The Soldier's Hostage

Chapter Ten

After the incident with Katty rescuing Max from a succubus, I figured there would be a little down time before we got back into the whole mark/scar business. So, a couple days later, I gently reminded Arthur that we still needed to take off my scars and I was ready when he was. He had nodded in agreement and refocused on his breakfast before heading to work.

But then Arthur didn't touch me. The anticipation of it was giving me some pretty chaotic dreams. Yet, for an entire week, Arthur never even mentioned it. I was almost jealous when Monday rolled around and Jake happily showed me his chest, half cleared of scars already.

Henri and Isaac showed off their unblemished skin too. Even Max, though he wasn't comfortable enough to lift his shirt, told me he was about half done above the waist. I glanced at Arthur when they asked me how far into freedom I was. He was ignoring me.

I shook my head. "He hasn't started yet."

Jake pouted, shooting a covert dirty look at Arthur. "I could ask Emilio to do it for you."

I swallowed and shook my head again. "No. I'm sure there's a reason."

After the movie, we rode back down to Arthur's apartment in heavy silence. I tried to wait patiently. Arthur stayed quiet until we were back in his place with the door closed before turning his gray eyes on me expectantly.

I hesitated, abruptly unsure if I even wanted to ask. There had to be a reason, right? Would he be angry if I questioned him on his reasons?

"Tucker?" The quiet implication that I should speak made me jump.

But it was the prompt I needed. I suddenly looked up at him and spat it out. "When are we going to start removing my scars?"

Arthur looked at me with a bit of surprise. He slowly swallowed and paused, studying me. Was it really that difficult of a question? He abruptly turned and gestured for me to follow him. I chased him down the hall and into the bathroom. There, he turned my back to the mirror and lifted my shirt up to my shoulders.

I craned around and blinked. Then I was yanking my shirt over my head to get a better look. My back was clear. Unblemished. I turned to look at Arthur, feeling strangely light. "When did you do that?!"

He fidgeted, almost uncomfortable. "While you were asleep. I was giving you enough pheromones so you wouldn't feel anything and then working on it for an hour or so."

I slowly looked over my shoulder again, looking at my back. "That explains the strange dreams." Arthur grimaced a little. Then he was blinking in surprise when I grinned at him. "Thank you."

He slowly smiled back. "You're welcome." I craned this way and that, trying to look at my back from all angles. Then I was twisting my arm up behind myself to feel it. Arthur sighed as he left me to it. "Don't hurt yourself."

I chuckled and pulled my shirt back on. Arthur got ready to go to work and I smiled hesitantly. "Anything in particular you want for dinner?" My smile faded when Arthur shook his head.

"Whatever you want." Then he was gone. I sighed and turned, glancing around the apartment as I tried to come up with what I wanted to do with my day. Night. Whatever.

It was a couple hours later when Arthur's land-line rang. I picked up the phone and answered it without much emotion. These phone calls usually ended with me telling the caller they had the wrong number, or that Arthur wasn't interested. So it threw me for a moment when I heard Arthur.

"Do you like cats?"

I hesitated, trying to work through the abrupt question. "Uh, sure?"

"Good enough. I'll be by in about ten minutes. Meet me in the garage." Then he hung up.