Page 106 of Reckless

“You’re scared?” Luther asks Riggs.

“I don’t like confined spaces,” he grumbles.

“Sissy,” Jude coughs into his hand.

“Dude, that sign back there said there might be bats in here,” Riggs points out.

“You run into danger to protect people, you carry a weapon, and you’re scared of some bats?” Luther stares Riggs down.

“I’m not ashamed of that. But you go on ahead, have at it,” Riggs waves a hand behind him.

The three of them are standing at the entrance to a cave in Maquoketa State Park, debating the merits of going inside this cave, which involves some crawling and lots of dark, tight areas. Given we don’t have the right equipment, we won’t be going in there anyway, but I’m amused watching the three of them.

Riggs and Luther have come along to the campsite at the caves to make sure we were okay. Knowing we’ll be here all day and spending the night, they’ve booked into a local motel. Once they saw the place, Luther expressed an interest in checking it out.

Jude’s brows hit his hairline. I guess Luther isn’t the kind to do stuff like this either. They’re fit enough that they could keep up along the trails. Luther even agreed to photographs in the Dance Hall cave. Despite Jude not being happy about Reckless Soul’s security being here, it's nice to see him with them. Their banter is amusing.

We’ve had some time alone when Jude pulled me into a quiet corner where no one could see us, and kissed me senseless for a good five minutes. When we came out, my hair was a mess and his lips were swollen. Luther didn’t say anything, but Riggs grinned.

I like them both. Having them around has also made it easier not to talk about what happened last night. Jude isn’t acting any differently towards me. He’s still holding my hand, helping me on the difficult paths and taking plenty of pictures.

When we stop for lunch, he even shows Riggs his camera reel of all the places we’ve been to. I watch Luther, knowing he was there, but we had no idea. While we're looking at the pictures, Luther is looking at the surrounding vicinity, watching all the people who come near, assessing them for any danger they may pose to Jude.

A couple of times, he’s watched a lone man closely. I’ve seen him on some trails. He doesn’t strike me as odd. You see lone hikers in places like this all the time. Something about him has piqued Luther’s interest.

“If a fan was here,” I ask Jude a little later when we’re walking along an easy trail in the upper area of the park. “Would they approach you, or would they just follow at a distance?”

“Both are possible, I guess. Some people are respectful, or nervous and will take pictures from afar. Others want to come over and talk to me. Why, have you seen something?” He looks around.

“Just watching Luther.”

Jude glances at the man further behind us. “He never switches off,” he tells me. “I can believe he’s been following us this whole time, to be honest. He takes his job seriously.”

“I’m still impressed by how they materialized out of nowhere to stop those people coming after you. When you see them, they’re so big and imposing, but they don’t make themselves obvious.”

“Big and imposing?” he lowers his sunglasses and peers at me.

“Shut up,” I back hand his stomach, making him laugh.

We reach a narrow part of the path that leads to some stairs. There is a woman bent over grabbing something out of her backpack, she looks up as we draw near, her face is red and she looks exhausted, I wonder if she needs a hand, but she takes out a bottle of water, straightens and turns away as she has a drink.

I traverse around her, Jude follows and puts his hands on my hips. Then, when the path widens, he gets next to me and trails his palm over my ass. I elbow him, but he grins again, and shoves his hand into the back pocket of my shorts so he can cup my butt.

A noise behind us has me looking back. The woman is watching us. She tips her head, then looks away. Something about her is familiar. We’ve passed the same people a few times on the trails as everyone works their way around the different areas of the park, so I figure that is why.

“Shit,” Jude stumbles and he pulls me, because his hand is still in my pocket.

I whirl around and grab his arm to stop him going ass backwards. He straightens up and chuckles in embarrassment.

“You okay?” I ask, making sure he’s steady.

“Yeah, shit, that was close,” he laughs.

“Be careful.”

“I was distracted. The way your ass moves under my hand has me thinking all kinds of things I shouldn’t be.”

Rolling my eyes, I move away from him, letting him know to keep his hands to himself. He pouts but doesn’t try it again.

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