Vengeful Soul by Emma Creed
The pain in my side becomes numb from alcohol, and I hate to admit it, but she’s right, I’m gonna have to get it seen to. Which is exactly why I direct her to the Rosita Motel. I know Jerry well. He’s an ex-forces medic and more importantly, one of the few people in the world I trust.
When we pull off the freeway, I tell Gracie to lock the doors and stay put while I head into the office to sort us a room.
“Jerry.” Camilla calls out the old man’s name without even looking up from her magazine.
“What now?” His grumble comes from behind the beaded curtain.
“Brax is here,” she says, unfazed by the state I’m in. I guess she’s seen me in much worse.
Jerry appears from behind the curtain, greeting me with a toothless smile and a tap on the back.
“You better come through to the back, lad… Camilla, grab a bottle of Grey Goose.”
“I’m gonna need a room,” I tell him.
“Of course,” Jerry gestures for me to move into his office.
“There’s two of us, the girl’s out in the truck.” Camilla actually lifts her head and exchanges a surprised look with Jerry, although words don’t pass between them, I know exactly what they're thinking.
Braxton Marshall travels alone.
Always alone.
“I see. Take number six.” Jerry unhooks a key from the wall, still looking shocked.
“The girl, she’s a little shook up,” I tell him. “I’m taped up so I’m good for a while. I’ll get her settled, then come on over for you to stitch me up. It’ll give ya a chance to sink a few, your work’s always neater when you lose the shakes.”
“Cheeky fucker,” Jerry says, swiping the bottle out of Camilla's hand. “Go clean yourself up, I’ll see you in a few.”
Grace is still in the driver’s seat, her fingers tapping at the steering wheel and her eyes looking around anxiously while she waits for me.
“Come on,” I tell her, opening her door when she flicks up the lock. She slides out the truck followed by Duke, and I flinch in pain as I reach across the seat to grab my duffel bag.
“How did you manage to get a room looking like that?” she asks, looking me up and down. “Surely they asked questions?”
“We passed ten other motels on the way here, why you think I chose this one?” I shuffle past her and make my way toward room 6, unlocking the door and holding it open for her. Duke bolts through the door and leaps straight on top of the bed, while Gracie slowly passes me, keeping her eyes on mine as she squeezes through the tiny gap I’ve left for her to get through.
Once inside, I bolt the door and make sure the room is secure.
“You wanna wash up?” I ask her, being in better light I can see she’s got blood on her too, I don’t know how it got there, but it calms me a little to know it ain’t hers.
“I think you should take one first.” She flicks her eyes up and down my body.
“I’m fine, jump in the shower. I know how shit they are here. It’ll be freezing by the time the second person gets to use it.”
“See, it doesn’t hurt to be nice now and again,” her hand flicks at my shoulder, and a dopey as fuck smile pulls on to her face. It leaks a little warmth into my chest that doesn’t feel right there.
“Not nice.” I grasp at her arm and squeeze my fingers into her flesh. I need to remind her that I’m bad… and I need to remind myself of it too. “Savvy,” I bite back coldly, as I move past her into the bathroom and turn on the faucet.
“I’m in enough pain, without havin’ to hear you bitch about taking a cold shower.” Stepping back into the room, I see the smile has dropped from her lips.
“You getting in or not?” I ask, holding out a towel for her, trying to ignore the fact that her broken smile has replaced that tiny bit of warmth in my chest with a sting.
“Thanks.” She snatches the towel out of my hand and strops past me, kicking the door shut behind her.
I sit on the bed and wait for her to be done, trying to piece everything together. Prez hadn’t mentioned anything about the CIA. When I tried calling him back at the house, he hadn’t answered which is why I had to call Jessie. I trust Jessie above anyone else, and having him working things back at the club makes me feel a little more comfortable.
I’m about to bang hard on the door and tell Gracie her time is up, but before I get the chance, a high-pitched scream pierces my ears. I throw open the door and without hesitation draw back the shower curtain. My nostrils flare when I see her, and I don’t know why I’m so fucking surprised that she’s naked. Of course, she’s naked, it’s how all people take showers.
But something about the tiny water droplets falling over her tight torso, the hard pink nipples that top off those perfect round tits, and the tiny patch of hair edging the slit between her legs, has me fucking furious at her.
Her lips are tinged blue and trembling, and her eyes watch me in horror as I stand here, taking in every inch of what’s in front of me.
“What happened?” I ask, trying to focus, I can’t pull my eyes from those damn tits and the goosebumps that have popped up under her skin. I got the wildest urge to reach out and grab her. To take those hard nipples in my mouth and heat them back up with my mouth.
“This water’s freezing,” she moans, her arm darting across her body to hide her tits while her other hand cups between her legs. Fuck, her body’s hot, and now thanks to her, I’m stretching tight against my jeans to the point of pain.
“I thought you were fuckin’ hurt.” I hate the hint of concern that carries in my voice.
“I’m freezing!” she yells again, and I quickly reach behind me and grab a towel. It’s rough and coarse, barely big enough to cover her body, but it’s all that’s here. Gracie rapidly snatches it from my hand and shoots me daggers as she wraps it around herself.
“Do you ever stop moaning?” I ask, trying to stop myself from looking at her.
“Do you ever stop staring?” she bites back, and a wicked smile lifts on her lips as she tucks the towel around her chest.
“Like what you see, Brax?” she winks at me seductively. I refuse her an answer, swiping the curtain back along the rail and marching the fuck out of there.
When she comes out a few minutes later, I’m still trying to forget what I just saw.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Gracie asks, sitting down beside me, her chest and shoulders still wet, and the scratchy motel towel wrapped tightly around her body. I look at her out of the corner of my eye, and the urge to rip the thing off her body and fuck out her soul plays havoc with my cock.
“I gotta go see Jerry, get some stitches. Lock the door behind me,” I tell her as I stand up from the bed. I need to get far away from her, these kinda thoughts make me a lia-fuckin-bility.
“Brax, don’t leave me,” she drops her seductive little act and begs, tugging on my arm to try and pull me back onto the bed. I quickly rip myself out of her grasp. And when I turn back around and see her bottom lip trembling again, I feel like a cunt for causing it. Clenching my fist out of frustration I let it fall back to my side.
“You’ll be fine, you’re safe here,” I promise, trying to soften my tone a little. I wait until she nods back at me, then get the hell out of there before the tears that are growing in her eyes fall and I give in to that urge I feel to comfort her.
I slam the door behind me and stomp my way over to the office. The cold evening air does nothing to cool me down. I’m too fuckin’ angry at myself for letting a bitch get to me. Especially now, when it’s vital that I focus.
Jerry is waiting for me in the back room with his med kit all laid out.
“I thought you were gonna clean up?” He looks at me with a scrunched nose.
“The girl needed a shower more than I did. I’ll grab one after.”
“A girl, huh?” Jerry's tongue pokes out from between his lips as he looks over his glasses and concentrates on the needle he’s trying to thread.
“Ain’t nothing like that. I’m on a job for Jimmer,” I explain.
“You don’t owe me any explanations, boy,” he tells me, and I flinch as the hot needle pierces into my skin. I take a long drink from the bottle of vodka on the table, before lighting myself a cigarette.
“How long are you planning on staying for?”
“We’ll be out of your hair by morning,” I tell him, flinching again when I feel him hit a nerve. “And I’m gonna need one more favor.”
I check out the old man’s work when he’s finished, he’s done a good job and as usual, the stubborn old bastard refuses to accept any cash. Jerry will store this up with all the other favors I’ve accumulated over the years.
On the way back out, I stop to speak to Camilla.
“I need some clothes.” She lifts her eyes up from her magazine at me for an explanation. “The girl who’s with me, she’s about your size. A pair of jeans, a T-shirt, anything you can spare. Oh, and some shoes.” She looks back at me blankly, making me wonder for a second if she’s gonna ignore me.
“I’ll fix you something up.” She rolls her eyes as she stands up from her desk and disappears out the back. She returns not long after with a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and some flats.
“That do ya?” she asks, handing them over.
“That’ll do just fine.” I thank them both, then make my way back to room number six.
“It’s me.” I knock on the door, and wait. Gracie opens it cautiously. She’s still only wearing that damn towel to cover herself and she heads straight for the bed as soon as she’s let me inside. I place the clothes on the mattress and walk straight into the bathroom. Stripping out of my jeans, turning on the water and washing all the blood off my body.
The water’s freezing but I stay under it for as long as I can stand, knowing that my blood will start burning again the moment I step back into the same room as her. I focus on the chill of the water, rather than the fact I want to kill those men all over again for coming so close to hurting her.
I shouldn’t give a shit. I shouldn’t want to protect her. And I sure as fucking hell shouldn’t be intending on taking her to the place that I am tomorrow.
When I get out of the shower, I tuck a towel around my waist then take a long breath before opening the door. Gracie’s lying on her side facing the door, her thick hair naturally dried into loose curls that are draping over the pillow. The clothes I’ve given her are on the nightstand now and she’s wearing another one of my shirts, one she must have helped herself to while I was in the shower. It’s loose and baggy on her but shows off too much of her legs not to be tempting.
Duke is laid out contently on the bottom of the bed, he lifts his head but as soon as he realizes it’s only me, drops it back down again.
I pull a pair of sweatpants out of my duffel bag, pulling them up under the towel around my waist. Then I hang the towel over the bathroom door, grab a spare pillow off the bed and settle on the floor in front of the door that leads outside.
“What are you doing?” Gracie asks, pulling herself up into a sitting position.
“I’m getting some sleep, you should too, we got an early start tomorrow.” I turn my back to her and punch the pillow into shape, before bedding down for the night.
“Brax, I can’t let you sleep on the floor.”
“I’ve slept worse places,” I tell her, closing my eyes, and hoping she’ll shut up and go to sleep.
“Please, Brax,” she begs, but I ignore her. I have to.
“Brax,” she raises her voice, and I can’t help but smile to myself when I imagine that look she gets on her face when she’s frustrated. “Brax, I don’t want to—”
“Jesus,” I interrupt her before she starts pleading. “If I get into the damn bed, will it shut you up?” I snap, sitting up and finally giving her my attention.
“Yes.” The victorious smile is already on her face and I want to wipe it right off with my tongue.
“Fine.” Snatching up the pillow, I storm toward the bed and throw it beside hers, then pull open the covers to settle under them.
“Happy now?” I ask, turning my back to her and attempting to get some sleep.
I’ve barely closed my eyes when I hear her soft little snuffles and sobs, and I try real hard to ignore them, but they go on and on until eventually I let out a frustrated breath and turn around.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, sounding every bit as irritated as I’m feeling. She turns herself around to face me, her eyes looking so fucking pretty magnified with tears. Tears that I feel the strongest urge to wipe away.
Luckily, I still have enough control over myself not to.
“I was really scared, Brax,” she admits, erupting into more sobs that I have no idea how to handle.
“You’re okay now,” I tell her, trying to remember a time when I’ve ever had to comfort someone before. This ain’t something I have experience in.
“I…I thought they were gonna ki…kill me,” she stutters, and fuck, seeing her cry like this bruises me on the inside.
“I wouldn’t have let that happen,” I tell her, meaning every fucking word. And not just because Prez told me to keep her in one piece either.
She shuffles a little closer, the tip of her nose almost touching mine.
“Could you just…” she quickly silences herself, her eyes widening as they look down between us.
“It’ll go away in a minute,” I assure her, internally cringing. There ain’t no way to hide how fucking hard she’s making me in the small space she’s left between us.
Her lips curl into a smile that shouldn’t be meant for me, but knowing that it is does nothing to help the situation under the sheets.
“Could you hold me, just until I go to sleep?” She finishes her sentence. I should say no. I should get out of this bed right the fuck now and get back on the damn floor.
But I don’t, instead, I take the hit of pain in my side that comes with lifting up my arm, and allow her to snuggle beneath it. I don’t know where to place my hand, so I rest it on the dip just above her ass and curse myself for instinctively using it to draw her in closer.
“Thanks.” Her head tilts up to look at me. Her tears are still there, but they’ve stopped spilling, for now. Seeing them glisten on her cheeks, it would be so easy to let my lips have their way. To kiss them away and tell her everything is gonna be okay. But the girl ain’t mine. She has a boyfriend; I’ve seen that fucker for myself. And as soon as whatever this is ends, it’s him she’ll be going back to.
“Go to sleep, Gracie,” I growl, still trying to refrain from kissing her.
“Okay, Brax.” Her head nods slightly, and she snuggles herself deeper into my chest. And when I feel her lips make a gentle dab against my skin. I do the only thing I can do.
I ignore it.