“But you walking around my house like this...”
His voice lowered further.
A faint edge of something almost unreadable slipped through.
“...you test my control more than you know.”
The words settled between us like a live wire.
Even after everything from last night, even after what we had already crossed, the tension hadn’t faded.
He glanced sharply toward the front door as if expecting someone to walk in at any moment.
The shift in him was immediate.
The tension in his jaw tightened, his posture subtly adjusting.
Without another word, he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off in one smooth motion.
The fabric slid over his broad shoulders, revealing the sculpted expanse of his torso beneath.
I had seen him like this before—but seeing him again, so bare and unguarded in the middle of this charged silence, still stole something from my breath.
He stepped closer.
The shirt came down over my shoulders before I could fully process the movement.
Warm fabric settled against my skin, his scent immediately surrounding me.
Then his fingers moved to the buttons.
Each one clicked into place with careful precision, like he was forcing himself to focus on something practical rather than the fact that I was standing in front of him half-dressed in his world.
His fingertips brushed my skin occasionally—brief contact, but enough to send quiet jolts through me that I didn’t bother hiding.
“You can’t walk around like this,” he said.
His voice was low, roughened slightly at the edges.
My eyes lifted to his face.
“Why is that?” I asked, tilting my head slightly.
A heavy sigh left him.
For the first time since I’d known him, he looked... mildly strained. Not weak. Never that. But human in a way he usually refused to be seen.
His hand ran through his dark hair, fingers dragging back through it in a rare sign of frustration.
And that was when I noticed it.
My gaze dropped instinctively.
The front of his trousers had tightened noticeably again, the unmistakable outline pressing against the fabric with no attempt at concealment.
Heat rushed to my face almost instantly.
So it wasn’t just me.
