The fact that she did made her fingers clench around the towels and the bowl in anger. “And maybe I should just let you lie here in pain on the couch. Is that really what you want?”
No, what he wanted was for her to get the hell away from him. She saw it in the flat line of his mouth and his cold stare. Why was she so damn attracted to a man who hated her so much?
And why was the man who loved her unconditionally the one man she couldn’t touch?
Tears sprang to her eyes but she turned to set the bowl and towels on the coffee table so she could blink them away before Duke saw them.
Duke sighed, as if he barely had the strength to fight back, something he seemed to live for, and fear rose again.
“What I want is a shower.”
Her gaze flicked back to his. “You’re not strong enough. You’ll fall.”
“Fuck that.” He lifted his head off the back of the couch and inched forward, as if getting ready to stand. “I need to wash this crap off me and I can’t sit here while you do it. Just help me to the bathroom.”
She froze and the metal bowl filled with water slipped out of her hand and landed with a thud on the table. Water sloshed over the sides but she couldn’t move. She felt like he’d slapped her, his meaning as clear as if he’d spelled it out for her. He didn’t want her to touch him. He didn’t want—
“Vaffanculo. Don’t look like that. Uni’s ass, Tira, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Of course you didn’t.” She struggled to keep all emotion from her voice. “I’ll just help you to the bathroom.”
She didn’t let their gazes catch as she stood then waited for him to push to his feet. He made it, but not before she thought she might have to catch him as he fell. And if he had to rely on her to keep him upright, he was out of luck. He had at least eighty pounds of muscle on her. If he went down, they both went down.
And even though he made no bones about the fact that he didn’t want her to touch him, she couldn’t let him be hurt any more than he already was.
She wrapped her arm around his waist once again as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they stumbled off to the bathroom.
“Do you want me to get Kyle?” she asked. “You can’t be alone. I’m afraid you’ll fall.”
He snorted, the sound weak enough to make her arm tighten around him. “What? Afraid of a little nudity? Never figured you for a prude, Tira.”
Her back straightened, even as she knew he was trying to get a rise out of her. “I just didn’t figure you wanted me in here.”
His hand clenched on her shoulder for a bare second before he released her to grab hold of the toilet and lower himself onto the closed seat.
“Shit, babe, can we call a truce here? Just for a few minutes? I really need this shower. And I know I’m gonna fall flat on my face without you here. So can you please just give me a fucking break?”
She’d give him a break. She’d break a few plates over his head, the arrogant bastard. Anger began to burn away some of her fear and she opened her mouth to blast him…
Until she took another look at his face as he bent to take off his boots. It took a lot for Duke’s perpetually tanned skin to look as pale as he did now.
Stupid, stubborn SOB.
With a huff, she knelt and pushed his hands out of the way so she could unlace his boots and yank them off his feet along with his socks. Above her, she felt his breath brush against her hair before he leaned back to pull his shirt over his head.
Blessed Goddess.
The man’s body was a work of art. Ripped didn’t adequately describe him. Sculpted might be more on the mark. He didn’t bulge obscenely but each and every muscle was lovingly defined.
He looked like he could play defensive tackle for a pro football team. And she loved it. Loved the sense that if he ever enclosed her in those strong arms, nothing bad would ever happen to her.
But the chances of that happening were slim to none.
Duke hated her.
Standing, she turned away to start the shower when he went for the button on his jeans.
Blinking back more tears, she thought maybe hate was too strong. He disliked her. Intensely. Sometimes he merely pretended not to know she existed.
And that could cut just as deeply.
It hadn’t always been like this, the distance between them. She’d known since the first time she’d met Duke and Nic that she had strong feelings for both of them.
But when she’d kissed Nic that first time…
When everything had gone to shit and she’d pushed Nic away and Duke had cut her out of his life…
“Not that I don’t appreciate the view, babe, but you need to move.”
She turned to find Duke on his feet. And naked.
Oh Sweet Mother Goddess…
She’d never seen him completely nude and now her gaze tried to take in as much of him as she could. From his broad shoulders and chest to his six-pack abs and trim waist.
And lower, to his impressive cock, which started to fill as her gaze stopped to watch. Blinking, she forced herself to turn away and move so he could step into the shower.
Luckily, it was a stall and not a tub because she didn’t think he’d have the strength to lift his feet over the rim. As it was, he nearly stumbled over the lip of the stall but caught himself just as she reached out to steady him.
His groan of relief as he stood beneath the water heated her skin and made her think of sex.
Tinia’s teat, she was losing her mind.
“Are you going to be okay?” She managed to force the words past the lump in her throat but only because she focused on the tension in his arms. “Do you want me to leave?”
With his arms braced against the wall and his head and body under the showerhead, Duke let the water fall over him, soaking into his hair and plastering against his head until it fell past his shoulders.
Black tinged the water on the stall floor as soot and dirt washed off him.
Tira watched, waited and prayed he didn’t fall and hurt himself even more.
After what had to be ten minutes, with her entire body tensed and ready to reach for him should he pass out, he finally sighed and lifted his head. With a visible effort, he pushed away from the wall and Tira had to clench her hands at her side to stop from grabbing him when he swayed on his feet.
“I hate to fucking ask because I know you’re gonna hate this but…I’m gonna need help.”
“What do you need?”
He snorted, as if he found the question funny, and her spine went rigid again. The implication that he didn’t want to need anything from her was loud and clear. She should leave. Walk out and let the bastard fall and hit his head—
“I don’t… Fuck, I don’t think I can wash myself and I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to stay on my feet. I need you to do it for me.”
Chapter Two
Duke knew he must be ready to keel over because he couldn’t decide if he wanted Tira to tell him to fuck off and leave him to fall flat on his face or if he should embrace the crazy and let her put her hands on his naked body.
Considering he, Nic, Kaine and the eteri should’ve died in that house, he thought maybe he could be excused for going a little crazy.
The place literally should’ve landed on their heads. If they’d been seconds later walking out the door, they’d all be buried under the pile of rubble the house had become.
But somehow, they’d gotten here. He’d managed to get Nic and Kaine and the eteri in the car and drive them to Kyle’s. He barely remembered the time behind the wheel. He’d been on autopilot the entire trip and he still couldn’t believe he hadn’t driven off the road or passed out along the way.