Page 98 of Vengeance

“You fell asleep,” she says, standing with a towel wrapped around her. “You said you wanted to shower. Even if you don’t, you might at least want to strip out of your jeans and boots.”

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. “Thanks. I’ll be quick.”

Walking into the bathroom, he turns on the shower and strips out of his clothes. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t fall asleep standing up. Finding his shampoo feels like more effort than he wants to muster, but he manages it and quickly washes his hair and runs soap across his body. The water at his feet starts to look less brown, and he’s glad he showered. Nothing irritates him more than going to sleep dirty.

He turns off the water and turns around to see Shannon step into the shower, completely naked. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he says. “What are you doing in here?”

“You seemed like you might be too tired when you get into bed,” she says and falls to her knees.

His eyes narrow, but the moment she touches him, his cock comes alive. Her mouth wraps around him, and the hot heat creates a weirdly satisfying contradiction to the chill he has from not yet drying off the water on his skin. The more he watches her, the more he realizes what she’s doing.

“Shannon, stop.”

Releasing him, she looks into his eyes. “Do you want to have sex?”

“No.”

“I can make this quick for you,” she says and takes him into her mouth again.

His hands reach out to her shoulders and push her back, forcing her to separate from him. “Stop.”

“What?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Standing to her feet, she climbs out of the shower and dries off her knees and feet. “Because I thought you’d like it.”

Beckett grabs his own towel and dries off before stepping out of the shower himself. In the bedroom, she slips on the shirt and boxers he gave her while he puts on shorts. “Shannon-”

“Look, you’re not interested. It’s fine.”

“It’s not that I’m not interested.”

“Then why would you stop me?”

Leaning against the dresser, he crosses his arms over his bare chest. “Because that wasn’t about me.”

“Yeah? And what was it about then?”

“It was about some sort of repayment.”

“Well, that’s how it typically works,” she says and looks at the ground. “I didn’t think you’d push me away.”

He shakes his head and looks away from her. “If it was about me, or even about you, I wouldn’t have. But don’t make me a predator because it’s what you’re used to. That’s not fair to me.”

“You’re not a predator,” she says, her big, brown eyes looking up at him. “I didn’t say that.”

“That’s what you made me feel like,” he says and pushes off the dresser to walk to the door. He opens it and looks out to see Jennings walking by. “Jennings!”

Heavy boots echo, and Jennings stops in front of his door. “What’s up?”

“I need an empty room for Shannon to stay. Is Psycho’s old room still open?”

“Undertaker’s in there. But Ink’s room on the second floor is open.”

“Who’s Ink?”

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