Stepping out of the shower, Kari wrapped the towel tighter around her body. The water was lukewarm at best and frigid at the end of her five minute wash. Picking up her clothes, she put them on the sink and looked at herself in the mirror.
“You’re a fool.” The reflection said nothing back, so she continued. “Did you really think that having sex with him was going to be a good thing? Really? How stupid are you? Actually, pretty fucking stupid if you think about it. Men like him do not want anything to do with a woman like you. His fucking shirt was worth more than everything you own, you fucking idiot.”
Turning her back on the woman in the mirror, she pulled on her clothes. She was running low on everything and would have to find a laundromat soon. Her pants were hanging loosely on her now…not being able to eat three square meals a day would do that to you, she supposed. But she simply took her belt off her other pants and cinched them as tightly as she could get them before moving out of the tiny room. She nearly screamed when she saw who was standing there.
“You are not staying here.” She looked at Steele, thinking that he must have been a drill sergeant or something sometime. As she was walking around him, he grabbed her arm and she drew back to hit him. He grabbed her hand just before she swung it toward him. “Don’t.”
The man behind him, Ray, started to laugh. But it was short lived when the man who had tried to get into her room earlier started shouting about the police coming. His face didn’t look any better than Steele’s did. When she looked back at him, Steele was cocking a brow at her.
“So? I hit him too. And if you don’t let go of me, I’m going to cut you to pieces with this cat I have inside of me.” He didn’t let her go but started dragging her down the hall. She noticed then that Ray had her suitcase and some other man was holding her back pack. “Those are my things. Don’t tell me you came here to rob me. I’m pretty sure you can afford to buy your own shit. And I doubt my clothes will fit any of you.”
“You’re not staying here.” She jerked her arm from Steele and felt the tear in her skin when she did. But going anywhere he was taking her was not going to happen. “Look. I can’t let you stay here. There is shit going on that could get you killed.”
“And this would bother you how?” He didn’t say anything but did look at Ray. She did as well. “You should have better control over your people, Mr. Hancock. They might get themselves hurt.”
“He knows what he’s doing.” She doubted it. The man seemed unstable. “You should come along, honey. Steele here knows what he’s talking about. This place isn’t anywhere you should be. Just come on nicely and we’ll talk when we get back to the house.”
These people were insane. Instead of saying anything to them, she reached for her suitcase and was surprised when Ray let it go. The other man was laughing so hard that she was almost afraid he was going to hurt something. But he, too, gave her the bag he’d been holding. When she started down the hall in front of them, she heard Steele say something like “finally,” but she ignored him. Turning at the end of the hall, she moved into her room and turned and locked the door before anyone else could enter. The pounding on the door didn’t frighten her, but she wondered how she was going to pay for it if he broke it in. Just as she was ready to scream at him to get the hell away from her, Steele kicked the door in.
“When I tell you something, you will obey me.” Her cat stirred along her skin, and she tried to calm her. Not that she cared if she hurt the asshole in front of her, but she didn’t have the clothes to spare for a quick shift. Backing from him, she whimpered when he pressed her against the wall with his body. His voice, low and full of promise, seemed to lick over her skin when he spoke. “I want to fuck you right now. Strip you down and ram my cock so deep inside of you that you can’t breathe. Take you hard and without a thought to where we are or how many people will see us.”
Her body caught fire. Her need for him, already out of control, seemed to overpower her. Reaching for him, wanting to feel his cock inside of her, she whimpered again when he pulled away.
“We are not having sex.” She wanted to argue with him, but he continued before she could beg him. “I’ll take you back to my home and you can sleep in another room until I can buy some protection. I want to fuck you, that’s for sure, but I won’t be doing it without protection. And there will not be any more marking going on, either. You’ll keep your teeth to yourself and not on me. Understand?”