A shiver runs down my spine. Fear strikes into my heart. Was Gabe wearing that? Is he hurt? But someone would’ve told me if he wasn’t okay, right?
I move deeper into the room and pause outside the bathroom. I hear the shower running. Water splatters on the floor. I pause,thinking I should crawl into bed and try to go back to sleep. What do I care if Gabe’s been wounded? He’s a big boy. I’m sure he was out doing something supremely stupid and deserved it. I can curl up, close my eyes, and go back to blissfully ignoring all this.
Instead, I push inside.
Steam hits me first. It fogs the mirrors. The bathroom is beautiful. Lots of marble and white tile. The shower itself is massive, glassed-in, one of those places with a tub inside it too.
Gabe stands under the stream. Water runs red down his chest. I gape, mouth hanging open, heart pounding in my ears, as my mind goes blank.
His back is to me. His body is sculpted. His spine is muscular and firm. His arms look like they were built to break bones. His shoulders are hunched forward and he’s got one hand against the wall, leaning on it. Blood sloughs off his skin, rolling down into the drain, turning the floor at his feet pink. His skin’s covered in more blood, the red mixing with black tattoos. Spiders, knives, a full moon. More symbols I don’t recognize swirling along his spine, mingling with puckered flesh. Scars, dozens of them.
But what scares me the most is his other hand.
It’s wrapped around his cock. I keep catching glimpses of it. He’s stroking himself, his eyes shut. His hand pumps along his thick shaft, and his mouth opens.
“Veronika.”
I almost scream.
He keeps going and I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I take a step back. He’s covered in blood and jerking off his massive cock and he’ssaying my name.
“Fuck, Nika,” he breathes, going faster. “Fuck, Nika, you feel so fucking good?—“
I get the hell out of there as he releases the lowest, most toe-curling moan I’ve ever heard.
I’m breathing hard in the other room. Holy freaking shit. I saw my blood-drenched husband stroking his gorgeous dick and moaning my name. And the worst part is, right now I hate the guy, but a part of me wants to throw myself at his feet and beg him to fuck me into sweet oblivion.
My head’s spinning as I pace around the room. Eventually I stop and find a stack of papers on the nightstand tucked into a folder. Desperate for something to do, I pull several out and skim them, not really thinking about what I’m looking at until the numbers start to cohere into some kind of sense.
They’re invoices for refrigerators. Obscenely expensive, wildly priced refrigerators. A million dollars’ worth of them, actually, plus invoices for the hotel we just left paid up for a few more nights, plus more for this hotel, paid through the week. It’s a trail of money, a staggering amount, and my mouth goes dry as I look through it all.
“I was going to talk to you about all that tomorrow morning.”
I yelp and turn around. Gabe’s in the bathroom door, his lower half wrapped in a towel, his top half still damp and bare. His muscular chest glistens. I see him pumping his cock and saying my name.Veronika. I’m going to have wet dreams about that moment for the rest of my life, I’m pretty sure.
“What is all this?” I hold up the folder with a shaking hand.
“You wanted itemized receipts for your approval.” He gestures casually and walks over to the closet. He finds underwear, sweats, and a t-shirt. “You can go ahead and sign.”
I’m about to tell him he can go ahead and lick my ass, except he drops the towel and starts to get dressed.
“Jesus Christ, warn me next time.”
“You don’t like watching?” He sounds surprised and amused.
“Uh, you can’t just strip in front of me, okay?”
“Strange, here I was thinking you didn’t mind looking at my naked body.”
Heat flushes into my cheeks.
Ahhhhh, shit.
“Look, I’m sorry, that was a mistake. I saw the jacket and wanted to check on you.”
“So you stood there and watched?”
“I didn’t know you were—“ I choke on the next words.
