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“Of course, you need gloves. God forbid you touch me with your bare hands,” Onyx smarted off.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Topaz walked back to him with the first aid kit and a pair of rubber gloves. “Even Red would put on gloves, asshole.” With a snap, she put on the gloves, then opened the kit and found some gauze. Applying it to the head wound he had.
She had a point and he was once again, starting a needless fight with her.
“You’re bleeding badly from this.”
“Don’t want you fussing over me,” he growled.
“I’m going to say that’s from the blood loss and not because you’re actually that stupid,” she replied. “You called for a harbor so your brain was functioning a few miles ago.”
Cutting his eyes to her all he could make out were her full lips, bare of the gloss and glitter she usually sported when she danced. Her nearness was overwhelming for him. The smell of vanilla wafted up from her hair to his senses. The sweet mixed with the—he wanted to say sour treatment.
She pulled the gauze back and began to clean his head with alcohol preps.
Wincing, he tried to not bitch up too much as her fingers washed over the wound.
Soon she found a fresh piece of gauze and applied it to his head, this time sealing the dressing with tape. “Oh, hush now. I got this. You can’t drive if you can’t see.” Topaz dug through the first aid kit. “We both took Red’s crash course in not dying and headwounds like to bleed and blood is supposed to stay in the body.”
“Red does not like to fight the reaper.”
“Annoying isn’t it?” She gave him a half-hearted smile that actually reached her eyes. She then took out a wet wipe, cleaned around the dressing.
Onyx had to close his eyes. The cool towel clearing blood from the bridge of his nose, cheek and over both his eyes. She used one hand behind his head to steady him, the motion slow and meticulous. When she finally stopped, he opened his eyes to see a relaxed face, almost welcoming.
“This should hold it until we get to the hotel,” she stated, her voice low as she gathered the multiple wipes and initial gauze she’d used. “You were a mess.”
“Right, we’re passing off in the morning from there. I’ll be good until then. Does it look like stitches are needed?” Onyx hated the thought of stitching up the wound himself, but he would do it. Another of Red’s lessons, after twelve hours with no stitches, you’d have to get used to the gash because it’s too late to fix the skin.
“Yep. It needs stitches. Maybe when we get to the hotel I can help you.” Topaz’s finger smoothed the edges of the bandage and cleaning out the other scratches he didn’t feel until she went over them.
Hack had taken the rescue and her kids to the bathroom and let them decompress a bit while Topaz had been cleaning them up. Opening a few juice boxes and granola bars from the cooler, they filled for the trip. He sat with his legs out on the passenger side of the car eating one himself and watching Topaz’s patch job.
“He’ll be okay to make it to the hotel,” Topaz told Hack as her hand smoothed over Onyx’s shaved head sending all the wrong signals to his cock. “It’s not too far past the border.”
“Okay, we have to get on the road before that asshole catches up to us.” Hack walked back to his bike and got on.
Topaz grabbed the first aid kit and started back toward the van when he caught her hand.
“Thank you,” he said realizing how small her hand was in comparison to his. The reach was more to gauge her reaction and finally feel her, though he didn’t hold on, the catch was enough.
“It’s why I’m here right?”
He gave a nod to the rescue with her phone out in the back seat with her kids. “She doesn’t seem too concerned.”
“Oh, her. I told her to take off any GPS from her phone.” Topaz shrugged. “Just in case, that jerk of a husband tries to follow us. But I suppose Hack helped her with that. She said he knocked the taste out of her mouth yesterday. I think she’s threadbare at this point. We better cross the border and get to the hotel.”
“Yeah, I suppose. I’m ready.” Turning over the engine of his bike, he followed Hack out of the rest area and back onto the highway. His head was throbbing and it was hard to concentrate on the road, but he’d be all right to get where they had to go.
The border crossing was less than a quick wave through, thanks to the officer on duty and his understanding of the situation. Although, they could have made it all the way home, the Hard Road wanted a pass off to take the family east. It would have annoyed Onyx if not for the throbbing headache and wetness from the seeping blood under his helmet. Two hours of riding hadn’t helped and once again, he needed to get the bleeding under control.
There may be a town near the motel, but if it was, he couldn’t see it. Instead, there was a smaller truck stop with a diner and motel across the road. At least, the doors weren’t on the outside of the building, but the single story structure didn’t scream chain to him in any way shape or form. Before joining the Steels and coming to Montana, he thought places like this only existed in movies. Not that LA didn’t have the seedy shit motels, but this rustic spot screamed of the days when families would load up and drive cross country for vacations.
Hack checked them in then handed him and Topaz a key. “Topaz, I want Regina and her children to stay in your room with you. I think she’ll be okay with that. Onyx you’re bunking with me.”
“I was going to help Onyx fix up his head wound.” Topaz frowned. “I can get them settled and come over.”
He touched his sore head and came away with blood. It was still bleeding some but not to the point, he was lightheaded. “She said it needed a stitch or two. Just gotta find a needle.”
