Handcuffs

Chapter Four - Protection

I woke up to a heavy weight on my stomach and hot breath on the back of my neck. Panic gripped my chest until I remembered - I was in Ryder’s room. I couldn’t actually expect to kick him out of his room, after all. I was an unexpected guest.

I tried to slip out of his hold as carefully as I could - I didn’t want to wake him up after all. As I continued to try to slip out, I felt a harsh breath of air - a silent laugh - as his arm tightened around me.

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” he mumbled softly, his voice husky - the voice of a man who hadn’t yet spoken that day. My cheeks flamed as I felt his bare back pressing against my bare shoulders. The nightgown Jade had changed me into was anything but modest, and some part of me wondered what kind of mother would change a girl into a revealing nightgown, knowing she would be spending the night with her son.

He tensed a little, and I almost knew he was looking at the newly cleaned wounds on my back. “G-good morning,” I stuttered quietly, trying once more to wiggle out of his arms. His hold tightened and I froze, not wanting to anger him this early in the morning.

“Go take a shower. Kylie gave me some spare body wash and stuff that she keeps here to leave in the shower for you,” Ryder mumbled, lifting his arm from my waist. “I’ll go track down some clothes for you.” He left without another word.

As the door closed behind him and I slowly got up, stretching, I noticed an odd smell in the room. My eyebrows scrunched together as I looked around for the source until they landed on a still lightly smoking stick that was being held between the teeth of a skull. Incense. The smell was more pleasant than I’d like to admit, a mixture of relaxing vanilla and jasmine, along with something else that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The box that held more of the sticks next to the burner only said, “Night Queen.”

I padded my way to the bathroom with bare feet, the hardwood floors making me grimace. I hated walking on wood floors with bare feet - I preferred carpet over everything else. Carpet wasn’t cold in the morning.

I closed and locked the door behind me, though part of me knew that no one in this household would sneak in while I was taking a shower. I turned the shower on as hot as it could go and stripped out of the silky black material of my borrowed nightgown. I couldn’t help it as my gaze drifted to the long mirror in the bathroom, instantly locking on the lacerations across my back. Some were deep and some were barely scratches, but none of them were quite deep enough to require stitches. Mother had made sure of that.

My skin was ugly and marred, just as I was ugly and bony. I couldn’t stand the sight of myself anymore and stepped into the steaming hot shower.

The body wash I found was scented what the company called “toasted sugar,” but personally I thought it just smelled like sugar cookies. I liked it, finding comfort in the warm scent, but part of me wanted something more along the lines of dark and relaxing, almost like the incense that burned in Ryder’s room.

I washed myself quickly, being careful over my back, and used the shampoo and conditioner that was placed next to the body wash. When I stepped out of my quick shower, I immediately spotted a tube of body lotion that matched the scent of the body wash.

Cautiously, I stepped out into Ryder’s room, looking around. In a pile on his bed was a fresh pair of underwear, - my cheeks flamed at the idea of him handling something like that for me to wear - a pair of black socks, and a pair of black leggings with a sports bra. I took the pile and scurried back into the bathroom, dressing quickly. When I came back out with my arms wrapped around my torso self consciously, Ryder was sitting on the bed, staring at his hands.

I let out a short scream, embarrassed that he was seeing me like this.

His head snapped up, and he looked concerned until he registered why I screamed. A smirk slipped onto his face. Before he could say anything, however, I interrupted him. “I don’t have a shirt,” I said dumbly.