Chapter 120

120 So We Stripped

“Where are we going? This is the opposite direction from the mansion...” I asked when I finally found my voice.

“There’s a small stable near here...if I’m not wrong...” he replied as he continued walking.

I prayed so hard that he wasn’t wrong. Brandon had very good memory, so if we said that there was a stable nearby then it was probably there unless it got torn down in his absence.

“What about the horses...” I asked softly when I thought about those gentle beasts.

“They’ll be fine. It’s just rain...” Brandon replied as he looked down at me.

“But...” I began protesting.

Won’t they get sick if they stayed out in the rain? Is that how it worked with the horses? I wasn’t quite sure...

“I’ll go get them later if you’re that worried. Right now, you should worry more about yourself,” Brandon replied quickly, and I knew that he was trying to ease my worries.

That shut me up and all I could do was nod my head solemnly. It was a longer walk than I thought to arrive at our destination. To my utter relief, there really was a small stable nearby where we were. The place was small from what I could tell, and it seemed quite deserted.

.....

“I haven’t been here for I don’t know how long...” Brandon admitted, and I wasn’t surprised.

“Thank you...” I mumbled as he placed me down onto a bench when we arrived inside.

The placed was quite messy but the best part was that the roof was till intact, and it provided us the cover that we needed to escape from the rain.

“Wait here, I’ll go back to get the horses...” Brandon said as he patted my head.

“Wait!” I cried out so loudly that I shocked myself.

Brandon seemed to freeze in place, and I could tell that he was probably as shocked as I was at myself. It was then that I realized how scared I was of being alone and I didn’t want Brandon to leave my side.

“Umm...” I mumbled, not quite sure how to explain myself to him.

“Still scared? I’ll stay,” Brandon said understandingly.

Before I could open my mouth to thank him, Brandon had plopped himself down on the bench next to me.

“Thank you...” I whispered as I hugged his arm to my body to keep him close.

I don’t know how long we sat together like that as we listened and watched the rain beating down from the opened door. The rain showed no signs of stopping and I was starting to fear that it would last all night long. That would be mean that we...

“Your clothes are wet. You should take them off before you catch a cold,” Brandon said as he turned to face me.

I should...take off my clothes? What?

Without bother to deal with me and my shock at his words, Brandon got up from the bench and began walking around as if he was trying to find something. I looked around the small shed where we were and found out that it had gotten quite dark, and I couldn’t see very well. There wasn’t much of anything. The place was simply a mess of things that people had left behind. There were haystacks here and there. Some pots and pans and other odd utensils laying around. I didn’t need to check to know that the stables were empty because the place was too quiet.

Orange light caught my attention and I turned to see that Brandon had successfully lit up an oil lamp and placed it on a table nearby.

“Better than nothing, I guess...” he mumbled.

I watched as he continued wandering around and I could guess that he was looking for something or anything that might be useful to us right now. The place was probably in used until recently, so it wasn’t surprising when Brandon started finding things that still worked. After placing what he thought was usable onto the table, Brandon paused and then he began unbuttoning his shirt.

He pulled his shirt off in one smooth motion and I gasped and turned away as if I haven’t seen a naked man before in my life. Brandon probably heard me because I could feel his eyes on me.

“Why are you still in your wet clothes?” he asked and suddenly he sounded so close to me.

My head snapped around to find him standing right in front of me. Half-naked with the muscles of his torso exposed and his hair still wet from the rain, Brandon looked so wild...and so sexy...

“Well...” I mumbled as I blinked rapidly to clear my mind of any...inappropriate thoughts...

Does he just expect me to randomly strip? There’s nothing else for me to wear so if I take off my clothes then...I’ll be butt naked until we could leave this place or until our clothes dried?

Brandon’s grey eyes continued staring at me as he waited for me to make a move. He raised his brows at me curiously when I didn’t suddenly get up and started stripping.

“Need help? I’m pretty good at stripping girls...” he offered with a pleased smile.

To much information. Seriously, too much information.

“Thank you for your kind offer...but no thank you...” I replied as I hugged my arms over my chest protectively.

Brandon scoffed at me and my ridiculousness before he started laughing softly. I had no idea what time it was at all, but it looked like it was slowly getting darker outside. Perhaps it was the storm and the rain clouds that was making it so dark. I could see through the open door that the rain was still in full swing and the sound of rain beating down on the roof felt deafeningly loud.

“Take off your clothes. I’ll turn the other way while you undress if you’re embarrassed...although I don’t know why you would be...” Brandon urged for me to take off my clothes again.

He was being insistent about this, and I could tell that he was genuinely worried. I knew that I shouldn’t be feeling embarrassed at a time like this, but I felt it and there wasn’t anything that I could do about that.

–To be continued...