Clay made the water hot enough to make me think that he was preparing us both for a less than pleasurable afterlife, or showing me that he paid close attention to my preferences for bathing. Adding some scented salts, a little tab of oil, and offering me his hand so I wouldn't slip once he stepped inside first he settled me with my back against his chest. The hot water coupled with the lightly scented additions soothed both my sore muscles and my less than calm thoughts. Clay's hands sliding along my skin were another distraction, even as his words bounced around my mind.

I had managed, even while he undressed me and I him, to ignore the mirrors and so I still had no idea how terrible I looked, or how mangled my hair and scalp really was. "Tell me the truth," I started, smiling as his hum to let me know he was listening and agreeable vibrated through me. "How bad is my hair?" He chuckled and I frowned.

"Alex beat the holy shit out of your face to the point that ONLY your forehead doesn't have a mark on it, but you're worried about your hair," I felt him sigh and then his fingers traced up my arms, along my shoulders, up my neck and to the beginning of my hairline. "It's tangled, and a mess," I waited, completely still while his fingers gently slid up into the curls that were so tight and knotted that he couldn't go far without meeting a barrier, but he worked slowly and softly, careful of the tenderness of my scalp. "You don't have any missing chunks, Char, because I checked. I had the medics check first, then I checked while you slept. I made a promise to myself that if that bastard pulled out any of your hair, if he left you truly maimed and scarred, I would fucking kill him or at least scar him permanently so he'd never forget just how he should treat a lady."

I leaned back, settling into his warmth, the warmth of the water, and let him pamper me. Clay washed me carefully, turning me around so he could tend my wounded face, murmuring about how pissed he was that Alex had dared to lay a finger on me, much less cause any damage whatsoever, kissing my swollen and still split lip. Pulling away when I wanted so much more, with the warning that it would never heal if I kept tempting him.

"What's a little blood between lovers, Clay?" He shook his head and turned me around again, reaching for a cup I hadn't seen him bring in, so he must have prepared for our bath before I woke up. Using his hand under my chin, he tipped my head back, much like my mom had when I was a little girl and slowly dampened my hair before washing it as carefully as a parent would a small child. "I think you might make a pretty decent dad one day, Lieutenant Colonel Clay."

"That an offer, Charlotte?" I snorted and he laughed. "I'll be a dad when you want to be a mom, deal?" I didn't say anything and he sighed. "You love me, right?"

I turned to face him, shocked he'd even ask. "Of course I love you." I was staring at him while he stared right back. It was my turn to sigh. "I don't know why marriage is so important, so soon." I added the last part to soften the first, but to be honest, I didn't get it. Marriage was a piece of paper and a piece of jewelry, neither necessarily meant that you were automatically happy.

Clay's fingers brushed my newly washed, conditioned, and semi-detangled hair out of my face. "I never thought it was," his voice was quiet, but I would swear I'd be able to hear it from across oceans. "Not until you. I want you to have my last name, Char. I want to point at you when we're out and say 'my wife'. I want to have children with you one day. And I'll wait if I have to, I'll work my ass off to convince you to see it my way, but I want you to marry me."

I could see it. Strange as it sounds, as anti-marriage as I felt, I could see what he wanted. Parties, dinners, across the room, his voice and hearing the words. I could almost feel his hand on my swollen abdomen, waiting to feel a kick, a promise of a new life. I could almost taste what he wanted so badly, but did I WANT it, or did I just want HIM?

"Don't answer now," he told me, pulling me forward so my legs draped over his and we were closer, our faces inches apart. "Think about it, let me convince you. I want to, Charlotte Ramble. I want to show you just how badly I want to make you mine. Forever."