Scarred (Damaged Souls) (11 page)

“That would be lovely. Is there anything I can do to help?” Lexi asked, wanting to be a part of as much of the renovations as possible.

“Sure. I can teach you how to measure and cut the wood on the table saw.” Sloan said, happy that Lexi wanted to be involved.

“Perfect. Okay, let me call Dom to get those names and numbers and then we can get started on the bathroom wall.” Lexi said grabbing her phone.

Chapter 9

“Head Over Feet”

They stood in front of the partially done wall, looking at it with pride.

“I’ll finish the wall when the door gets here. I want to make sure it fits before I put up the drywall. I’m sure it’ll be fine if the dimensions on the website were correct, but it’s easier to
remove the frame and adjust than to tear down the drywall.” Sloan said, slowly getting back his confidence after building the first item he’d done in years.

“Okay. I’m sure the wall will be fine. I’m assuming construction is like riding a bike, you never forget. I know I won’t forget helping put up this wall. This is going to be the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I’m sure buying a home “turnkey” is nice, all you have to do is move in. But I know helping build this house with my own hands, when it’s done…I don’t even have words for the amount of pride that I’m going to feel. Especially if I feel anything like I do now looking at a partially done wall.” Lexi smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

“I can tell. You look radiant.” Sloan commented looking at her with eyes filled with love, refusing to hide his feelings.

“Really? I’m all dusty and dirty and sweaty.” Lexi said looking down at herself.

“Yes, even through all the dust and sweat, I can see that you’re glowing.” Sloan said.

He raised his hand to gently rub a bit of sawdust off of her cheek. Lexi closed her eyes and her heart pounded at the soft caress. All day Sloan had been touching her here and there, getting her used to h
is touch, trying to ease her into affection. And her body and head couldn’t have been more at war with each other.

Her brain associated the male touch with pain and humiliation, but her body craved Sloan unlike anything she had ever felt before. The feelings were confusing and overwhelming her. She knew that she was going to have to fight hard to recondition her brain that had been trained at a young age to cower away from men.

When she opened her eyes to look up at Sloan, her already pounding heart did a somersault at the look in his slivery blue eyes. He had been looking at her like that since she first woke up that morning, and it scared her shitless. She wanted so badly to give in to the feelings flowing through her, desperate to come out, but fear of their relationship going to shit like all the others in the past made her look away and turn her face away from his hand.

A look of hurt briefly crossed Sloan’s face, before he took a deep breath and reminded himself that
it was going to take time. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere any time soon, so he could be patient or at least try. Now that he had admitted to himself that he loved her, it was going to take an apocalypse to tear him away from her.

Sloan sighed, resigning himself to wait till she was ready.

“So…you ready to eat some dinner? I’m starving.” Sloan said rubbing his flat stomach through his shirt.

“Yeah I’m a little hungry
. Working on a house takes a lot out of you. I’ve probably burned a billion calories today, which I know I needed.” Lexi said looking down at her hips.

“What are you talking about?” Sloan looked at her like she was crazy.

“I know I need to lose some weight.” Lexi said self-consciously.

“You’ve lost your mind! I don’t know what that fucker told you to make you feel less than what you are, but your body…” Sloan paused trying to find the words to describe how he felt about her body and he decided to be brutally honest, feeling that she needed to hear it. “Your body tortures me on a daily basis.” Sloan stepped closer to her and placed his hand under her chin, lifting her face up to look at him. “I want to bury myself between your thick thighs and not come up for air till morning. I want to kiss, bite and pay homage to the most beautiful round ass I’ve ever seen. The width of your hips would be the perfect anchors for me to hold onto as I stroke into you. And God, my mouth waters just thinking about being able to taste your lush breasts.” Sloan finished, his hands shaking from the need to touch her and his body rock hard wanting so badly to do everything that he had described to her.

Lexi had never had anyone speak to her the way Sloan just had and she was left speechless. Every word that he’d said washed over her like a caress. And during his speech, for the first time in her life her nether regions flooded with wetness and clenched reflexively at his words alone. Her breath passed harshly through her lips and her heart pounded loudly in her ears.

Sloan sensed that she was close to giving in. Her lips were parted, wanting his kiss. Her gorgeous eye
s were heavy-lidded and dilated. And her chest rose and fell hard with her increased breaths. But he knew that this was a pivotal moment and he’d do well to back off and let her marinate in her new found arousal, instead of pushing too hard and inevitably scaring her away. When she was ready she’d come to him. So he leaned down, softly and quickly kissed her lips and then turned to walk out of the room.

“I’m gonna jump in the shower downstairs before starting dinner.
Take some time to relax, Alexis. Take a hot bath to loosen up those muscles. I’ll take care of dinner.” Sloan said before walking out of the room.

Lexi took a step forward as he walked out of the room, wanting nothing more than to call him back, to ask him to make love to her like he had so passionately illustrated. But her unrelenting traumatized mind stopped her.
Shit! Just fucking let go already!
She had to admit that she was starting to piss herself off.

Frustrated with herself, Lexi stomped into the bathroom and started the hot water in the tub.
Once the tub was full with steaming water she stripped off her dusty clothes and stepped into the nearly scalding water. She eased herself down gradually, letting her body get accustomed to the hot water.

Lexi tried to relax, tried to let the hot bath ease her already aching muscles.
But the Georgia heat trapped in the house combined with the heat she still felt from within from the mental images Sloan had placed in her head, only made her bath stifling.

Lexi tried giving it about fifteen minutes before the sweat running down her face and neck
and the added humidity of the steam from the water made it hard for her to breathe. The so-called relaxing bath soon became unbearable.

Lexi stood up and released the plug from the tub and had the bright idea of cooling off with a cold shower. At the same time that she turned the cold nob on full blast, there was a knock on the bathroom door and Sloan’s voice calling her name. The startling shock of the freezing cold water on her heated flesh and the unexpected knock made Lexi jump and lose her footing. She let out a loud shriek as she lost her balance and started to fall backwards. Reaching out for anything to hold on to, she clutched at the shower curtain, but her momentum caused the shower curtain to rip away from its hooks. Lexi landed on the floor with a resounding thump, landing on her hip painfully.
Seriously?!

“Lexi!” Sloan shouted as he ripped opened the door
, only to see her half laying on the floor completely naked and soaking wet.

For a split second that caveman in Sloa
n came out when he saw her lying wet and naked on the bathroom floor. Before Lexi could unsuccessfully cover her large breasts with one arm and her trimmed mound with the other, his trained marine’s eye picked up every detail and nuisance of her curvaceous body. And he went from soft to rock hard erection in that split second before his manners kicked in.

“Shit! Lexi, what happened?!” Sloan said grabbing a large towel and knelt down next to her to wrap it around her naked form.

“Oh God! How humiliating!” Lexi said, burying her beet red face in her hands. “The bath was just too hot, so I decided to cool down with a cold shower. Needless to say the cold water surprised me and your knock on the door at the same time startled me. I guess I lost my footing and fell.” Lexi explained, unable to look Sloan in the eyes.

“
I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” Sloan asked with concern.

“
I landed on my hip and it’s throbbing pretty badly, but I think I’ll live.” Lexi said as she clutched the towel tightly around her and tried to stand.

Sloan stood reaching out a hand to help her up. Once she was standing, Lexi gingerly put her weight on her right leg testing her hip. Pain shot up her leg and she fell into Sloan. His reflexes quick, Sloan caught and steadied her.

“Do I need to get you to a hospital?” Sloan asked, worried.

“No. It just hurt a little more than I anticipated.
I’m okay.” Lexi said grimacing in pain.

“Here, sit if you can. I’ll be right back.” Sloan said pointing to the edge of the tub, before leaving the room to run downstairs.

A few moments later Sloan quickly strode back into the bathroom with clothes in his hands. Lexi blushed as he handed her panties and a long sleeveless night shirt, too embarrassed to ask why he didn’t bring her regular clothes.

“Put these on.” Sloan said as he turned his back to her for privacy, but refusing to leave in case she fell again.

“Okay, I’m decent.” Lexi said when she was finished putting on the clothes he had given her.

Without a word, Sloan stepped up to her and swept her up in his arms, walking out of the bathroom and downstairs. He placed her on the couch
in the living room and she looked up at him curiously.

“I originally came upstairs to ask if I could borrow the car to go to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Is that okay?” Sloan asked.

“Yeah, sure. Go ahead.” Lexi answered. “Can you bring me my purse?”

“Sure.”

Sloan walked back to the kitchen and then came back a few seconds later handing Lexi her purse. She reached inside and pulled out her keys and debit card, giving them to Sloan.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Sloan asked concern filling his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Just go. I’m a big girl.” Lexi smiled up at him.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Sloan bent down to kiss her softly on the lips,
as if it was a common occurrence, strategically chipping away at the wall of protection she had built around her.

Lexi stared at his back as he walked out the front door. Sloan hadn’t been gone two minutes before her cell rang showing a private number. Lexi knew exactly who it was, and for once she wasn’t overcome with fear. After such
a cleansing and healing twenty-four hours, she felt stronger than she ever had. So with a steady hand she answered the call, ready to put a stop to the madness.

“Eric, what do you want?” She
asked in a firm voice, clearly taking control over the call by not pretending to not know who was calling. And it worked because at first there was nothing but silence on the other line. “Let me ask you again. What exactly do you want?”

“Look here, bitch! You ruined my fucking life and then you think that you can run off?! Don’t think I won’t find you. You’re mine and no one else can have you while I’m still breathing.” Eric ranted into the phone.

“Well then you just made it really easy for me. Because if you so much as come five-hundred feet near me, I’ll kill you, you worthless piece of shit! So stay the fuck away from me and lose my fucking number, prick!” Lexi shouted and ended the call with a satisfied click, not giving Eric a chance to respond, not like he was saying much anyway.

Lexi laid her head back on the arm of the couch
and smiled, feeling a newfound sense of confidence and control. Her eyes closed in exhaustion and she drifted off to sleep. The soft click of the door closing brought Lexi out of her brief nap. She looked up to see Sloan smiling down at her with hands filled with bags.

“I tried not to wake you. Sorry.” Sloan apologized.

“It’s okay. So what’s for dinner?” Lexi asked as her stomach growled.

“It’s a surprise.
Let me get started and I’ll be right back.” Sloan said, handing over her keys and card, leaning over to plant another kiss on her lips.

“You’re getting mighty comfortable passing out kisses.” Lexi said as he straightened and started out of the living room.

“Yep.” Sloan said nonchalantly as he walked into the kitchen.

Lexi had never been so tired in her life after all the physical labor she had done. So listening to the sounds of Sloan preparing dinner she drifted back to sleep again.

Gentle fingers caressing her cheek woke her up.

“Mmm…is dinner ready?” Lexi said groggily.

“No, it’s in the oven.” Sloan answered. “I have something for you. I want you to relax and not freak out, okay?” Sloan said cautiously.

“Uh…okay.” Lexi said warily.

Sloan produced a bottle
, flipped the cap and poured the liquid into his hand. The smell of the potent fluid hit Lexi’s nostrils and she cringed.

“What’s that?!” Lexi asked wrinkling her nose.

“Just some ointment to soothe your muscles and your bruised hip. I used to use it when I did construction before, after a particularly rough day. Just try to relax.” Sloan said, rubbing the smelly ointment in between both hands.