“Get a grip,” I muttered again, reaching for my toothbrush as though the simple act of doing something normal, something routine, might be enough to ground me again. And for the most part, it worked. At least on the surface. Because I moved through everything that followed as though I were running on autopilot. Brushing my teeth, rinsing, wiping away the last traces of makeup, fingers working through my hair as I tidied it into something manageable. All of it done with a kind of mechanical focus that required very little actual thought.
Unfortunately, my brain had no intention of cooperating.
Because no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to focus on literally anything else, it kept circling back. Back to him. Back to the feel of his hands on me. Back to the slow, confident way he moved. As if he had all the time in the world and knew exactly what he was doing with every second of it. And worst of all… back to that moment when I had seen him.
That back.
Those large, muscular shoulders.
The way the markings had shifted beneath his skin.
“Stop it,”I whispered to myself, gripping the edge of the sink as I leaned forward slightly. Squeezing my eyes shut for a brief second as though that might somehow erase the image. It didn’t. If anything, it only made it clearer. Sharper. Entirely unhelpful. This was not the time. This was not the place. And this was absolutelynota good idea.
Drawing in a steadying breath, I turned on the tap and splashed cold water over my face. The chill was sharp enough to snap me back into the present. To pull me out of the spiral just enough that I could lift my head again and meet my own gaze in the mirror.
“You can do this,” I told my reflection quietly, narrowing my eyes slightly as though I could will the words into something convincing.
“You just need a little willpower. That’s it. Nothing more… you got this.” Needless to say, my little pep talk was convincing no one, least of all me.
“Just don’t think about his back. Don’t think about his muscles. Don’t think about those stupidly sexy tattoos…” I stopped myself, so I could splash cold water on my face again.
“Right,” I sighed, scrubbing a hand down over my face, gathering the drips as I went.
“Yeah, great plan. Just don’t think about the literal God currently lying in his own bed, waiting for you… sure… yeah.” A beat passed, and I practically groaned,
“Good talk.”
Which, admittedly, was not my finest moment. Still, it was enough. Enough to at least pretend I had this under control.
Straightening slightly, I took one last breath before turning toward the door, reaching for the handle, and pulling it open as I stepped back into the bedroom. And immediately I wished that I hadn’t. Because there he was, already in bed. Now proppedslightly against the headboard with a sheet draped low across his waist, leaving the entire expanse of his torso very much on display.
And… honestly, holy mother Goddess!
“Oh, come on!”I breathed loudly before I could stop myself. The words slipped out in quiet disbelief as my eyes betrayed me entirely, taking in far more than they had any right to.
And then that sexy as fuck single brow lifted in question, making me wonder if my ovaries wouldn’t just explode!
“Is there a problem?” he asked smoothly, and I opened my mouth and closed it again, doing my best impression of a fish once more.
“That’s just…” I started, only to falter completely as my brain seemed to abandon me mid-thought. Now leaving me grasping for something, anything that didn’t sound like complete nonsense.
“I… you…” I huffed softly, shaking my head as I waved a hand vaguely in his direction.
“Nothing. Nothing, it’s fine… everything is fine… dandy even.” Seriously, who the fuck said dandy! And no, shit wasn’t fine… it would never be fine again. Fine had packed its bags and fucked off to Jamaica! Fine had abandoned me.
And the fact that he looked like he was trying not to laugh only made it worse.
Lifting my chin in what I hoped resembled a shred of dignity, I made my way toward the bed with far more purpose than I felt. Only for that quiet restraint of his to crack the closer I got, the low sound of his amusement finally slipping free.
“Is something funny?” I asked sharply, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Chillin’ in your pad,” he replied without hesitation, his gaze flicking briefly to my top before returning to my face.
“Never thought I would find cute and adorable so fuckable.” At this, I sucked in a quick breath, my eyes widening in what was most definitely a comical way.
“Erm, I… I don’t know what to say to that.” I admitted, trying to ignore the ‘Sound of Music’ style song being sung from my pussy. I swear if it had arms, it would have reached out to him and begged, ‘take me, oh, handsome villain’. Goddess, Eliza, what a fucked-up image that was!
“Say nothing and get into bed instead,” he replied with a wink, making me roll my eyes at him.
