Claimed by the Primals

Chapter Fourteen

Hot fucking water. Soap, shampoo, conditioner... Oh my god, I can't even tell you how good that shower felt. To this day, I don't think I've had a better one, and I've had shower sex, so, like, you can imagine how damn good it all felt. I think I shed several layers of skin by the time I was done, until I was raw and pink all over.

I didn't stop to look myself in the mirror. I had no interest in seeing how much weight I'd lost or how bad the bruises were. I didn't even have that much weight to lose in the first place, but after weeks in a hole being starved... you get it.

Kade had left me to shower alone, despite my protests, so he could get me something to eat. He wasn't back when I limped out to the main room and found a simple, wrap-style sundress laid out on the bed for me. I ignored it, crawled under the covers, and was out cold in seconds.

It was the first time I'd gotten a decent amount of sleep in weeks. I was so out of it, I didn't even wake up when Kade returned. I know this, because when I finally woke up, he was stretched out beside me, leaning against the headboard. He was scrolling through his phone and running his fingers lightly through my hair. His touch was bliss. Soft and gentle. Hard to believe such huge guy could be so careful.

Downright craving to feel more of him, I sat up so I could tuck myself into his side under his arm. "Hey, beautiful," he whispered. "How are you feeling?"

My answer was to start crying. Big, fat, silent tears poured down my face and soaked through Kade's t-shirt. Without another word, he pulled me to sit between his legs so he could put both arms around me and hold me close to his chest. He was warm and soft, and I knew that he would never hurt me the way they did. A part of me could hardly believe he was really there.

I cried until there was nothing left to cry. The whole time, Kade was quiet and still except to pull a blanket around my naked body and rub my back soothingly. I was still a quivering mess when I sat up to scrub my eyes. His hand brushed my hair back from my shoulder and neck, and I unintentionally flinched. "Sorry," he winced.

I watched his eyes sweep over my neck and shoulders, looking for a claiming mark that wasn't there. There was a moment of relief in his expression when he didn't find anything, before the tension returned when he saw my wrists.

You can still see the scars from the cuffs if you look close enough. They've healed well since then. But when Kade saw them, the iron cuffs had cut deep into the skin. So deep you could see the tip of the bone that supports the wrist under the pinky. The tips of my fingers were tingling and mostly numb, and I couldn't get a strong grip on anything for a while after that.

I knew he had to be furious with how they treated me, but he managed to keep his expression calm. "Why do I always need you two to save me?" I asked with a weak attempt at a joke. "Not very 'strong independent woman' of me, is it?"

He chuckled and relaxed a little. "You're our perfect match. We're supposed to take care of you," he reminded me. "That's our job."

"We're supposed to take care of each other. I think I'm a little behind on taking care of you and Warrick."

Kade suddenly sat up straight, took my face in his hands and crushed my mouth in a hard kiss. I don't know what I said that affected him like that, but I didn't care and melted into him instantly. He pulled away way too soon and rested his forehead against mine. "You must be starving," his voice was hoarse, and I could tell that he really didn't want to stop. "Do you want to sit outside, or should I bring something in?"

"Outside. I want to see the sun."

Before he could let me go, I leaned forward and stole another kiss. I liked how he almost growled every time our lips touched. I felt safe and wanted. I would have kept kissing him if he wasn't so goddamn responsible.