With no other options, she wrapped the towel around herself, then stripped off her panties before pulling her jeans on. It took effort with her skin still damp and her intentions to keep covered but she managed. She did the same with her bra, discarding it before pulling on her shirt. She wrung out the wet undergarments, tucked them into her purse. Her hair was a tangled wet mess, but there was nothing she could do about it now. As she headed for the room, she squeezed out as much excess water as possible.
Penelope was only a few steps from the door when Obsidian called out to her.
“I have to go.”
“Wait, Penelope.”
She turned to see him strolling toward her, his thickly muscled body clad only in a pair of black boxer briefs and dripping with water. The man was enormous, and even though she was embarrassed by the way she’d reacted, she couldn’t stop herself from ogling him once again. He had a weird hold on her.
“Stay,” he whispered softly as he cupped her face with one hand.
“I can’t.” Didn’t mean she didn’t want to.
Penelope could tell he was staring at her even though she couldn’t see his eyes behind those lenses. Suddenly it bothered her that she’d been seconds from getting down and dirty with a man whose eye color she didn’t even know.
“I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll walk you down.”
She shook her head. “No. Please. I just…”
It took every bit of strength she had to move away from him, but she did. Fueled by concern that she’d do something she would wake up to regret, Penelope walked away from Obsidian.
And didn’t look back.
The good news was, her heart was still intact.
The bad news…
She felt an overwhelming sense of loss.
HADITNOTBEENFORTHESHEERpanic he’d seen on Penelope’s face, Obsidian would’ve left well enough alone, gone back to the house before the sun rose, settled in for the day.
Okay, that was a fucking lie. Nothing could’ve kept him away from Penelope. Not her need to run or this bullshit white-knight thing he was dealing with. And certainly not when she was freaked out.
Because he opted to take the fastest route from point A to point B, Obsidian managed to catch up to her as she sped toward the exit leading to the parking garage. For such short legs, his female could huff it. Had he been a couple of seconds earlier, she would’ve likely seen him materialize in the adjoining hallway.
“Penelope, wait.”
She came to an abrupt halt, slowly pivoting to face him, her face pinched with confusion.
That she would give him a chance to talk was a good sign.
Maybe.
Of course, now he could see the question in her eyes. He was fully dressed, and yet, he’d managed to make it downstairs before she could get out the door.
“Wha— I need to go home.”
“Stay with me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do this, Obsidian. This…” Her hands moved back and forth to encompass the two of them. “It was a mistake. I shouldn’t…”
As Obsidian moved closer, she drew inward on herself, her arms wrapping around her middle as though she was afraid of what would happen if she didn’t.
“Did I do something?”
She shook her head. “Not you. Me. This… I can’t do this.”
