“I need a fucking shower,” Noah growled before jumping up from the couch and stalking to the bedroom.
“I need a drink,” JB murmured and the headed into the kitchen.
Rowe grabbed Noah’s tablet and followed him to the bedroom. He needed to help Noah first. Then maybe he’d make sure that JB didn’t climb into the bottle of booze he was searching for. They needed to be sharp if they were going to survive their next encounter with Erik’s men.Chapter ThirteenLucas’s master bath was a thing of beauty with black marble countertops, a deep bathtub, and a black-and-white shower big enough for three. Or four if the participants were particularly close. A large showerhead came down from the ceiling, making it feel like Noah was standing in a waterfall. He stood under the spray, his head back, and let the hot water beat down on his body.
Noah knew a shower wouldn’t take away the kind of dirty he felt after hearing what Gidget and her team had found, but it would help. It would also give him a few moments to himself so he could come to terms with what he’d learned. They’d played around with the idea of one bad soldier, but to hear it confirmed? And it wasn’t just one. At least two, possibly three, soldiers had committed treason and been responsible for the deaths of a lot of good men. And for what? Weapons. Fucking weapons.
He poured shampoo onto his palm and scrubbed his scalp, trying to rub away the crawling sensation on his skin. He couldn’t believe any soldier would kill his brothers like that, but to know that more than one man had turned on his family…his gut knotted sickeningly and he leaned one hand against the tile while he swallowed back the bile. He hadn’t known the men who’d died in that ambush, but he may as well have. Soldiers like him.
Like the fucking men who’d betrayed them.
Noah finished his shower and when he grabbed a towel, he noticed Rowe leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, an expression of sympathy on his rugged features. He looked good in his loose jeans and tight black shirt. Rowe held his hand out for the towel, and Noah handed it to him. Rowe slowly ran the cloth over his shoulders and chest, his lips tight. When he kneeled to dry Noah’s legs, Noah ran his fingers through his hair, loving the soft strands against his skin. He cradled the back of his head and pulled him close for a light hug, his face in Noah’s hip.
Rowe dropped a kiss on his hipbone and looked up at him. “You okay?”
“Not really.”
He nodded as if he’d already known that. “Hard to believe anyone would betray fellow soldiers that way.”
“It is. Sometimes, this world is not a good place.”
“There’s still a lot of good in this world, Noah.” Rowe spent extra time drying his groin and Noah couldn’t help but smirk a little as his body hardened in reaction. The grin he got in response lightened his heart. Fuck, he loved this man with every cell in his body.
When Rowe stood, he wrapped his arms loosely around him and pressed their foreheads together. “We’re going to expose these guys for what they did, Noah. Make sure they pay for the soldiers in Afghanistan as well as Chris and Paul.”
“We have to,” Noah whispered as water from his hair dripped down his face and Rowe’s. “I feel like I can’t get clean enough. We delivered the goods right into their hands.”
“You can’t take that guilt on. You did your job.”
“Maybe if we’d stuck around longer, we could have helped.”
“Or you could have ended up dead, too.” Rowe shuddered and tightened his arms. “I can’t stand to think of it.”
“Well, I didn’t. I’m here with you now. And for always.”
Rowe pulled back, his green eyes full of affection.
“You have too many clothes on,” Noah said, running his hands down Rowe’s back. Sex, sex would ground him. He kissed his jaw, then his neck, tugging on his hair to get him to tilt his head. He opened his lips over Rowe’s pulse, lightly biting down.
A low, rumbling growl spilled from Rowe’s throat. “I know a way to make you feel better.”
“I bet you do,” Noah murmured, kissing down to his collarbone. He tugged on his shirt. “Off.”
Rowe stepped away and yanked his shirt over his head. Noah’s hand immediately went to his shoulder tattoo and he traced along the black lines with one finger, down to where the design circled one nipple. He tweaked that sexy nipple, then bent to take it into his mouth. He licked it. Another sound of pleasure left Rowe, and he pulled Noah up and slanted his mouth over his. They moved into a kiss, Rowe’s tongue plunging deep into his mouth. The man tasted of beer and that perfect flavor of Rowe that went to Noah’s head faster than booze. Rowe bit at his lips, sucking the lower one into his mouth.