𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬

chapter 15

FIFTEEN:
a day of truths
♠️

"If I knew before how much of an impact you would be making in my life, I would have taken you from that hellhole much earlier..."

blaze

He was completely obsessed with her. Ellie was curled into his chest, her head resting just below his prominent collarbone as she read over her notes and made tiny doodles, and it was when she was so calm with him in these intimate moments that made Blaze realize how precious she really was to him.

"Am I allowed to go outside at all while we're here?" Ellie quietly asked him, still moving his eyes over the notes before she flipped the page.

"No," he replied, feeling one corner of her lips curl down into a frown at his response. Blaze sighed, going into further explanation: "Ellie, it isn't safe for us to be anywhere in a place easily seen by the public-eye after what happened earlier today. I don't want you to go out thinking you're safe and then you get hurt—or even worse—before I could even get there."

Ellie nodded her head and closed her notebook, thanking Blaze once he helped her put the notebook on the nightstand. She ran her hand up his chest, resting it on his left pec. Blaze's grip tightened around her waist and she giggled as he fingers danced along her side, snuggling closer to him.

Blaze still needed some time to become accustomed to the intimate touching that was not just sexual (though just a few hours ago was their first ever time doing anything), but he never minded it. Plus, Ellie was quite the surprising at cuddling when she was sleeping—Blaze didn't mind that, either, however. If anything, he enjoyed it.

"What about the backyard?" She questioned next, her nail gently tracing over the tattoos crawling up to Blaze's throat.

He could feel in his chest how much heavier his breathing had become, trying not to show her how affected he was from the smallest touches she did as she focused her gaze on the blackness inked into his flesh. Blaze moved his attention to his body, covered in tattoos, compared to her bare body, free from any ink in her skin.

Blaze moved his hand down to her thighs, which showed the white and baby pink scars of where she had cut. Ellie tensed up under his hand, her breath leaving her oxygen when he began to trace them individually with his thumb.

"You know that if you ever just want to try to talk about whatever happened with me, I'm never going to judge or criticize you," Blaze assured her softly, feeling a small smile pull at his lips when she nodded. "Maybe not soon, but whenever you feel like you'll be able to tell me."

Ellie nodded her head again, an agreeing smile on her lips. It was small, but Blaze would take that small smile as an "Okay".

"Do you have any scars?" Ellie whispered to him, her head in his neck.

Blaze tilted his head back against the headboard, thinking for a moment. "I have a giant one going up my spine from a surgery I had a few years back. Almost became paralyzed after some dickhead shot me in the back during a gunfight."

Ellie frowned up at him and he sighed as he thought of the memory. He looked down at her to meet her stare once he was finished visiting the memory.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she said, playing with his hair.

"Don't be," Blaze responded, "it's already happened, and I wouldn't have been able to stop it from happening anyway."