Nothing mattered but Piper. I loved coming on her perfect fucking tits.
Slowly, the orgasm passed. I helped her down from the counter and we got into the shower together.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her like that as the water washed us both clean. I was suddenly exhausted, more tired than I’d ever been before. We held each other, not saying a word, because we didn’t need to say anything. We both knew what the other was thinking somehow, or maybe we didn’t, maybe it just didn’t matter.
It was comfortable and right. After all the shit that had happened, that was what I needed in that moment. Piper was mine, and Piper was right. She was comfort.
I had to hold on to that.
Chapter 19
Piper
We finished our shower and I felt more relaxed in that moment than I had in a very, very long time. Even before all of this madness happened, I never really relaxed. Life was always hectic, and my job didn’t make it easy. I was a public personality, and I was constantly judged by people for my looks. It was exhausting, always living up to what people wanted from me.
But with Gates, all of that was gone. None of it mattered. The doubt and the uncertainty in the back of my mind was completely gone. There were no voices, no deep insecurities, nothing. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was at peace.
I sat at the edge of the queen-sized bed with a towel wrapped around my middle. Gates stood in the doorway of the bathroom and dried his hair as I absently flicked through the television channels.
“Anything good?” he asked.
“Never is,” I said. “And I can never find anything at hotels. It’s like they make these channels up.”
“They probably still get it beamed through an antenna.”
I laughed. “Isn’t that, like, illegal or something?”
“Probably, but look around. We’re probably sleeping on an asbestos block.”
“Oh god. Don’t joke.”
“I never joke.” He grabbed his boxer briefs from the ground and slipped them back on, tossing the towel onto the floor in the bathroom.
“This place is grimy, but it’s not that bad.”
“I know. At least I’m here.”
“Not what I meant. It’s not all about you, Gates.”
“Sure it is. What else is there to do around here?”
“I don’t know. Cow tipping? Cow milking? Cow races. Anything cow-related, really.”
“It’s more than just cows around here. There are also pigs, goats, all manner of livestock.”
I laughed. “So exciting. Fortunately, I love animals.”
“You do?”
“Sure. Dogs are the best. I had a lab when I was a kid.”
“I always wanted a lab. They’re such good dogs.”
I felt a little surprised that Gates liked animals, but I couldn’t exactly say why. Just because he was tough didn’t mean he couldn’t like dogs. Everyone liked dogs, or at least they did in my mind.
As I went to make some comment about his love of livestock and all things farming, he suddenly went completely still. I swallowed my comment just as I went to speak it and cocked my head, staring at him.
“Gates?”
He held up a hand and I stopped short. Something was wrong, really wrong. He walked over to the nightstand and grabbed his gun, holding it loosely as he crept toward the door. I stood up, holding tightly onto my towel and backed toward the bathroom. He glanced at me and nodded at the bathroom door.
I got the idea. I pulled it shut, though not all the way. I wanted to be able to see what was going on.
He turned his attention back to the door. He was moving in a deliberate and controlled manner, the same way he moved when Randy showed up back at the cabin. I felt a thrill in my stomach watching him, though that thrill was tempered by fear. I couldn’t tell if I was afraid of whatever was out there or if I was afraid of him.
Gates was dangerous. It was so easy for me to forget that when he was protecting me, but the man was wild and deadly. I couldn’t let myself forget that, or else I might risk getting hurt. I should shut the door and close my eyes, hope that he could handle it and pray that whatever happened to me happened fast if he couldn’t, but I knew I wouldn’t step away. I had to see what he was going to do. I had to see him, all of him, even the terrifying bits.
Suddenly, the window exploded in a shower of glass shards.
Gates stumbled back, gun outstretched. It took me a second to realize that someone threw a chair through the front window. The chair was laying on the ground in the middle of a pile of glass. The door suddenly bulged, barely being held on by the chains and locks.
A man jumped in through the broken window. Gates fired his gun, a screaming tear of noise in the small room. I couldn’t pull myself from the door though my heart was beating fast. The man was hit but he kept coming. Gates was knocked back as the man shoved into him, toppling both their bodies to the ground.