Page 18 of Guarded By Them

“Do you always answer the door naked?”

I lowered the weapon and smirked. “Depends who’s on the other side of the door.”

He didn’t react to my comment. “Get some clothes on. We need to keep moving.”

“Have I got time for a quick shower?” Rue asked from the bed.

“Sure. But a quick one.” Kodee shot me a look. “And alone.”

“Trying to ruin my fun,” I chuckled.

“How’s Ryan?” Rue asked. “Everything all right last night?”

“It was fine, Rue. Don’t worry.” Kodee looked back to me. “Fifteen minutes, and then we’re getting back on the road. There’s a machine near the lobby that sells coffee, but I suggest waiting until we’re on the road. I already tried it, and it’s like hot cat piss.”

Rue wrinkled her nose. “I think I’ll give that a miss.”

She was on her feet, the sheet still covering her body, as she headed to the shower. The bathroom door shut behind her, and I gave it a regretful look.

“Fifteen minutes,” Kodee warned me.

“Okay, okay.” He knew me too well.

I closed the motel room door on him. The shower was running now, and Rue’s sweet singing voice filtered out to me. I pictured her all wet and soapy, running her hands over her body as she washed. My cock jumped in response, and I forced the picture from my mind. I didn’t want to do the next part of our journey with a raging hard-on that I couldn’t do anything about.

“Fucking Kodee,” I muttered beneath my breath.

Fragrant steam billowed out as Rue opened the bathroom door. Instead of the sheet, she now had a towel wrapped around her.

“You have no idea how much I want to yank that from your body,” I growled.

She giggled. “Don’t you dare. You heard Kodee.”

I folded my arms across my bare chest. “Kodee’s not the boss of us.”

She lifted her eyebrows and pursed her lips.

“Okay, fine,” I relented. “But hurry up and put some clothes on before I change my mind.”

I stalked past her and went to use the bathroom myself. I didn’t want to leave Rue in the room alone for too long. Yes, Ryan and Kodee were right next door, but sudden panic filled me at the possibility that I might step out of the shower and discover her either missing, or worse, dead. I took the world’s fastest shower and reappeared back in the bedroom before she’d even managed to put her t-shirt on.

She gave me a quizzical look.

“What?” I shrugged. “Thought I was supposed to be quick.”

She picked up my jeans and threw them at me. “Better get a move on, then.”

Both dressed, we grabbed the bags we’d taken from the car and carried them out. Kodee was already waiting, and Ryan pulled their motel room door shut and made his way over.

Ryan’s limp seemed more pronounced than usual.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay to drive?” I frowned at him.

Not meeting my eye, he unlocked the car. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Let me drive for a while.” The car had been modified, but not to a point where I wasn’t able to figure it out.

“It’s not the driving that’s the problem. It’s the sitting still for a long period of time. Fluid builds on my stump and then my leg doesn’t fit so well. It normally goes down overnight, but it hasn’t so much this time.”

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