Page 113 of Wicked and Claimed

Nash resolved to make it up to her.

“Shower,” he ordered for the microphones as he tore the flimsy silk shift from her body. “Now.”

Haisley shivered and covered herself with her hands.

Jaw clenched, he prowled through the suite and turned on the built-in speaker system. A classic hard rock song filled the room.

With the music and water spray combined, he could buy them a few precious minutes of privacy. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but he and Haisley had to talk. Right now, before she crumbled. Before the trust between them was damaged irreparably.

He’d save the Santiagos’ sound-blocking technology for later to minimize suspicion.

Nash stomped back to the bathroom. She watched, wide-eyed, as he stripped and herded her under the warm spray, then followed, covering her body with his larger frame.

In the Midnight Sanctuary, he’d been all dominance and ownership. Now, despite having to maintain appearances for the cameras, his touch was gentle where it could be. He needed her to feel the difference, to know which Nash was real.

He slid his lips up her neck before settling his mouth at her ear. “We’re still being monitored.”

“I know.”

“Can you play along a little more?”

She hesitated, then nodded almost imperceptibly.

Thank fuck she trusted him at least that much. “Tonight has been awful. I’m so fucking sorry. Are you all right?”

She thrashed against him as if fighting the battle he’d already won on stage. “I don’t know.”

But she didn’t sound unsure at all. She sounded devastated.

“Did anything…happen to you before I got here?” he breathed against her neck. “Has anyone hurt you?”

She shook her head as if trying to ward him off. “Threatened. Leered. Made lewd remarks, but no one touched me.”

Thank god. He’d done enough damage tonight. He was glad someone else hadn’t compounded it.

“I’m scared.” Her voice cracked.

It nearly killed him. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so fucking worried, baby. I almost died when I realized you’d been taken. I got here as soon as I could.” He caressed his way down her side and pulled her leg over his hip, gliding his fingers to her ass for the cameras.

She shivered. “Why come undercover as a buyer? Why not…burst in the front door and take people down?”

He hoped like hell that, after tonight, she wasn’t afraid of him. “Too risky. We’re outnumbered. This place is a fortress. We need backup or inside intel.” His lips found her ear. “Kane’s here. Ethan came, too, but he’s taking Kaylee Wright home later today.”

“Thank god. But Amy,” she whispered. “The girl who was in my cell… We have to help her, too.”

“The plan is to save as many as we can.” He pressed Haisley against the tile, his hands wandering down her body. “But we have to be smart. Careful.”

She nodded. “D-did they tell you… They won’t let me leave with you until I’m pregnant.”

“We’ll be gone long before then.”

“But if we’re not.” She bit her lip, looking rattled. “Would you… Would we have to…”

The question gutted Nash. She seemed unnerved by that possibility. Part of him wanted to ask if having his baby would be the worst thing in the world, but she’d been through too much tonight. Too much in the last week. She was understandably emotional. And of course she didn’t want to conceive a child in this hellhole of rape and trauma.

“I’ll do everything I can to ensure it won’t come to that,” he vowed.

Some of the tension left her body. “And Jasper? Why did you choose that name?”

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