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I blew out a breath, beginning to calm again until a tremble seized me. The tremor caused his shirt to slip and begin to slide off me. But Luke whipped out his hand and caught it before it could, and he promptly tugged it back into place. Before he pulled away again, the backs of his knuckles barely grazed the tattoo I had on my side, low on my ribs, of a blue and back butterfly.
“When’d you get the tat?” he asked, hitching his chin toward it conversationally. “It’s…nice.”
“Uh…” I couldn’t really concentrate enough to answer his question, so I just mumbled, “I don’t know.”
He nodded, flitting his gaze over me again. “I think your boobs are even bigger now than they were at fifteen,” he added.
I sniffed and shook my head. “Do we really have to talk about my naked body right now?”
He shrugged and glanced away from me. “I guess not. I was just trying to distract myself from your bruised jaw, the jacked-up eye, and the swelling and scratches all over you, plus the metal fucking handcuffs trapping you to the floor because that line of thinking makes me lose some sanity. And why the fuck are you all wet?”
“He had to decontaminate me,” I tried to explain.
Luke’s gaze swerved back to me. “What?”
“Dirty slut,” I mumbled, repeating the term Dax had used and closing my eyes briefly as my jaw ached with each word I spoke. “He said he had to wash all the other men off me b-before he could take me himself. He’s off looking for more cleaning supplies now.”
“Jesus H. Christ,” Luke snarled. “I can’t…I can’t take this.” Ripping his hands through his hair, he popped to his feet and began to pace the floor. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I have to dosomething. Chloe, Goddammit. I’m just going to run upstairs real quick and—”
“Luke,” I sobbed, knowing how much he wanted to leave right now. “You promised. Please… Don’t leave me.”
“Mother…fucker!” he roared, spinning to glare at me. His hand curled into claws. “You are the most aggravating, pain-in-the-ass woman I have ever met. I can’t handle seeing you like this.” His chin trembled and torment clouded his expression. “I have to…I have todosomething.”
“You are,” I assured, my voice breaking and then trembling from the cold. “You’re keeping me from losingmyshit all over this floor. I can’t keep it together without you. Please… Please don’t leave me. Luke…” Tears filled my eyes again and I began to sob. “Don’t leave me here like this. Please…”
“Okay…okay,” he rushed out, hurrying back to me and falling to his knees by my shoulder. “I told you I wouldn’t, and I won’t.”
I looked up at him but could barely see him through the fog of tears clouding my vision. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” he whispered, wiping my cheeks. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry.”
But as soon as he spoke the words, we heard more footsteps pounding down the steps and a muffled voice yelling for both me and Luke.
Luke popped back to his feet.
“Thank fucking Christ,” he breathed, hurrying forward. “It’s Trick.”
“Trick?” I blinked. ButTrickwas about to see me…like this? “Don’t let him come in here,” I blurted, just as Luke reached the door and grasped the handle.
Pausing, he glanced back. “What?”
“Keep him out there,” I said. “Don’t let him see me like this.”
Luke shook his head and growled, “Lady, you make a lot of impossible demands. Do you know that?”
“It would haunt him forever to see me like this,” I said. “You know I’m right. Don’t you dare do that to my baby brother.”
“Fuck!Fine,” he rumbled.
Except the door started to open, anyway.
Luke dove forward and had to push his body against it, slamming it right back into Trick’s face.
“Hold up,” he called to my brother, putting all his weight against the portal when Trick kept trying to open it. “Don’t… Just stay out there, alright?”
“What? Why? What’s wrong? Is… Where’s Chloe? Is she with you? Is she okay?”
“She’s…” When Luke floundered too long and glanced back at me, wincing, Trick pushed on the door again, almost unseating him. “Dammit, I said stop,” he roared. “She’s okay. She’s good.”
