“When I’m hard.” Solo waggled his brows as he finished the first set of reps. “But you already know that.”
Before I could respond, Houdini walked up and threw his arm around my shoulder. “If Solo’s givin’ you a hard time, please give me your blessing to knock his head right off his body.”
“Me? Give someone a hard time?” Solo snorted as he started his second round, and then his eyes shifted to mine. “Only if they’re lucky.”
“Well, I’m stealin’ my boy here so he doesn’t have to deal with the likes of you. Feel free to go harass someone else.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Biceps next?” Houdini asked, and I nodded.
“Be there in a sec.”
When Houdini was out of earshot, Solo stopped the press and leaned forward. He wasn’t even breaking a sweat, his tanned face still looking as though he’d just stepped out of his apartment.
His lips curled up as reached for my water bottle and took a long swallow. When he handed it back, he said, “You can go for now. But Panther? Don’t think I won’t come and steal you back later.”
16Solo
NEVER HAD A gym session been so fucking torturous. But after an hour of watching Panther sweat and work on getting that phenomenal body of his back into shape, I knew the true meaning of the word.
My body ached—well, one part of it in particular—and when Panther finally stopped by the treadmill I’d decided to try to run out my frustrations on, to tell me he was ready to leave, I’d all but jumped off it and raced him to the damn door.
The trip back to the barracks had been made in silence, a tension-filled silence that had my blood humming and my balls aching, and judging by the scorching once-overs Panther had been giving me, I was willing to lay bets we were ready to work our bodies out in private.
As I pulled the car to a stop in front of our rooms, I had to remind myself that Panther was still recovering from being blasted into midair. I needed to take this slow, and just when I thought I may have a hope in hell at succeeding, Panther looked at me and blew that idea clear out of my head.
“I can’t wait to see you naked again.”
I groaned and shifted in my seat, my head falling back against the headrest.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since you told me I could fuck your mouth shut again.”
“Jesus.” I whipped my head around, searching the immediate area to see if anyone was close by, and Panther started to laugh.
“Don’t tell me you’re suddenly worried someone might overhear us.”
I looked back and licked my lips. “I’m not worried for me.”
“Hmm, but worried for me, huh?” Panther waggled his brows and then unbuckled his belt. “All signs that point to caring.”
As he climbed out, I followed suit, grabbing my water and towel and meeting him in front of the car. “Or signs that I’m being cautious, in case it turns out you sustained a serious head wound from your accident and will wake up tomorrow and regret half of the things you’ve said to me.”
Panther’s eyes narrowed as he took a step forward until our toes were all but touching. Then he lowered his voice and said in a throb-worthy tone, “The only thing I would regret tomorrow morning was if I woke up and you weren’t there.”
Fuuuck. I swallowed down the curse and lowered my eyes to his mouth. “No fear of that happening.”
“Good. Solo?”
“Hmm?”
“Get in my room, and get naked.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. The door was unlocked in seconds, I was naked in moments, and just when I thought he’d pull me to the bed, Panther reached for my wrist and tugged me toward the bathroom.
Hell yes, I could work with this.
As we entered the tight confines, I kicked the door shut and then leaned back against it to watch Panther strip out of his gym shorts and shirt. With his bruises now a faded yellow, they were much less jarring to look at where they colored his shoulders and chest, and when he kicked aside the final piece of clothing, I reached for my dick.
