When the water hit the wound on his shoulder, he gritted his teeth. Pain was a good reminder to keep his thoughts off the woman and on the task at hand.
Keira was an assassin, trained to kill, brainwashed to follow orders, to believe she was no longer a victim.
Sadly, she was a victim. No child or young woman should have to do the dirty work for powerful people, while being fed the bullshit that they were helping protect their country, when it was nothing but lies.
No man, either.
He scrubbed his shoulder, even though it hurt, and started the wound bleeding again. When he got out of the shower, he used a wad of toilet paper to apply pressure to the wound. However, he couldn’t hold the wad and dress at the same time. By the time he pulled on his jeans, blood had dripped down his arm onto the bathroom floor. He did the best he could to clean up while attempting to press down on the injury.
Finally, he opened the door, ready to cry uncle and let Keira dress the wound.
She stood outside the door with a first aid kit in her hand. “You should’ve asked for help.” With a shake of her head, she turned. “Come into the kitchen.”
Rogue followed her into the kitchen and let her push him gently into one of the two chairs around the table. She quickly cleaned the wound, applied a pressure bandage and taped it in place. “That should hold it. If it bleeds through, we’ll do it all over again.”
Rogue wouldn’t mind having her apply the bandage all over again, especially since she had to straddle his knees to get close enough to do the work. Her breasts had brushed against his chest a couple of times, making it hard for him to concentrate. Hell, making him hard, period.
When she was done, he shifted so that his legs were beneath the table, the evidence of his desire hidden.
She repacked the first aid kit, tossed the toilet paper wad and gathered the cloth she’d used to clean the blood from his arm. “I’m going to get my shower. I’ll be back in five minutes or less.”
“While you shower, I could fix something for us to eat.” He started to get up.
A frown creased her forehead. Keira pressed a hand to his uninjured shoulder. “You need to stay still long enough to let that shoulder stop bleeding. Promise me you won’t try to burn my kitchen down while I rinse off.”
“I’m not much for sitting still,” he said, his lips pressing together. “I’d like to do something.”
She planted a fist on her hip. “I’d like you to stop bleeding, so that I don’t have to redo your dressings.”
His stubborn streak could be as strong as hers, but this wasn’t a battle he was willing to fight. “Okay. I’ll stay put until you get back. You have five minutes.”
She hesitated.
He glanced down at his watch. “Four minutes and fifty seconds.”
Keira rolled her eyes and scooted out the door and down the hallway. The quiet click of the bathroom door closing made Rogue grin.
The woman had him tied in knots. When she’d dressed his wound, all he could think of was pulling her into his lap or capturing one of her breasts in his mouth.
The next four minutes felt like an hour, stretching his nerves to the limit. Rogue was ready to climb the wall—injury be damned.
Keira finally appeared in less than the allotted five minutes, her damp hair combed straight back, and wearing running shorts and a loose, faded T-shirt. He swallowed hard when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra beneath the shirt. Her nipples pressed against the worn fabric of the T-shirt in pointy little knots. His groin tightened, and his mouth watered for a taste of those buds.
“Miss me?” Without waiting for a response, she pulled a pan out of a cabinet and set it on the stove.
Rogue didn’t grace her question with a response. Hell yes, he’d missed her. He’d missed moving, pacing, cooking, anything other than sitting still for five whole minutes.
“Hungry?” she asked.
“Starving,” he admitted. Though the kind of hunger he was experiencing wasn’t something he could act on. Not while they were being targeted. “Let me help.”
“No need,” she insisted. “I know where everything is. If it’s all right with you, I’ll heat some cans of hearty soup.”
“Sounds great. That’s the kind of meal I whip up when I’m tired at the end of a rough day.” He pushed to his feet.
“I’d say today qualifies as a rough day, don’t you?” she said with a crooked smile.
“Ranks right up there.” Rogue liked that, despite the desperate situation they were in, Keira could still smile. “Now, what can I do to help? You might as well give me a task. I’m going to do something or go batshit crazy.”
