Page 24 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

Chapter 6

The water was hot, the dress was ruined. Then again, the dress had been ruined the minute Jericho had killed the man who had tried to - Annie shuddered. She didn't know what he wanted to do with her. All she knew was that he had been on top of her and Jericho hadn't tried to fight him off of her. He had shot him from the side of the head, ensuring that Annie wouldn't be harmed, no questions asked. He rushed over to her so when the man collapsed on top of her, he was able to move him off of her with ease.

She was in shock. He said as much and she knew from her brief education in psychology and how her body reacted to stress. She had thought she would have been able to process a lot better than she currently was; she thought she would be able to understand the logistics of what happened and why it happened. But even now, in her home, she still found it hard to breathe.

Jericho eased her into the bath he had drawn for her fully clothed.

"The dress," she managed to get out, even though that statement by itself wasn't logical either, considering the blood nullified ruining the dress even more.

"I'll buy you another one," he told her. His eyes were a fierce sort of green. They weren't hard or mean; they were intense and offered a guarantee that nothing would ever happen to her while she was with him. She had no idea why she believed the promise but she did. "I'll buy you three more if that would make you feel better."

Annie pressed her lips together and nodded in acknowledgment. As she eased into the large tub, she noticed the transparent liquid start to turn pink. She turned her attention to Jericho, who was sliding off his shoes and pulling off his socks. When he finished, he crawled in with her, fully clothed minus his shoes and socks. Her brows shot up but she couldn't vocalize her concerns for his clothes. They didn't have blood splatter on him the way she did; he could have salvaged his clothes if he wanted to. He looked at her, telling her not to worry, that he didn't care one way or the other about his clothes.

"I need you to tell me what you're feeling," he said in a clear, calm voice. Already, Annie could feel herself relax but whether that was because of Jericho or if it was because of the hot water, she couldn't be sure. "I need you to focus on me and let me know how I can help you."

Annie blinked. He was right.

"My heart is beating fast," she told him, placing her hand over her chest, as though to remind herself how her body was reacting. "It has been since he was-" She couldn't finish the sentence and Jericho clenched his jaw so tightly that it popped. He didn't seem angry with her or because of her inability to speak but at the thought that something like this had happened to her in the first place. "I'm shivering even though I'm not cold."

Jericho nodded. "Of course," he told her. "All perfectly normal responses."

Annie nodded along with him.

“I’m going to reach out and hold your hand,” he told her. He was talking to her as though she was a child, but she knew it wasn’t out of disrespect. If anything, he wanted to be certain she was comfortable with him touching her in the first place. “Is that all right with you?”

Annie hesitated. Not because he made her uncomfortable but because he was being so… perfect. She could feel her guard start to come down because of him, because of how he was treating her. It was hard to look at him like a man who had just killed someone, even though that was exactly what he had done. To save her.

She nodded, however. He didn’t look offended when she took a moment to think. He simply waited for her approval, a serious look on his face. Once he got the okay, he reached out and took her hand from where it was – crossed over her chest and cupping her opposite forearm – and entwined his fingers with hers. It sent a jolt through her body, bringing her back down to earth.

“May I have your other hand?” Jericho asked, offering her his to take.

Annie reached out and gave it to him. He did the same thing with her fingers, lacing them through his. The water started to fill the porcelain bathtub – a nice investment her parents put into their house and probably her favorite thing about the house – and Jericho only let go of one hand to fiddle with the faucet before holding her again.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said, his voice low and calm.

“What.” Annie blinked. “What do you want to know?”

“Tell me your favorite color,” he said with a smile.

Annie tilted her head at the simplicity of the sentence but she answered it nonetheless. “Purple,” she said slowly. “Because purple always represented royalty and ever since I was little, I wanted to be a princess.”

“You would make an excellent princess,” he said. “Your birthday?”

“October twenty-second,” she replied.

“What type of guy do you find yourself attracted to?” he asked.

Her eyes shot into his. This was a dangerous question and he knew it.

“Why do you want to know that?” she asked quietly.

“Because I want to get to know you better,” he returned. “Talking about serious topics help divert attention away from serious topics. The question, while serious, is also selfish. I want to know if I’m your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” she murmured. “I just… can we talk about what happened?”

“Absolutely.” He seemed surprised by her question, pushing his brow high. “I wasn’t sure if that was a topic you wanted to broach.”

“You shot a man,” she stated, still surprised by this fact. “I saw a man die. He died… on top of me.”