Chapter Six

Caden walked into his closet and pulled down one of his shirts. He stopped at his bedroom door and leaned his forehead against the jamb.

Fuck, he'd never get the picture of her more-than-ample breasts tipped with shell-pink nipples out of his head. They were the prettiest things he'd ever seen. The thatch of hair between her legs was a dark burgundy, telling him she didn't dye her hair, and it was natural.

He'd always been a sucker for redheads, and one of the prettiest ones he'd ever seen was naked in his shower a few feet from him.

His cock had never felt so hard and throbbed in the tight confines of his jeans. He shook himself. He'd deal with his body later. At the moment, he needed to take care of the woman.

Bella was just turning off the water when he walked in.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"Um…"

Caden set the shirt down and grabbed a towel. "Here. Let's get you out of the shower, and I'll help dry your hair."

He opened the door and bit back a smile at the way she was trying to hide as much of her body as possible. He knew she would eventually get used to it, but in the meantime, he was charmed by her modesty.

He wrapped the towel around her, lifted her out, and set her on another towel on the counter.

"You don't have to help me."

"I know that, but I want to help. I can tell you're about done in. You can hardly keep your eyes open."

He grabbed another towel and started to squeeze as much water out of her hair as he could so it wouldn't take long to dry.

"Is there anything you put on your hair?" he asked.

"Yes. Leave-in conditioner. It's in that small suitcase. Purple bottle."

Caden rummaged through her bag and found the bottle. He sprayed it all over her hair and started working out the knots. Damn, if she didn't have the most beautiful hair he'd ever seen. He could see himself doing this forever and never get tired of it. When he had it combed through, he turned the dryer on. About halfway done, he turned it off when she shivered. "Let's get the shirt on you."

"Oh. But I have clothing I can wear."

"I didn't see anything in the bag."

"It's out in my bag in the car."

He studied her. "Is it that important you wear them, or can you put up with my shirt tonight?"

"Oh, I guess I can wear your shirt if you don't mind," she said.

He smiled. "No, Sweetheart. I don't mind."

He wrapped the shirt around her back and then helped her put her arms into the sleeves before he buttoned it. Then, he started to roll up the sleeves so she would be able to use her hands. Seeing his shirt on her made something in his chest tighten in tenderness. She looked even cuter and smaller in it, and it made his protective instincts rise exponentially. He'd think about his feelings later. Right now, he needed to get her into bed.

When he was finished with the sleeves, he turned on the dryer again. After five minutes, her hair still wasn't dry, just a bit damp, but her eyelids kept closing, and she'd sway toward him.

"I think that's good enough. Let's get you into bed." He lifted her off the counter and then wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her as he led her into the guest bedroom. He pulled back the blanket. "Hop in."

Bella crawled in, and he tucked the blanket up to her chin.

"Do you think you'll be warm enough?" he asked.

She nodded.

"If you need another blanket, there are more in the hall closet. Help yourself. If you need me, just call out. I'm a light sleeper."

"Okay. Thank you, Caden."

He swept the hair off her face and tried to ignore the bruise on her forehead. He had a lot more questions, a few about the bruises he'd seen all over her body, but they'd have to wait until later. "You're welcome. Sleep as late as you can."

"I have the interview at eight," she said.

"I'll tell the guys the situation."

She shook her head and yawned. "No. I don't want to make a bad impression."

"You won't. I promise. Let's play it by ear."

"Okay."

He walked to the door and turned off the light. "I'll leave this open a bit. That way, I can hear you better."

"All right."

"Night, Sweetheart."

"Good night," she said.

Caden turned off the hall light and left his bedroom door open enough to hear well. He jumped into the shower and scrubbed before he brushed his teeth. He slipped on a pair of shorts and grimaced. He preferred to sleep naked, but if he had to run, he didn't want to have to stop and get dressed.

He settled down in the bed and sighed. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted. He was almost asleep when he realized there was a huge possibility that Bella was a virgin. Jesus, being the only man to touch a woman, is something he'd thought about over the years but didn't think would ever happen in today's world. Women didn't think twice about spreading their legs for any man, so to find a virgin at the age of twenty-two was miraculous and also hotter than Hell.

"Fuck," he groaned. He would have already been asleep, but he couldn't get the image of her spread over his bed and him driving his cock into her tight cunt the first time, and it coming out streaked with her virgin blood, and his whole body ached.

He thought about jerking off, but he knew the sensation of an orgasm would only last a minute, so it wasn't worth it.