Page 31 of Brood

Chapter Twenty-Six

We start driving back to Rhino shortly after we wake up and don’t reach the clubhouse until the sun has been down for hours. “Where is Kasin?”

“With Cammy. It’s so late I’m just going to leave him there for the night. No need to wake him at one in the morning,” Brood explains as we pull up to his house. I’m so tired that not even the mention of Cammy fazes me. Instead, I step out of the truck and follow Brood inside, not sure what I want more, a shower or sleep. Brood makes his decision when he walks to the bathroom and flicks on the shower. “I need to wash the road off me. You good?” He pauses and looks through the still open door at me.

“You mean, am I going to run away again?”

“No. I just want to make sure—”

“I’m fine, Brood, really. Go.” I wave my hand at him. It’s when I’m watching him walk away that the kiss we shared comes to mind. After all the excitement and getting to the clubhouse in Idaho, we were so tired that nothing was ever brought up. And talking about something like that on the ride home wasn’t something I wanted to do with Show and Roman as an audience. Now though, it’s all I can think of. It shouldn’t be. There are so many things at play right now, like the impending war that will no doubt take place because of me. The last thing I need to be thinking about is Brood kissing me. You are a part of our damn family, and we take care of our own. The promise still lingers there in the back of my mind. Maybe that is what has me walking forward into the unknown, into Brood’s bathroom.

The small room is thick with steam as I slowly push the door open, careful not to announce my presence. The glass of the shower is slightly fogged, giving me a wonderful yet obstructed view of him. Brood’s tall muscled body is under the hot spray, facing away from me. He really is a work of art, even through the haze of steam. Carefully and as quietly as I can, I undress, swallowing down the anxiety that tries to creep up. He has already seen my nearly naked body, all of my scars, but this will be something else entirely. This will be me at my most vulnerable.

When all my clothes are shed, I take a step forward, right about the time Brood turns. Our eyes connect through the misted over glass, and for that moment, everything stands still. Right up until he speaks. “Come on.” With a tattooed arm, he pushes the glass door open for me, not even questioning my presence. His voice is thick, and when my eyes drop, I notice something else is too. Instantly my heart races. Maybe I didn’t think this all the way through. I had been so caught up in him seeing me naked I hadn’t even thought of seeing him— “Breathe, Jor.” His palm comes out to tip my head back, his thumb and forefinger trapping my chin between them. “Nothing is happening right now.” With that, he tips my head further back and into the spray, getting my hair wet. “All I got is my shampoo.”

“It’s fine.” I let him work the soap into my hair, loving the way his strong fingers rub along my scalp. “This might become a regular thing if you do this every time.” That gets a throaty laugh out of him.

“Don’t think I have ever showered with a woman before.”

“Not even your wife?” His hands pause in their massage as he spins me around to face him.

“Who told you I was married?” My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, but he stops me. “Stupid question. That Brook and her meddling.” He lets out a sigh then starts to rinse away the foamy bubbles from my hair, turning off the water when he is all done. “Let’s get out. I don’t want to talk about her with you wet and naked next to me.” He smirks and steps out to grab us both towels from the shelf on the wall. He takes care to wrap me in mine before quickly scrubbing his own towel over his hair, then secures it around his waist. I follow him out of the bathroom and into his room. The thought of putting back on my worn out change of clothes has my stomach turning. I almost want to throw them out. Brood must read my mind because when he walks over to his dresser, he pulls out two t-shirts, handing me one.

“Thanks.”

“We are going to have to get you some of your own clothes. Or, maybe you could just wear that all the time.” He gets a mischievous grin on his face then goes back to his drawers to pull out something else. Sweats and a pair of shorts for me. “They are probably going to fall off you, but there is a string.” He tugs on the white cord to show me then hands them over. I do my best tugging on the string and tying it. When that doesn't keep them up I roll the waist a couple times, getting them to sort of stay in place.

“Perfect.” I shoot a smile at him that slowly dies when I see he is also dressed. Gray sweats that fall just right on his hips, showing off that delicious V that he covers up with a white t-shirt, that strains at the sleeves when his arms flex. Even with clothes on…

“Jordyn.”

“Hum?” My eyes dart up to his face.

“You are testing my restraint.” The chuckle he lets out under his breath sends tingles through my body. “Come on.” He tips his head toward his bedroom door and waits for me to walk out first before following behind. “Don’t know about you but I am starving.”

“It’s almost two in the morning.”

“Yeah, but all we have eaten today is gas station junk food. If I see another bag of Funyuns I might go crazy. Fucking Show wouldn’t stop with them things.” I laugh because it was quite funny. The first stop we made Show came back into the truck holding five bags of Funyuns. And he ate every one of them too. “God, they stink.”

“Not an onion fan?”

“Oh, I like onions, but those aren’t onions. How about some pancakes?” He grabs out a tall bag of pancake mix.

“How can you go wrong with pancakes?” I step beside him in the kitchen and reach for the big bowl the same time he does. When his front brushes up against my back, we both freeze, as if we hadn’t just been pressed up against each other completely naked a few minutes ago. Somehow this seems different.

The bowl is forgotten as Brood’s hand drops to my hip, squeezing slightly. “Even with my shampoo in your hair, you still smell like you. Fucking sunshine.” His head dips to my neck, and he inhales, causing millions of goosebumps to break out all over my skin. Then he places a soft kiss right where my shoulder and neck meet.

“So, you were going to tell me about your wife,” I blurt out.

“Ah. Way to kill a moment.” There is humor in his voice as he backs away, not before grabbing the bowl we were both reaching for.

“Sorry. I panicked.” I turn shrugging.

“Don’t apologize.” He places the bowl onto the counter then pours some of the mix in. “I was married. I haven’t seen or heard from the woman in ten years. She drained my bank account and took off one day. No word, we hadn’t even had a fight. She was just… gone.” He takes the bowl over to the sink and turns the tap on to add water.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He tips his head to the side, turning off the water when he is satisfied with the amount in the bowl. Then he starts to mix it.

“Don’t be. It’s not like it broke my heart. We hadn’t been husband and wife for some time before then anyway. I think I was more of a conquest for her. She wanted a man with a patch.”

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