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Two double beds with god-awful brown bedding fill most of the space. There’s a nightstand on either side of them, and a door at the back leading to the bathroom. The walls are as grim as the bedding, the carpet worn beneath my feet, but it’s dry, warm, and far better than some places I’ve stayed.
When the door clicks shut behind me, I startle a little. Axel places his bag down on the bed closest to the door, and I slowly move toward the other. As I clear my throat, Axel glances at me, and I try to find the right words to approach the subject.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay with one room? I can organize another if needed.”
He shrugs. “I can protect you better if we stay together.”
“I don’t want to stress you or trigger you though,” I reply mildly, still not dropping my bag down onto the bed.
“You won’t.”
It’s not as simple as that, and we both know it.
“Are you sure? I—”
“Honestly, Reaper, shut the fuck up, you’re ruining my good mood.” If it wasn’t for the grin on his face, I would swear he was pissed. Brushing off my concern and trusting his word, I finally set down my bag and shake off my jacket.
“I got them to order some pizzas. They should be ready in a few minutes from the pizza joint around the corner because it’s open twenty-four hours,” he explains, and my stomach grumbles at the thought. “Good, you’re hungry. Why don’t you clean off and I’ll go get them. Then we can pig out and pass out before the long drive back.”
“Thank you,” I breathe, unsure how he’s still standing. I’m exhausted and I napped on the way. I’m sure it’s the adrenaline that has him still going, but that will only last so long. A crash is coming his way very soon.
He steps toward me, tucking a loose curl of hair behind my ear, an act he does more and more lately. “I’ll be quick,” he murmurs and shuts the door behind him.
I exhale heavily. It’s been a long day, or night, depending on how you look at it, and I’m ready to rinse it all away. Kicking my boots off, I re-secure my hair in a bun and close the bathroom door. It’s dim in here, but it looks clean enough, and that will do. The sound of the water spraying from the shower acts as the perfect background as I strip out of my clothes, and I groan when the steamy droplets hit my skin when I step into the stall.
My skin feels raw by the time I step out, but the feeling of freshness you only get after scalding yourself cascades over me in the best way possible. Not that it was completely by choice, it seems the dial on the shower isn’t the best, so it was hot or… hot. When I wrap the threadbare towel around my chest, it falls just below my ass cheeks, and I realize in my excitement to freshen up that I left my change of clothes in the bedroom.
Shit.
Steam billows around me as I open the bathroom door a little, but Axel’s not back yet. I rush into the room, grabbing my bag at the exact same time the front door opens.
Of course this shit happens to me.
Instead of hightailing it back to the bathroom, I freeze, caught like a deer in headlights as he saunters into the room with two pizza boxes. He smiles as he meets my eyes… until he trails his gaze lower, his mouth forming a thin line as he takes me in.
“I’m so sorry, I left my bag out here,” I mutter, and he slowly brings his gaze back to mine. His pupils are blown, jaw ticcing, and the fingers of his free hand flex at his side.Fuck.“Don’t look at me like that, Axel.”
“Like what?” His eyes are fixed on the towel at the top of my thighs again, making me bite back a groan.
“Like you want to taste me.”
“I do.”
My thighs clench, nipples pebbling at the rasp in his voice as an overwhelming sense of need washes over me. Like I wasn’t being fucked by Gray and Axel less than twenty-four hours ago.
“I will only be a second.” I wave the duffel bag meekly, sounding way more breathless than I should, but I need to move before I fuck all of this up with my raging hormones.
I haven't even taken a full step when his gaze snaps to mine. “No.”
“Axel,” I sigh, pressing my eyes closed for a moment before I look back at him. “You’re killing me here, and I really need to gather myself.”
“I. Said. No.” The challenge in his eyes only heightens everything I’m feeling as he slowly walks toward me and drops a pizza box on my bed. “Eat. You’re hungry.”
He takes a seat at the foot of his bed, opening his box to reveal a meat feast inside, and I slowly sit on the other bed, releasing my grip on my duffel bag and reaching for my pizza as well.
Half Margherita, half pepperoni.
I barely mumble my thanks as I reach for a slice and sink my teeth into it. I groan with delight as the cheese melts perfectly on my tongue and the pepperoni adds the perfect hit of deliciousness.
