Page 86 of Chaos Bound
Naiya fell on the bed in the well-appointed hotel room in Sandy Lake as soon as the door closed behind Holt. They had been on the road all day, riding from town to town after they left Conundrum for Holt to pick up the equipment he needed for his secret plan that she hoped wouldn’t remain secret much longer. Along the way, he bought pillion pegs for Naiya’s feet and a back rest she didn’t want, but was glad to have when what should have been a short trip turned out to be a day-long event.
“You okay? Riding’s hard if you aren’t used to it.” Holt sat beside her and stroked his hand over her arm, frowned at the goose bumps dotting her skin. “You’re cold.”
“I’ll be okay. The leather jacket you bought me at Big Bill’s kept out most of the chill.” She shivered and Holt pushed himself off the bed.
“I’ll run a bath for you.”
“I’m not really a bath girl. I usually take showers.”
He headed for the washroom, ignoring her just like he’d ignored her when she insisted she didn’t need the backrest he bought for his bike because after the rally they would be going their separate ways. It had been a hint, an opening for him to share his plans, or to reassure her that it would all turn out okay, but he’d ignored that, too. In fact, he had talked less over the course of the trip than he ever had before, and it tripped all the warning bells in her mind.
Naiya stripped down to her underwear and joined Holt in the bathroom. After filling the tub, he added some bath salts from a basket on the tub surround, and piled white fluffy towels on the cream marble counter. When everything was to his satisfaction, he tugged off his clothes and Naiya winced when she saw his scars under the bright bathroom lights. Damn Viper. There wasn’t an inch of his torso that hadn’t been marked.
He choked back a grunt. She looked up and saw him studying himself in the mirror, his eyes unfocused as if he was lost in memories she couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“Holt?” Naiya wrapped her arms around him, pressed her cheek against the soft hair on his chest. “You okay?”
He stiffened, pulled away. “Yeah. Good. Bath is ready.”
“I know what it’s like,” she said softly. “One minute you’re here. The next minute you’re back there—”
“I said I’m good.” He turned off the tap, checked the water, and then stepped into the tub. “Come.”
Anxiety curled in her belly, and she stripped off her underwear and stepped into the tub, settling between his legs as the warm water lapped over her aching muscles.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She looked back over her shoulder. “Sometimes talking helps.”
“No.”
Naiya drew in a deep breath, steeled her spine. No hiding. No running away. Even though this wasn’t a physical problem, she needed to confront it head on. “What’s going on? You haven’t been yourself since the meeting with Jagger. Why are you being so distant?”
He kneaded her shoulders gently, working out the knots until she relaxed against him completely, shifting to accommodate his growing arousal. Well, at least one thing hadn’t changed.
“Got a lot on my mind, darlin’, but I’ll tell you the plan. Viper and his bodyguards have the penthouse suite at the Royal Hotel. The Sinners have spent the last few months paying off the staff, security, fire department, and police. A couple of brothers are gonna go in as trades, set fires in strategic locations that will result in a lockdown of the elevators but won’t put civilians at risk. Fire doors from the penthouse will be locked down. Telephone wires cut, and Wi-Fi cut. Cell signals blocked. Viper and his men will be forced up to the roof. Fire department and police will be delayed getting to the scene. If they come early, people will tell them the building has been completely evacuated. Meanwhile, Jagger and the senior patch will be on the roof of the building across the street with a few sniper rifles. They’ll pick Viper’s men off, go down the fire escape and head out of town in a van waiting for them in the street.”
The Sinners. Jagger. The senior patch.Not once had he said “we” or mentioned his role in the mission. Maybe she was overthinking, reading too much into his words. “I want to be there. I want to watch.”
“You will.” He slid one hand around to cup her breast, soft and slick in the water. His cock stiffened, and he shifted behind her. “You and Tank will be on the roof of the adjacent building. Tank will be wearing a jacket over his cut, and after it’s over, you’ll go down the stairwell to the sixth floor pretending to be a civilian couple. Once the Jacks figure out where the shots are coming from, they’ll be swarming the other hotel, looking for men in cuts. Tank will look after you.”
She drew his other hand around, and he smoothed his thumb over the curve of her breast. “Where will you be?”
“I’ll be there.”
Another vague statement. Did he mean “there” as in on the roof of the building across the street with Jagger and the Sinners, or”there” with her and Tank, or… “there” on the roof with Viper and his guards? Before she could ask, he nuzzled her neck.
“Spread your legs for me.”
He’d never spoken to her in such a rough, commanding voice, and the incongruity of the warm, rose-scented bath and his harsh tone aroused her. She parted her thighs, and Holt stroked his fingers over her soft curls.
Naiya moaned, leaned back, her breasts lifting, her thighs parting wider, inviting.
“Good girl.” He hooked her legs over his shins and spread her wider, his fingers working their way through her folds to her entrance, and then up and around her clit. Naiya melted against him, her muscles relaxed now in the warm water, a contrast to the tension in her core.
“I love your body,” he murmured. “Your softness, your curves, the way the pink of your pussy matches your rosy nipples. I love how you respond to my touch, how wet you are when we’re together, how you open for me and let me enjoy your beauty.” He kissed his way down her neck, nipping the sensitive spot between her neck and her shoulder. “I love that you’re mine, that you know the worst of me and still want my touch, that you know me as I am now, that I wake from my nightmares and find myself in your arms. I’m gonna make sure you’re safe and happy and able to live that normal life you dreamed about.”
“With you?” She looked back over her shoulder, the niggle at the back of her mind now a full-blown roar of worry.
“Turn around. I want to see you.” He lifted her, helped her turn, and then positioned her over his shaft, her knees on either side of his hips.
