Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

"Silence can't be good," she said and I looked up to see her holding the tee to her chest, turning her head over her shoulder at me.

"No, actually, it's a lot better than I was expecting. Another week and these will come out. Turn to your side. Let me see your ribs," I said, hand moving low on her back so it slid along her skin as she moved.

Softest fuckin' skin I had ever felt.

"Wow, that's really red," she said as she looked down at her side. And it was. The area from under where her bra would be to the waistband of her pants had a smattering of red smeared across, almost as if someone kept swiping a paintbrush over her skin.

"Red is good though," I said, putting my hand flush against her ribs with a little pressure to test my theory. When she didn't immediately flinch or hiss, I was fairly comfortable with my deduction. "If it was purple or blue still, I'd think they were broken. But this light red seems more like it's bruised, not busted."

"Small miracles," she said, looking up at me. "So can I take a shower?"

"Depends," I said, feeling the corner of my lips turn up.

"I don't trust that look. Depends on what?"

"If I can come in with you."

Her mouth went slack even as she was shaking her head. "No way!" she said with a smile.

"Why not?"

"You can't be serious."

"I can't? I feel pretty serious." I paused, reaching out for the shirt she had clutched to her chest and pulling. She didn't even fight. "Nothing's gonna happen. Just sharing a shower. You know, being green and all that," I added with a smirk, making her lips curve upward.

"That's how you want to play this?"

"Yep," I said, rolling back on my heels with a smile.

"On the stubbornness scale..."

"Babe, I'm off the charts." I moved toward her, letting my hands run down her sides, feeling her shiver, trying to ignore the way it made my cock twitch. There would be no denying my body's response to her, but I meant to be true to my word. Beside the fact that we didn't have the time and the fact that she was still too hurt to really enjoy herself, it was important for her to know she could trust my word.

My hands slipped beneath the waistband of her pants and panties and tugged them downward. She let them fall to her feet and stepped out of them carefully. Then, as if suddenly remembering that she thought she was supposed to be embarrassed, her arm went over her breasts and she quickly turned and walked away from me. I watched her ass as she moved the shower curtain aside and climbed in, turning the water on and letting out a curse I didn't know she was capable of when the water pelted down on her.

"Yeah, shoulda warned you about the pipes needing some time to warm up."

"Jesus," she hissed and I could hear the water pelting onto the shower liner like she had turned the shower head away from her. "That's one way to make sure I'm awake," she grumbled as I stripped out of my clothes and moved toward the shower. I pulled back the curtain and stepped inside to find her with her ass pressed against the back wall, her arm still over her breasts, the ends of her hair dripping with what had to be frigid water.

I stifled a chuckle as I reached for her, noticing she was way better than me at keeping her eyes averted. "You can look, babe. I'm not shy."

"Well, no. You wouldn't be with all those perfectly manly muscles of yours," she grumbled. "Your hair is even better than mine," she added before I pulled her against my chest. Then she wasn't speaking as our bare skin touched from knee to her shoulders. Her arm dropped and her breasts pressed into my chest, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath. My cock was hard and heavy and pressing against her stomach. But she didn't flinch away.

"Your hair is softer," I offered, raising my hand to push some behind her ear.

"Liar," she said, reaching up and pulling mine carefully out of the bun I had it in. "But thanks for trying."

I reached behind her, grabbing the shower head and angling it to the center of the shower. "It's better," I told her, letting it splash onto her ass. "Back into it slowly to see how it feels on your back," I said and she did slowly back up. The distance was both a relief and a disappointment at the same time. "You alright?" I asked when she winced.

"Just kinda burns a little. It's not bad. It's probably good to get it all cleaned out. Do you think I have to wrap back up again?"