tell me?” Having Solo shut me out was almost as bad as having him make all my decisions for me. He promised we were going to be on the same team, and if that was the case, then he needed to let me play the game, win or lose. We would do either together or not at all.

He lifted his head and stared at me with those unreadable, midnight eyes. They were so fathomless, and so cold where the rest of him was like touching an open flame.

“Talk later. This now.” I didn’t argue when he lowered his head so he could touch his lips to mine.

Solo usually kissed with care and a touch of consideration. Not tonight. Tonight, he wasn’t kissing me like the guy who lived next door. This wasn’t the man who playfully raced around with Noble and watched out for an elderly veteran who slept on the steps. This wasn’t the loving son who did everything he could to care for his mother, even when the odds were stacked against them.