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“Good job,” I say and reach out to Maddox. He wraps his long fingers around mine and I pull him up. I immediately notice blood on his hand. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing,” he murmurs and swipes it away on his pants.
A moment later, a door slides down, containing the three of us in the small area.
“What the hell?” Maddox grunts.
I take a step toward the sealed exit and frown. “What’s going on? Let us out of here,” I demand.
“Back away from the broken vials,” DeLazzer calmly says over an intercom.
I spin around and see him peering at us through a window, along with several other men in white lab coats. DeLazzer looks rattled, while the lab rats are masking whatever they’re feeling really well behind clinical expressions of disinterest.
“What was in those?” I ask, voice low, looking down at the shattered glass and its spilled contents laying around the thug’s crumpled body. My gaze slams into Maddox’s and he looks worried. That’s not good. Not good at all.
Nothing ever unsettles Maddox.
“We’re going to open the door and let you out,” DeLazzer tells us. “But first you need to be decontaminated.”
“What the fuck’s going on?” Maddox asks, stalking closer to the scientists. Luckily there’s a thick pane of glass between them and Maddox. Because he is seriously not happy.
“There was a virus in the bottles. The men you stopped were attempting to steal it,” one of the scientists states. “We need to decontaminate you. Immediately.”
A nearby door slides up and I exchange a look with Maddox. I’m not sure I like where this is going. And from the look on his face, he doesn’t either. My musings are interrupted by Mr. No-Emotion lab rat barking another order at me.
“Go into the strip-down room, shed your potentially contaminated clothes and then enter the wash-down room where you’ll be showered.”
Strip-down room? Is this a joke?
“Please, hurry,” DeLazzer urges us.
Okay, he doesn’t sound like this is a joke.Oh, God.This can’t be good.
Maddox and I walk into the adjacent room, leaving the bad guy who is still passed out on the floor after his introduction to Maddox’s giant fists. A man in a hazard suit stands in front of us with a hose.
“Clothes off,” the man says.
I have to strip naked in front of Maddox?Normally, I’m not overly modest, but this is humiliating.
I glance up at Maddox, my heart hammering.
“Sai-” Maddox says, but then hesitates.
I pull in a deep, steadying breath. “Can you unzip me?” I ask quietly, steeling myself for whatever is coming next.
He nods, slipping his jacket off. Gritting my teeth, I turn and offer him my back. His fingers slowly pull the zipper down and goosebumps prickle all over my body. I’ve thought about Maddox undressing me quite a bit lately, but never under these circumstances.
“Do you think we’ve been infected with something?” I ask him in a low voice, kicking off my heels.
My emotions are all over the place. I’m trying not to worry, but how can I not? We’re about to be decontaminated…but from what?
“I hope not,” he murmurs. Then he squeezes my arm and turns around. “Just keep your back to mine. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper. As I let my dress slide off, I can feel him moving behind me, taking off his shoes, tie, shirt and pants…and his underwear. I’m betting he’s a boxer briefs kind of guy. I can’t contain my satisfied smirk when I see a pair of black ones fly through the air and land on the ground. I knew it.
“Into the wash-down room,” the man orders us.
So much for keeping our backs to each other.We have to turn and walk into the next room. There’s no way to avoid it. I cross an arm over my breasts and drop my other hand to cover my kitty. The only thing I have on is the dainty gold ankle bracelet that I never take off. And a little bit of my dignity, but that’s wearing pretty thin right now.
