Page 126 of Their Property
We undressed each other, our kisses pausing only when a scrap of clothing got in the way. I was half hard once we stripped down, but she didn’t touch me there. Instead, she led me by the hand into the shower, pulling me under the hot spray with her.
The water ran dark with dried blood from our wrists, and we gently washed our raw, irritated skin with soap. Kyrie hissed with pain when I rinsed around her cuts, and I pulled her closer with a kiss on her temple. Her pain was my pain, and I wanted all of it washed away.
We washed each other, making soft passes over the other’s skin with hands and a small bar of soap. Kisses falling wherever they reached. My life and instincts forced me to be hypervigilant of my surroundings, but right then, my whole awareness was this.
This was the quietness I wanted. The intimacy and alone time with her that I’d been craving, and I never wanted it to end.
But the water did run cold, and I shut it off the moment Kyrie started shivering. I wrapped her up in the biggest towel we had and carried her to the bed like that.
“You’re dripping water everywhere,” she told me with a soft laugh.
“Eh.” I shrugged and continued to pile blankets and pillows around her until she was thoroughly cocooned. Only then did I grab a towel for myself and swipe it over my skin and hair.
“I’m missing my favorite pillow.” Kyrie stuck an arm out, reaching for me.
How? Just how did she know how to make my chest feel like I swallowed the sun? I loved the guys, but this was different. She made me feel like she needed me, and I ate it up like T-Bone ate cinnamon rolls.
I finished drying off, then grabbed her hand and kissed it before sliding in next to her. She was already warm like a small furnace and squeaked when I put my cold hand on her belly.
“Not your feet! No, not your feet!”
Too late. I put my icy foot on Kyrie’s calf until she howled and held her close when she tried to squirm away. Glaring, she touched her nose to mine and then licked it. I pulled back, stared at her intently for a moment, and then crossed my eyes. The cackle she let out was my favorite sound in the whole world.
“Forgetting everything is exactly what I need right now,” she said, snuggling into my chest. “And you’re the best at doing that. Thank you, Grudge.”
I tapped her shoulder until I was sure she was watching my hands.“Sorry about your dad,”I signed.
She let out a sigh that seemed to deflate her whole body. “I was expecting it, to be honest. I had hope for a better outcome, but I think deep down, I knew he would never support us.”
“Maybe one day,”I offered with a shrug.
“Maybe, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ve made my choice.” She planted a kiss on my chest. “And if I had to do it over again, I’d choose you every single time.”
I stilled beneath her. Even my hand that had been stroking her back had paused, and she noticed.
“You think that letter is going to change my mind about you?” Kyrie said.
“I don’t know,”I signed, then reached for a pen and paper on the nightstand to elaborate.If you’re going to choose us, that should be an informed decision.
“I’ve already chosen,” she said more firmly. “Based on enough information for me. But if it’s important to you that I read the letter, I will.”
You deserve to know what it says, so yes,I wrote.T and D are the only other ones who know what’s in it. If we’re all in this together, you shouldn’t be the odd one out.I hesitated before adding, It might be difficult to read. It’s…graphic.
That only seemed to steel her even more. She gave me a firm nod and said, “Okay then. I’m ready.”
I got up to retrieve the folded stack of paper that she’d put aside when we undressed for our shower. After handing them to her, I signed,“Do you want me to let you read alone?”
“No, of course not.” She patted the space next to her where I’d just been.
Nerves flipped in my stomach, but I returned to the warm space at her side. Kyrie snuggled into me again, relaxing as she unfolded the stack. My arm went around her shoulder, and I could read over the top of her head. Not that I needed to. I knew every word as if they’d been carved into me.
For Kyrie
I was never supposedto be born. My mother was barely more than a child herself when she had me. Still, she was brave and sought help to get away from the man who preyed upon her and many others.
Help came in the form of a community of women who gave her shelter, food, clothing, even diapers and baby things for me. Before moving into the community, she was asked if her infant was a girl, and she told them yes.
For the first twelve years of my life, she kept me hidden away, and I didn’t understand why. She told me never to speak or make noise when she went off to work for the day. I overheard other women asking about her “daughter”, and my mother would say, “She’s sickly. The sunlight is bad for her. She has a poor immune system, and it’s not safe for her to be exposed to blood.”
