Page 35 of Finding Lord Landry

He knew I was in the room with him, even though he didn’t acknowledge my presence. I moved over to the cabinet where my own clothes were and pulled out a soft hoodie and the shortest pair of joggers I could find so he’d have something clean to wear.

Then, I pulled off my own clothes and followed him into the shower stall. “Kenj?—”

He turned and leaned into me, burying his face in my neck and letting out a sob. I held him tightly again and let him cry as the hot water streamed over us.

“Shh, it’s okay,” I murmured. “You’re safe. It’s over.”

He sniffed and pulled out of my arms. His eyes were full of anguish. It was more emotion than I’d ever seen him express, with the sole exception of the times he’d lost his chill and yelled at me about a fuckup. “It’s not over, Landry. There are a lot of people back there who are still in danger. There’s a man who might be having heart problems and a woman who…”

He shook his head and stepped back into my arms.

After a moment, I explained that the prime minister was following the developments and had hopes the situation would be resolved soon. “There is a lot of pressure to reinstate the safety measures at the mine. Global sentiment is on the side of the locals, not the government officials.”

He shuddered. “I hope they get it resolved before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked gently.

He shook his head.

I reached for the shower gel and managed to fill a washcloth without letting him go. As I scrubbed his back and arms and ass, I couldn’t help but get even harder than I’d been watching him undress.

I wanted him so fucking badly, but I wasn’t going put the moves on him while he was so vulnerable and when I had so much I needed to tell him. Instead, I worshipped his body with the soapy cloth, moving him this way and that until I’d cleaned his entire person.

Once we were both clean, I dried him off with one of the thick towels, then pointed to the clothes I’d set out for him. He pulled them on before crawling into the bed and pulling the duvet up to his chin.

I watched him while I dried myself and dressed again. He looked tiny on the large bed, which was also unusual. Kenji was technically small in stature, but he always stood up straight and wasn’t afraid of taking up space in the world.

Kenji didn’tdovulnerable, and seeing him this way made me want to erect a force field around him, to protect him from any further discomfort or upset.

I closed the window shades and turned off the lights before sliding into bed at his side. He immediately reached for me and yanked me closer until I was spooned around him.

I held him close and nuzzled my nose behind his ear. His damp hair was in a knot on top of his head, otherwise I would have gladly eaten mouthfuls of it if I could stay close and give him the comfort he so clearly needed.

We both drifted off to the sound of the airplane’s white noise. A couple of hours later, I woke up, suddenly remembering I hadn’t updated the Brotherhood on Kenji’s rescue.

I snuck out of bed as quietly as I could and made my way to the main cabin. Jamie was asleep on one of the sofas, and his father was sitting at a table working on his laptop.

When I took the seat opposite Jim, he glanced up. “Is he okay?”

“Not really. What about Jamie?”

He shrugged. “He’ll get on with it.”

I blinked. “They saw some bad stuff, Jim. They feared for their lives. That kind of experience isn’t easy to set aside.”

“I’m sure he’ll handle it.”

Instead of arguing with him, I pulled out my laptop and started a group message to the Brotherhood to let them know Kenji was safe on our plane.

Silas

What happened? How’d you get him out?

I sucked in a breath. How the fuck was I supposed to explain the situation?

Long story. I had to pull some strings to make this happen and now I owe someone a favor.

Silas

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