Room 103, Roadside Motel, Outskirts Of Oregon....
Rain continued outside the motel and Duko want down to pay for another night. He didn't see the point of traveling when they couldn't see on the road and the slickness added more of a potential risk due to them being on two wheels. Rae watched him enter their motel room without a word, she found that he looked to be exhausted when he returned to the room with more food and drinks. After he left the shower, she finished and got dressed in his shirt again. She didn't feel the need to dress up if they weren't going anywhere. Duko took off his clothes stripping down to a fresh pair of white boxer shorts he'd purchased while in town. He also purchased a white tight fitting t-shirt this time around and she couldn't help, but to notice his impressive set of abs as he took it off and threw it into a nearby chair.
He moved about the room popping a can of generic cola as she watched him. Her rumbling stomach had gotten the better of her as she was determined at first to ignore his return and then some due to the rude way he left her in the shower. She didn't know why she'd bothered in the first place. Duke seemed to always be a caged personality until he'd been drunk or aroused. She gathered that there was some lasting trauma for him due to having been a war veteran, but she figured he'd at least attempt to open up to someone.
Duko drank down his soda and squeezed the can in his hand before launching it into the nearby waste basket. He moved toward the table where the food was sitting covered via white styrofoam and quite hot as she watched him. His dark blue eyes flickered with mischief as he took up a large piece of medium rare stake and started ripping it to shreds via his powerful and shiny white teeth.
Rae rolled her eyes as he continued to eat intentionally neglecting the plasticware and staring at her as he ate. She climbed off the bed where she'd been sitting ever since he entered the room with food and made her way to the table taking up a styrofoam container that he hadn't' touched as well as one of the available plastic forks. She ate her food in relative silence as he continued to watch her a smirked filled across his bearded face as he finished off what remained of his meal.
The obvious crimson of blood dripping from his steak was a bit much for her taste, but he seemed to delight in it. Once he finished, Duko got up from the table and entered the bathroom with a freshly obtained men's razor and a full can of shaving cream. Rae continued to eat the remainder of her meal grateful that her stomach had stopped rumbling as it was getting to be as loud as the thunder. She heard the rushing of water from the sink as Duko appeared to be quite busy and turned her attention to her own can of soda and the television in the corner.
Duko emerged from the bathroom just as she reached the bed, his face dripping via the water and smooth from the looks of it and possibly to the touch as he put away the razor and shaving cream. His shaving off his beard seemed to have taken at least twenty years off his appearance as he dried his chin and walked toward the bed. He climbed onto his selected side and turned his attention to the television as he rested his powerful arms behind the back of his head. Rae thought him more confusing than ever as she watched him. She climbed onto the bed herself and settled into her chosen spot where they quietly watched the television program until a rumble of thunder filled the sky and after a flash of lightning, all of the power had appeared to have been blacked out for the entire area.
Duko didn't seem phased at all by the drastic change in events nor the darkness that surrounded them. He was gifted with night vision and an acute sense of smell. Rae found herself huddling closer to him despite her anger from his aversion to her attention as she couldn't help but seek comfort from the man whom had rescued her from a life of horrors.
The half naked man sighed sensing that she'd been having something on her mind and it was getting to be quite tiresome in terms of bombarding his own mind with her weary thoughts.
"We are headed to Nevada." he informed her breaking the silence between them at last. "With your father's permission I can make you my wife and we don't have to worry about anyone else when dealing with your young age nor my inability to control my urges when I am near you for too long."
Rae's ears perked when she heard this.
"Marriage?" she said not at all opposed to the idea of being married to Duke Lovell, not if it meant that he'd finally give her what she desired so desperately.
"As you may have noticed, I can't seem to be rid of you." he replied with a flicker of heat behind his blue eyes. "And I won't have you in the company of another, marriage is the logical step and the safer one for the both of us....whatever this is...this pull we have toward one another is not understood by anyone else in this world...so we have to take a few precautions."
Rae rolled onto her side to face him in the semi darkness of their motel room.
"As my wife you will be bound to me and only to me." said Duko barely concealing his possessive streak. "No one will be able to take you away from me nor make the attempt."
Rae could feel something stirring within him, something he had not even known how to control as he pulled her close to him holding her in his strong embrace as if he'd been ready to fight anyone to the death whom dared part them. She couldn't rightly make out why she felt the same, an invisible yet strongly rooted pull toward a man she hardly knew, but felt as if they'd been together for a thousand lifetimes.
"Have patience." he whispered while kissing her atop the head amid her vibrant red hair. "You will have what you so desire in due time."
A measure of peace came over Rae and the sound of the rain beating against the roof of the motel room and the occasional rumble of thunder seemed so far away as she took in the scent of her bedmate and relaxed in the warmth of his embrace while listening to the thunderous beating of his heart as she rested her head against his bare chest like the previous nights before.
Duke intended to marry her, it made sense due to his being nineteen years her senior and the issues that would come of her youth from the possible interference of strangers should they ever find out about their ongoing affections. It annoyed Rae to no end how people could be so nosy when they weren't wanted but none could be found when her drunken bastard of a father was so callously attempting to steal her virtue beforehand. Duke wasn't anything like her father and despite his age one could easily have mistook him for a younger man without the thickness of his former beard.
She touched his face, feeling the newly exposed clear skin. She smiled some admitting that she kind of liked him this way as she nuzzled into his neck and drifted off to sleep to the sounds of the rain fall and her "future husband", if all went well, snoring.