Kill Or Be Killed

Chapter Fifteen

Scale Number: 2 (Bathroom)

Cat's feet moved in autopilot as she entered the room. Still half asleep, she waddled into the hotel suite, vaguely wondering how he could afford something so extravagant. Trying to take in the well furnished high end furniture, all of which consisted of neutral but pleasing colors of tans and light greens. The dark oak table, matching chairs, and black marble kitchen countertop gleamed under the crystal chandelier that hung overhead.

Where exactly were they?

They didn't have hotels like this back in Spades, especially not out in the middle of nowhere.

Kal startled her when he came up behind her, guiding her over to the sofa, where he settled her long enough to pull the release for the thick cloth curtains. The long curtains slid down, hiding the lovely milky purple sky with thousands of glittering stars that had yet to vanish. Walking back over to her, he crouched down in front of her, finding something amusing about the fact that his eyes kept fluttering closed. Rocking herself slightly as she tried to keep herself upright, she had to fight to split her focus when he spoke. "Do you want to take a shower before or after sleep?"

It was a simple question, but her tired brain couldn't comprehend its meaning. She nodded sleepily, not giving him a direct answer, just knowing she heard the word sleep. For the second time in one night, he lifted her into his arms; although this time he swayed under his own exhaustion. Normally, she would have argued for him to put her down, but knew even now he wouldn't listen to her.

He carried her to the large bathroom that smelled like vanilla, with a hint of something citrusy, like lemon or orange. Setting her down, he kept his hands on her hips when she swayed back and forth softly. Waiting until she could stand on her own, or at least while leaning back against the duel sink, he let her go with a reluctant hesitation. "I'll be right outside the door if you need anything," he emphasized 'anything' before making a move to leave the room.

But Cat couldn't stop herself from reaching out and grabbing his elbow, snapping his head around to look down at her with an intensity she couldn't place. "Don't leave me." She'd meant to ask him if he would stay, but instead it came out as a panicked plea. Not entirely sure if this was a dream or not, but either way she wasn't ready for him to walk away yet.

Regardless of her reasons, this was a request she hadn't needed to repeat.

While he opened the frosted glass door that kept the water inside the shower, she caught a glimpse of something in the mirror. With his back to her, turning on the water nearly all the way to hot, she faced her reflection. Within the events of the night, she'd developed matching dark circles under her eyes, much darker than the man beside her. There were little knots in her hair that made her look slightly homeless despite her outfit, which was wrinkled like she'd been rolling around on the floor.

Where his suit was still nearly flawless, his short dark hair stood wild in several directions. A sign that he'd been running his hand through it stressfully.

It was a miracle they'd let them into the hotel looking like this at all, no wonder the clerk had seemed so disrespectful at first. He looked like he came from money, strung out or not, and he was stopping to use a room with his stoned whore. But money really did seem to get people respect, if you were important enough.

Sighing, she turned away so she didn't have to look at how hideous she was at that point. It had been the longest she'd looked at herself in weeks.

Like he could read her thoughts, he wrapped an arm around her, lifting her chin with a firm grip so she had to look up at him in their shared reflection. "You are beautiful." His words armed her, chasing away the slight lingering child of the night. As the water warmed up, he lowered both arms so he could slide his hands under her shirt and tank top. Sliding the pieces of clothing up, he made sure to keep his fingers splayed out, that way he could touch as much of her as possible in this small chance he was being given.