And I love it.
The door is part way open and I step inside, finding a small kitchen, a sofa with a TV and a tiny dining table. There’s another carved staircase leading to the second level with a balcony, where I can just make out a bed covered in a masculine gray duvet and…
“Holy hot buns,” I mutter.
A biteable, toned, tanned butt peeks out at me. And my stomach drops as I realize that not only have I just barged into someone’s home, I’ve also caught them while they’re semi-naked.
But who does the butt belong to? That’s the mystery of the moment. It’s not Soren. While I’ve not spentthatlong imagining his butt, but if I take a moment to do just that—purely for scientific comparison reasons, I would have thought his skin would be a lot paler than this tanned, god butt.
“God butt, eh? That’s almost as good as ‘holy hot buns’,” a deep, vaguely familiar voice says from above me.
“Whoopsie.” Sugar lumps and shitstorms. I clearly complemented his butt out-loud. I peer up at the handsome face of the owner of said butt.
One second I’m staring up at him and the next he’s flinging himself off the balcony, not bothering to use the ladder and landing in front of me in a superhero pose.
“Hey babe, I wasn't sure if you’d be back.”
“How-wh-have—” My eyeballs and my tongue seem to be having an argument amongst themselves as I struggle to put anything into words.
That voice… it sounds so familiar, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I’d ever laid eyes on the glorious face in front of me. His green eyes twinkle, set into a tanned face with just a liiiittle bit of dark brown scruff. And those lips, they’re pink and plump and perfectly kissable, and…
I slap my hand over my mouth as Ionce againfind myself objectifying this poor guy. Is it not bad enough that I ogled his butt without permission? Shame on you, Echo. Just because you’re a thirsty little thing doesn’t mean that you should eye this guy like he’s a piece of meat before you’ve even learned his name.
“You okay, babe?” he asks with a cocky smirk.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “My eyes are dirty little perverts and my brain isn’t much better. It’s a smutty, dirty place where few would dare to tread, but I saw your butt and I can’t get it out of my head and I don’t think we’ve ever met before but your voice sounds familiar, so I’m sorry if we have and I’ve forgotten. I’m rambling and I’m just going to shut up now.”
I do, thankfully. Just ram my mouth closed and cover my face with my hands so that no more words can burble out like an inconvenient river of bullshit.
“You can look at any part of me for as long as you like, babe. Don’t worry about it,” he says, his deep voice softly teasing in a way that makes my shame melt away… mostly, anyway.
I peek at him through one uncovered eye. “Sorry, I’m Echo.” I stick my hand out and he chuckles softly, his already glorious face breaking out into a smile that should be stamped with a health warning: may cause danger of heart fluctuations.
“We’ve met before, babe. I was in my other form then, though.” He grins at me, eyes still twinkling with a mischievous light like we’re sharing a joke.
How have we met already? The only people I’ve seen around here are Soren and…
“Brogan?”
His grin widens.
“Hold up, you were in my head earlier.”
“And you could hear everything I was saying.” His grin widens and the look in his eyes changes until it’s intense, like he’s trying to tell me something without words.
I just do not know what it might be.
“Can… can you hear my thoughts right now? Is that how you knew about the, er, holy hot buns?”
“No, babe, you said that pretty loudly. And no, I can’t hear your thoughts.”
Phew. That’s something, at least.
“Come on, let’s find Soren. He’s going to be super duper pleased to see you back as well.” He slings an arm around my shoulder and I lean into his warmth, taking a deep breath of his fresh scent.
I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m not a girl that normally goes aroundsniffingpeople, especially people I’ve just met. But holy meatballs. He smells incredible and something about his scent soothes me and I smile up at him like a weirdo.
He presses closer and I can feel every plane of his hard body through his t-shirt as he practically side-hugs me as we walk. It feels a little strange considering we’ve just met, but, it also feels like we’ve been doing this weird three-legged race walk for years. We’re perfectly in sync with each other.
