“God, yes. I need to take a shower so badly and get out of these clothes.”
“Good. I already have your bags. I got housekeeping to open your room. Pretended I lost my key.”
“My bags? Where are we going?”
“Where I should have taken you the first night.”
I’D REALLY FUCKED everything up.
Under no circumstances should I have left Kendall alone. Even though she kept trying to convince me the arrest wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help but feel responsible for the whole ordeal.
She was unusually quiet the entire ride to Amari’s. My friend secured us one of the bedrooms in his rooming house for the next couple of days. Amari’s place was located in the heart of the desert, away from the commotion of the city. Thankfully, Amari wasn’t conservative. As long as we were discreet, pretending to be married so the other guests weren’t tipped off, he was completely fine with Kendall and me sharing a room. He could be trusted not to rat us out.
We’d just arrived to our room when I noticed Kendall staring pensively out of the window at the sandy desert.
“Are you okay?”
“I just need a shower,” she answered without turning to me.
Her tone alarmed me. I needed to fix this. All I wanted was to undo the damage done by the arrest.
“Let me run you a bath.”
Despite the fact that she didn’t answer me, I proceeded to the bathroom to set up the tub until it was filled with water and soap. Still feeling anxious about her mindset, I returned to the bedroom and offered her my hand to lift her off the bed.
Leading her into the bathroom, I wanted nothing more than to hold her under the warm water.
“Take off your clothes,” I demanded. “But leave your bra and underwear on because we’re bathing together.”
Relieved that she didn’t protest, I took off my pants, keeping my boxer briefs on before immersing myself in the water. After she removed her dress, my cock swelled at the sight of her fit body in nothing but panties and a bra. I reached my hand out to her.
“Get in. I promise I won’t bite.”
She hesitantly dipped her legs in one by one then lowered her body in front of mine, situating herself between my knees. With her back pressed against my chest and her ass so close to my crotch, my hard-on couldn’t be helped. Hopefully, she understood.
Kendall had her hair tied back into a ponytail. Pulling at the hairband, I watched as her beautiful blonde mane came loose. Cupping some of the warm water in my hands, I repeatedly wet her hair then poured a dollop of shampoo
into my palm.
I began to slowly massage her scalp as she bent her head back. “Relax, baby,” I whispered. “Just relax.” I wanted nothing more than to take care of this girl right now, make her feel safe again.
It was quiet aside from the faint sound of men speaking Arabic in the adjacent room. After several minutes of near-silence, Kendall spoke for the first time.
“Am I a fool, Carter?”
I instinctively stopped the movement of my fingers through her hair to process her question. “What do you mean?”
“What am I doing here?”
My heart sank. Hearing that question was like a punch to the gut. “You regret following me?”
She sat up a bit and paused before speaking. “You’re a beautiful man…so charismatic…such a free spirit. And you make me feel things I’ve never felt before. But I think I got carried away. I just don’t understand how I’m going to get out of whatever this is unscathed.”
“Why are you worrying about things that haven’t happened? Why can’t it just be about the present?”
“I can think of many reasons why it can’t be.”
“Okay…what are they? Talk to me. Aside from the arrest, tell me why everything that happened before that point led you to suddenly believe that all of this is a colossal mistake.” The angry tone of my own voice surprised me. My body went rigid as I waited for her response.