Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“OK, Roman.” I smiled. Because I actually did believe him. “I believe you. I trust you.”
“Good. I’ll start the water, and you undress. If you want to leave your underwear on, that’s fine.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I think I want us both naked. No reason to hold back at this point.”
He smiled at me like he was… like he was proud of me? Had anyone ever looked at me like that in my whole life? I’d seen pity. Understanding. Kindness. I’d also seen rage, disappointment, disgust. Never had I seen pride. “This is why I want you for my woman, Winter. You’re the fuckin’ bravest person I’ve ever met.”
Roman had said that before. Now, I was beginning to believe him. Not so much about me being brave. But I believed he saw me that way.
I brushed my teeth and undressed. I was slightly ashamed about certain things. Though I tried to keep my body grooming done, I wasn’t very vigilant about it. And I never touched my privates except to clean. I hadn’t really thought of that until I’d undressed. “Nothing to do about it now,” I muttered to myself.
“What was that?” Roman glanced over his shoulder as he removed his shirt. Just like that, I could give two shits about anything other than looking at the work of art that was his upper body.
There was a tattoo of a plain Templar cross that spread the length of his upper back and shoulders. Around it were the words, “Honor, Shame, Death, Sacrifice.”
“I -- nothing. What’s this?” I skimmed my fingers over the cross, then the words.
“It’s my story. My past. You want to hear it?” He gave me a challenging look, daring me to hear what he had to say. “It will change your perception of me. Not for the better.”
“If you’re trying to tell me you’re not a good man, Roman, there’s nothing you can do to make me believe that.”
He removed his jeans and boxer briefs and stepped into the shower. There were more tattoos inked into his skin, but I was too preoccupied with this secret he was tempting me with to truly appreciate the art. Both the tattoos and the muscles flexed and bulged as he moved.
I stepped into the shower, avoiding the spray. Thank goodness the shower was the frameless walk-in kind. There was plenty of room for both of us and two shower heads. One was turned off so I could stay out of the water if I wanted to. I sat on the bench along one end of the shower, drawing my knees up and wrapping my arms around them.
“I was in the Marines. I told you that, remember?”
“Yes.”
“I quit after four years in service.”
That surprised me. “That’s an odd way to put it.”
“I should have been dishonorably discharged, but the Marines didn’t see it that way.”
“OK, that really doesn’t sound like you. You’re not the type of person to do something to warrant that.”
“It was twenty years ago, Winter. I was a different person then.”
“What happened?”
Chapter Six
Roman
I knew Winter didn’t want to tell me her story, and I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want to tell mine either. But I was serious about making her my ol’ lady. That meant she had to know everything about me same as I needed to know everything about her.
“I killed a kid.” I could tell by the way she sucked in a sharp breath she hadn’t been expecting that.
“There has to be more to it than that. No matter how different you were back then, I can’t imagine you doing something like that for no good reason.”
“You want more? You come to me. Don’t want to tell this unless you’re in my arms.”
She nodded and came to me without hesitation. Either she really wanted this story badly or she was beginning to trust me. Maybe it was her subconscious. Just like she’d let me hold her and kiss her before, she knew I’d protect her.
When she was in my arms, her face resting against my chest, I guided us under the spray before reaching for a washcloth and shower gel. She raised her face to look up at me but didn’t try to move from under the spray. The only time she flinched was when I started moving the cloth from her neck to her shoulders and back again. As I washed her, I talked.
“We were on patrol in Kabul, preparing to reopen the American Embassy. Most of the people welcomed us, but there were a few who’d banded together to lead a resistance. Mainly supporters of the 9/11 attacks. The previous weeks, we’d been in firefights and such as the invasion started. They’d told us not to think of those people like we’d think of people back home. They’d driven out the Soviets twelve years earlier. If we weren’t vigilant, they’d drive us out too. Kids were often used to carry explosives or to get close to soldiers to kill them, and I’d seen the truth of that firsthand.”