Sitting her down with a jarring thud, Jake pushed her under the spray with one hand while he slapped his other palm over her still moving mouth. “That’s enough, Wildcat!” he growled, wincing when her teeth closed around his flesh and bit. Backing her against the wall, he held her with one palm and the bulk of his body while he kept his other hand over her mouth. Her eyes shined with the promise of grim death if he turned her loose and he knew that he was finally getting somewhere when she softened against him. “Go ahead, keep biting me, babe,” he invited harshly against her ear. “All this temper tantrum is gonna do is earn you a spanking. Is that what you want? I promise I won’t do any permanent damage, but I swear to you that you’ll remember to sheathe those teeth before you come at me again.”
Suddenly, Harmony released his hand from her bite, staring at him with scornful eyes as the water drenched her hair and her chest rose and fell quickly underneath his splayed palm. “Smart choice, darlin’,” he remarked quietly, slowly moving his hand from her mouth.
When she opened her mouth a second later, he’d been prepared to hear a lot of things. He’d expected her to scorch his ears, to curse him at the top of her lungs, maybe even throw a punch. He hadn’t been ready at all for the choked sob she made as her body pitched, her legs unable to support her.
He caught her before she could face plant in the bottom of the tub. Instead, he controlled her fall, going down to his knees behind her when she slid to her haunches, folding her legs under her ass and wrapping her arms around her body. Wrapping his arms around her waist from behind as her head bent, her chin resting on her chest, his heart broke when her first ragged cry echoed in the shower. “Baby,” he whispered, resting his nose against the nape of her neck as she shook in his arms.
“The first man I ever thought I loved raped my baby sister, Jake. I was married to that man. I went to bed with that man. I had a daughter with him. I trusted him for a long time. And that same man kidnapped, raped and tortured my baby sister. He was able to do that because of me. ME!” she wept, her cries wracking her body as she rocked back and forth, warm water skating off her skin. “I’m responsible for this! Every fucking bit of it was able to happen because I brought him into this family! I can’t let it happen again. I can’t! I can’t!” she keened, her raw cries rending through her small body as she quaked in his arms.
Tightening his arms around her, he pulled her back against his chest. “Harmony, this isn’t your fault.” He felt her soggy hair rubbing his throat as she shook her head against him. “Baby, it’s not. It’s not your fault. It’s not Zeke’s fault as much as he tried to convince me otherwise. It’s not anyone’s fault, but Tanner and the four other men that attacked Honor.”
“How can you say that?” she gasped through her tears. “I brought him here. I might as well have handed Honor over to him on a silver platter. God, I hate myself,” she sobbed.
“Stop it,” he growled against her ear, his arms contracting around her. “You didn’t do this. He did this and as God as my witness, I’ll make sure he pays for it, baby, but I can’t stand watching you try to shoulder the blame for the actions of a psycho piece of shit. Can’t you see that you were as much a victim as Honor was? I saw the pictures, honey. I read the medical and police reports. I’m lucky that fucker didn’t kill you the night you confronted him. That bastard could have taken you from me before I ever found you. He could have taken Heaven from us before she ever arrived. He’s going to pay for every single thing he’s done, but none of it, Harmony…none of it is your sin to carry around like an onus on your back any more than it’s Honor’s or Zeke’s. Jesus, that poor bastard is as determined as you to hold himself responsible for what happened six years ago.”
Lifting a hand, Harmony wiped her wet cheeks. “It’s not Zeke’s fault.”
“Not yours either, but you’re determined to take responsibility for something you had no control over, too. Go figure.” Jake reached for the sponge on the shelf above them and squirted some of the smelly soap from one of the many fancy looking bottles on the ledge into it. “Seems to me this is a family trait that you guys have going here.”
“He’s always felt guilty. He was the last one to see her before… before…”
“I got it, darlin’,” Jake murmured, sliding the sponge against her back as she bit back another sob. “Still doesn’t make him culpable.”