Concealed Force

Chapter 21

Things weren't that different now Reid was a member, there'd been an assumption that he'd be voted in soon anyway, and his reputation had earned him the respect that another prospect might have lacked.

The days following the meeting were relatively calm, Reid's bruises faded and all the swelling had gone down, now he just had a collection of new scars. He'd been out doing his duty every day, and for some more mysterious tasks at night, and sometimes he came back morose, saying it was club business and he didn't want to burden her with it.

She knew he was probably protecting her from unpleasant details, but she felt shut out and a little disappointed after the connection she thought they'd created.

Not that they didn't connect in other ways. He'd gone from avoiding all physical contact when they were alone to touching her constantly. There was hardly a moment that he wasn't holding her, twining his fingers in her hair, resting a hand on her arm or back or hip. And then the sex made up for a lot.

If she was doing chores when he got back from a job, he always came to find her, making Alyssa comment on his insatiability. Laura couldn't deny it. If she was already in the room he attacked her the moment he turned the lock, the hunger in his gaze, his touch, causing an identical need in her. Last time they hadn't made it even a step from the door.

She'd been unloading the dishwasher in the kitchen when he found her today and he pushed her into the room now, already sliding his hands under her cropped t-shirt, a growl leaving his throat. She loved that growl, and the way his fingers dug into her skin, like he couldn't get close enough. She loved how he never did what she thought she wanted, but seemed to know what her body needed, craved. She loved that he'd been waiting for this moment all day, that she was what he looked forward to.

And being with him like this made her forget where they were and what their situation was.

It was an hour before she came back to reality, to the air conditioner chilling her skin, and Reid's hands tracing patterns over her hip. There were some guys in the room next door, chatting about an MMA fight they were betting on and whether the smart money was on the 'giant' or the 'ninja'.

Reid turned the TV on, drowning out the conversation. She hoped that meant they were going to have a proper chat. They hadn't spoken much about the plan to get Lonnie's phone, but Laura suspected Reid was thinking about it a lot.

"What did you do today?" she asked, tentative. "How are things going?"

He ran his hands through his hair and looked defeated. "Let's go in the bathroom, there are a load of people next door, I don't want them hearing."

They didn't bother to dress, especially as the bathroom would get steamy with the shower being on, and they made a nest of towels on the floor, sitting close and leaning back on the bathtub. It was comfortable, intimate. Their little haven, a place they could be themselves.

"It must seem like we take a lot of showers," Laura said, making him smile. It was such a weary smile that she felt a pang in her chest. "Talk to me."

"It's nothing nice, Laura."

"Tell me anyway. I thought we were over the whole protecting me thing. Tell me about your day."

He sighed. "A bunch of them went out last night and beat up some kid outside a gay bar, and I had to laugh at them describing it over and over. Made me sick."

"That's disgusting," Laura said, embarrassed at how pale those words seemed in response to what Reid was telling her.

"Then we had to go intimidate some poor dry cleaning owner into handing over half his monthly income. The guy was shitting himself. He can barely afford it, but what can he do? If he says no the place goes up in flames. Lot of flammable shit in a dry cleaners."