There were no visible signs of forced entry, and the front door was locked when I jiggled the handle. “Lakelyn, are you in there? Lakelyn.” I pounded with my fist feverishly.
The house remained dark and eerily silent, but my instincts told me something wasn’t right. I punched in my master code to the keypad while convincing myself it was in the best interest of her safety. I’d rather beg for forgiveness than wait for permission because the image of an intruder laying a hand on her had me seeing red with unparalleled rage.
Once inside the bungalow, I acted on autopilot, feverishly checking every room. However, nothing could have prepared my eyes for the image before me the moment I forced open the door to the master bath after hearing a thunderous bout of commotion on the other side and water seeping out from underneath it.
“Jesus, fuck!” Lakelyn’s bare ass filled my vision like a beacon summoning me to the promised land.
From the arch of her back to the curve of her hips and the luscious apple bottom with tight hamstrings, I was momentarily paralyzed by the glorious sight of her bent over the tub that it took me longer than I’d care to admit before I jumped into action.
Rushing toward her without announcing my arrival was an error in judgment I knew better than to make given my training because the next thing I knew, her elbow connected like a blunt edge of a weapon to my ribcage, followed by a sharp right hook that vibrated across the span of my jaw.
I shielded my face both out of protection and to signal I wasn’t a threat, which only left the door open for her. She continued to lay into me with a heavy arsenal of self-defense techniques that brought me to my knees after she successfully kneed me in the crotch with everything she had.
I held up a hand in surrender. “It’s me, Boden. Lakelyn, it’s me. Stop.”
“Boden?”
Her eyes widened in panic, and her lip trembled.
“Oh my God, look away,” she shrieked while angling her body to maintain a form of decency.
With my hand working my jaw over, I picked myself up off the floor and turned to look away, but instead inadvertently caught Lakelyn in the mirror’s reflection as she rushed to cover her creamy skin in a white bathrobe. I dropped my chin to my chest, blanketed in regret, suddenly feeling like a voyeur invading her privacy yet destined to hell for wanting to lose myself in committing every inch of her body to memory.
“Boden.” Her voice burst the bubble I was in and was the abrupt jolt I needed to sprint into action and turn off the main water supply to the house in the utility room.
Lakelyn had done an excellent job jamming the hole where the water was coming up with a towel, thus forcing the overflow into the tub. However, I needed to get to the root of the cause.
When I returned to the bathroom, Lakelyn was on all fours, covering the floor with towels.
“Boden, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. One minute, I was turning the faucet on, and the next, water was spraying everywhere. It all happened so fast.”
“Here, let me help.” Together we were manic, franticly mopping and squeegeeing the excess water from the floor back into the tub in perfect sync despite the plentiful distraction I found her to be.
“You gave me quite the scare,” I admitted.
Her brows lifted, and her expression was pensive. “I could say the same.”
“About that, I’m sorry, Lakelyn—” My eyes dropped to the opening of her robe that exposed the barest sliver of her collarbone. Goddammit, I was doing it again. What the fuck was wrong with me that I couldn’t keep my shit together when I was in her realm. “I didn’t mean to—I heard your screams and acted on instinct.”
“I owe you an apology, too.” She crossed her arm over her chest, lifting her hand as her fingers ghosted over her jaw, and I swear I felt a spark crackle over mine.
“Nah, I deserved it,” I forced out and cleared my throat. “With all the years of training I’ve got under my belt, you’d think I’d know better than to come up behind a woman.”
Especially a naked and vulnerable woman, at that.
“In your defense, you’re not wearing a belt, so I’ll let it slide . . . this time.”
“Cute, real cute.” I smirked, glancing down at my gym shorts, thankful my dick was somewhat cooperating and not giving away the rampant thoughts running wild through my mind that involved getting her back out of that robe.
“I’m sorry. I’ll pay for the damage.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I told her.
“This is all my fault. Everything is my fault.” Lakelyn’s shoulders sagged as she sat back on the ground with her legs tucked beside her.
“Pretty sure this would fall under the owner’s responsibility, not the tenant,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
The woman before me held defeat in her svelte frame. Her words hung heavy in the air.
