Page 51 of Sold Blood
"It's even easier to move around with no clothes on at all," I say, running my hand down the center of his body.
He shoves my hand away, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Kanga. Let's get this over with."
"It's Roo."
"Come again?" he asks, pulling me out the door.
"The nickname Isaiah calls me. It's Roo."
"Same difference," he says, making his way into the driver's side.
I slide in right beside him, sitting up straight against the seat. "It's weird going anywhere without my guards."
He scoffs. "I'm one person and I've done a hell of a lot better at keeping you safe than the last three combined. You don't need a guard with me." The engine purrs as he starts the car.
I turn on the radio to drown out the silence. It's a long drive to the mall and I keep my eyes peeled on the road the whole time, searching for any suspicious cars. Every time someone drives too closely behind us or glances our way, I jolt up in my seat. Carlos rests his hand on my knee, smiling softly at me and I'm able to lean back into my seat again.
The mall is as crowded as the parking lot is full. I walk right beside Carlos the whole time, making sure a part of us is always touching. Then a warm hand wraps around mine and Carlos presses a kiss to my ear. "Easy does it, Little One. You're okay."
I suck in a breath, hating how much I'm letting my paranoia get the better of me. I was never this fidgety before, not even after the abuse I’d experienced from my father or after several men had tried to have me killed, but something about that place stole something from me. I've never been so eager to get something back before. I left a part of me in that horrid place and I refuse to be connected to it any longer. "We have to kill them all. I want them all dead. I want that place destroyed. The whole fucking building."
He squeezes my hand. "All in good time. For now, how about we go shopping?”
I nod, letting him pull me through one of the passageways of the outdoor mall. The sun is slowly disappearing behind the clouds and the sky is gray above us. I close my eyes for a few seconds, taking in the earthy smell that permeates the air. Something about the combination of the scent and warmth of Carlos’ hand calms me.
Carlos glances my way while pulling me through the shopping center. He smiles as if he can feel the tension falling off my body. “Feeling better?” Carlos asks, tickling my ear with his words coming off as low as a whisper.
I nod, smiling. “Yeah, I’m okay.” I point to a store a few shops down, tugging him toward it. “Let's go there.”
“You don’t want to eat in the food court first?”
“We can pick something up on the way back home, I’m sure Izzy will be hungry when he gets home. Then we can all eat together.”
“If that’s what you want. There’s nothing wrong with eating twice either,” he says as he enters the store closely behind me still holding my hand.
I pull him back beside me once we're surrounded by several racks of lingerie. “This won’t take long.” I run my fingers through the lace panties laying on a table, grabbing a few different styles in various colors. Carlos watches me with attentive eyes and doesn’t say anything the whole time I shop.
Once I have too much to carry and Carlos is having to catch things spilling from my hands, he guides me toward the fitting room. “I think you probably have one of everything in the store at this point,” he says with a chuckle.
I roll my eyes, and hand my stuff to a saleswoman standing inside the fitting room. “I’d like to try these on please.”
“Of course, right this way, sir,” she asks with no judgment in her eyes. People are starting to be more accepting in places like this and she would be dumb to pass up on a customer with the amount of clothing I have in my hands.
The fitting room is spacious with a cushioned bench and large mirror. When the sales associate closes the door behind her, Carlos sits down and holds up a blue lace top. "I think this will be my favorite part of this whole shopping experience."
My pants slide down my body easily when I pop the button and shimmy my hips. I kick off my shoes and step out of my jeans while pulling off the rest of my clothes. "So you're saying I should try the blue one first?"
"Or you can stay as you are," he says, yanking me toward him. His hands are warm as he grips my hips in a strong grasp. Before I can be overtaken by the heat escalating up my body, I push him away laughing.
"Pretty sure the point of coming into a fitting room is to try things on and it's hard to do that with another person attached to me." I slip the blue ensemble over my head, straighteningout the sheer material against my skin. I twirl around between Carlos and the mirror with my lips pursed together and my bottom half completely bare. "What do you think?"
"I think you forgot something," he says, holding up a pair of matching lace panties with the top part of his finger. "Allow me." He holds them up in front of him, low enough for me to step into. As soon as I slip my second leg inside, he slowly pulls them up my body and brushes my thighs with his fingers. "Yeah, the blue is definitely a keeper." He traces a line above the top part of my panties while licking his lips. "Maybe we should try on the rest at home." His fingers trail down the center of my body, lightly brushing over my hardening cock.
A knock on the fitting room door has us pulling apart. "Is everything working out okay?" the lady from before asks.
"We're fine, thanks," Carlos responds after I take too long to say similar words. I relax where I stand when her footsteps become distant. My heart rate slows down as I rest my hand over my chest breathing in and out slowly the way I used to do when I was growing up in a home I had never felt safe in.
Carlos stands up and pulls me in his arms. "It's okay, Little one. You're okay. It was only the sales associate. I'm right here."
