And apparently, so did I.
Rubi helped me out of the cab and pulled my hood over my face again. “Go clean up, eat, and get some sleep. We ain’t moving again till dark so make the most of it.”
He waggled his brows, but I was too frayed to contemplate why. I let him steer me towards Embry and then we left him and the HGVs behind.
“Don’t look at anyone,” Embry warned as we crossed the lorry park and passed the throngs of early morning travellers queuing for their Starbucks and McMuffins. “Right now, you look like a stoner, but anyone who catches sight of your face is gonna remember it.”
Not a new reality for me. I had a six-inch scar on my mean mug that ran to the bone, but I supposed a shit ton of blood probably did take my freak show to intergalactic levels.
I kept my head down, trusting the brothers at our backs to keep us safe, and followed Embry who the fuck knew where. A lobby that smelt like mouldy oranges. A staircase that went on forever.
A corridor with a munted green carpet until finally his footsteps slowed.
He came to a stop, pried the key card from my hand, and a door opened with a beep. He tugged me through it and reached around me to shut it.
It closed with a mechanic snick, and I knew before I raised my gaze that we’d made it. We were safe.
We were alone.
I leaned against the door while Embry checked, but the room was small enough that there was nowhere to hide but the shower cubicle and I could see from the doorway that it was empty.
Embry came back minus the bags he’d had slung over his shoulder. “You should take a shower so we can look at your eye properly. Alexei thinks it’s fine, but he’s close enough to come tape you up if it won’t stop bleeding.”
“Alexei?”
“You didn’t hear me on the phone?”
That would be a nope. I pushed my hood back.
Embry stepped closer, invading my personal space enough that my head swam for much better reasons than a brick to the face. “How d’you feel?”
Like I’m burning alive. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t feel sick or dizzy?”
“Nope.”
“Would you lie to me?”
I swallowed and reached for him, needing the warmth of his touch to drown out the guilt. My fingers found his ruined T-shirt and I tugged at it. “You need a shower too, chaparrito.”
He shrugged. “Works for me.”
The T-shirt disappeared. I drank in Embry’s bare torso while he toed his boots off. The scars, the ink. The sinewy muscles. I almost missed him shoving his sweats over his hips.
His underwear.
Fuck me, he was naked.
And grinning. “You want to take a shower, brother, you’re gonna have to lose your clothes too.”
My hands moved before my brain caught up. I pulled the hoodie over my head and unbuckled my belt, kicking my boots from my feet like they were on fire.
They hit the wall.
I dropped my jeans. My boxers. Ripped my fucking socks from my feet.
Then I faced him again, anddamn, if my dick didn’t get there first, rising to the occasion, straining to reach him.
