Page 22 of Fear the Reaper
I smiled.
Nova “Star” Shuman
While Estelle spoketo her mother in Canada, and the others sat to discuss my demise, I excused myself and climbed the stairs. My body was shaking again, and this time I refused to go into shock.
Nope. Not gonna happen.
These people were trying to break me and I will show them I am stronger then they believed. I refused to crack a second time during this mess. I’d rather burn their pathetic lives to the ground then dance around the fucking flames. This was too much and as my nerves turned to fear and fear to raw, pulsing rage, my body shook for an entirely different reason other than shock. I closed the bathroom door, braced my hand on the sink and stared into my reflections eyes.
“Let them come.” I muttered. “Enough is fucking enough.”
But even with my pep-talk to myself, I still couldn’t stop the fury surging through me or my hands from shaking. I turned on the tap, ensured the water was running to the right temperature for my body, then reached for a bottle of shampoo. It slipped from my fingers and landed, loudly, in the tub.
“For fuck’s sakes.”
My frustration heightened when I tried reaching back to undo the zipper for my top. I thought it was the sexiest blouse a woman could wear since it hugged the body and the zipper sat just right all the way up to the back of my neck where my hair started. But in that moment I wanted to hurl it out a window.
“Nova?” Reaper’s voice was soft from the other side of the door followed by a knock. “Nova, are you okay?”
“No.” My honesty left my lips before I could stop it. “I’m not okay.”
Why stop now?
“Can I come in?”
Why the hell not? I was still fully dressed even though the water had been running a while. I sighed. “Sure.”
The door opened slowly and Reaper stuck his head in. I guess that was his way of making sure I wasn’t buck-naked. He then drew the rest of his massive frame into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Did you fall?” He asked.
I shook my head then reached into the tub to grab the wet bottle. “I knocked this over. I’m trembling.”
He instantly came closer, held my shoulder in one palm and drew up one of my eye lids followed by the next to look in. I knew what he was searching for—any signs I was going to lose it again. It had been a while since anyone showed that intimate of a concern for me, so I allowed it. He backed away when he was satisfied I wasn’t about to keel over.
“Talk to me.”
“Where do I even start?” I muttered. “All I want to do was steal a little time for myself. Everything has turned to such shit, all I needed was justonesecond to breathe.”
“Okay.”
“I wanted to wash my hair and shave my legs because even if the world is crumbling around me, I didn’t want to have sasquatch legs!”
Reaper laughed softly. It was the first time I’d heard that sound from him. For a moment, I just stared at him, watching the way his cheeks tugged up at the corners, loving his perfectly lined and very white teeth—I love the way the corners of his eyes crinkled in his mirth. How could this man get any sexier?
Was that even possible?
I blew out a puff of air and reached for my toiletries bag. Molly had hooked a girl up and I couldn’t even use any of what was in it. If I tried shaving anything, I’d nick myself so many times I was liable to bleed to death.
“Here.” Reaper took the bag from my hands. He set it back on the small vanity and turned his back. “Get undressed and wrap in a towel.”
“Um…”
“Come on, Sasquatch legs. I don’t have all night.”
“Ass.” I muttered, irritably. Still, I tried doing as he suggested. “Could you help me with this zipper?”
I turned my back and waited. Soon, Reaper gathered my long ponytail in one hand and gently eased it over my shoulder. I wished he would kiss the bare flesh that action exposed. But he didn’t. instead, he tugged the zipper down—slowly—until the air in the bathroom brushed against my skin.
