"Tip your head back, Little One," he murmured, and his heart beat faster when she didn't hesitate to obey him, and he rinsed part of the filth away.
"Have you gotten it clean already?"
"No. I am sorry. I did not mean to fail you.'"
"What?" Her head whipped up, her eyes flying open. "Why would you say that?!! Why would you even think that?!!"
"You wished your hair to be clean in one cleansing, and I did not do that."
"Nikhil," her hands reached up, gripping his cheeks, forcing him to look into her eyes. "It was a question, not a criticism. If anyone could have gotten my hair clean in one washing, I know it would be you."
"You truly believe this?" His dimly glowing eyes searched hers.
"I do."
"Would you allow me to cleanse your hair again?"
"I would allow you to cleanse my hair and every other part of my body until there's not a speck of that grime left on me."
"I will not fail you, this time, Little One."
"Nikhil," she stilled his hand from getting more cleansing gel. "You could never fail me." Releasing his hand, she let her chin return to his chest and closed her eyes.
Nikhil looked down at the little female in his arms. When had he ever been trusted so completely? Believed in so completely? It was then he realized he already loved this little female... completely.
It took three more cleansings for Nikhil to finally remove the last speck of dirt from his True Mate's hair, and once it was done, he was stunned. "It's beautiful," he whispered in awe, never having felt such thick, silky hair before, or seen so much of it. Not only did it cover the top of her head and run down her back, as a Kaliszians did, but it also covered the sides of her head.
"Hmmm?" Mac hummed, having been lulled nearly to sleep by Nikhil's attentions.
"Your hair, it is beautiful."
"I think you're overusing that word." Opening her eyes, she gave him a teasing smile. "It's just brown hair."
"I do not overuse the word, and if your hair is just brown, then it is just every shade of brown known in the universes from darkest to lightest, all mixed up together. And that, my Mackenzie, is beautiful."
Mac stared up at Nikhil in shock. She’d never heard her hair described in such a way. Yes, she knew her hair had different shades of brown in it, but that was because she was out in the sun so much and parts of it had faded. At least, that was how she saw it. Nikhil obviously saw it in an entirely different way.
"I... Thank you, Nikhil."
"I just speak truth. Now let me tend to the rest of you." Reaching for the cloth he had set aside to cleanse her hair, he gently began to remove the dirt from her face that the water hadn't already taken care of.
"How bad is it?" Mac asked, keeping her face tipped up to his.
"It is beautiful."
This time, when he used that word, Mac pinched one of the prevalent muscles at his waist, hard, causing him to jerk slightly.
"Why did you do that?!!" he demanded.
"Because you used that word again and you are lying," she told him angrily. She didn't need him to keep trying to placate her with pretty words. She wasn't beautiful, had never been beautiful, and after the blows the Zaludians had landed on her face, knew she never would be.
"You think I would not speak truth to you?" Nikhil stiffened in outrage.
"I think you are a nice guy. I think you are trying to keep me calm. But I know there is no way you can see me as beautiful," her voice broke slightly. "Not with all the damage the Zaludians did to my face!"
"You think..." he carefully framed her face with his hands, gently forcing her to look up at him even as he leaned in closer. "I don't think you are beautiful, Mackenzie. I know you are. Yes, you are still covered in dirt, but that can be washed away. Yes, there is still some bruising on your face, but those will fade. What you don't seem to understand is that while you were unconscious, the deep-repair unit removed the damage the Zaludians inflicted."
"What?" Her eyes widened at his words, and slowly she ran her tongue along her bottom lip. A lip she knew had been split open by a Zaludian fist. She knew it because she had tasted the blood, but now there was nothing there.
Nikhil's eyes followed the path that sexy little tongue took across his Mackenzie's full, lower lip. How could such a small movement captivate him so?
"It's gone," she whispered quietly.
"What is?" he replied just as quietly.
"The split where the Zaludian hit me when I wouldn't tell him my name."
"The one wearing the red beads?" Nikhil asked gruffly, then cursed in Kaliszian at her answer.