I go stiff—shoulders, arms, spine,everything—because there’s no mistaking it now. He wants me, and he knows I see it. The fire’s heating up, but the flames aren’t getting any bigger.
He leans in. “Kael?—”
One more inch and this becomes something I can’t joke my way around. One more inch and it’s real, and God, I want it.
Smoke rolls over us on a shifting gust, and I’m on my feet before I’ve even decided to move, the chair folding with me.
“I’m—I’m taking another shower.”
Real smooth. I walk off before he can react, cheeks burning, heart pounding, my body all but reaching back for him.
Ash doesn’t do casual. Which means he’s an anchor I can’t afford to tie around my neck. If this isn’t a one-night stand in the making, then it’s something dangerous, something that could turn into years. I don’t dare touch it, but every step away feels like a punishment I’m choosing for myself.
The guest bathroom connects to the living room as well as the bedroom, so I slip in from the hall and lock that door behind me. I strip quickly, wrap myself in a towel, crank the hot water, and let it steam the room.
In the mirror, my shoulders slump, shadows pooling under my eyes, my whole body sagging like it’s waiting for someone else to prop it up. I try straightening, flexing my bicep, and remember how the chainsaw felt in my hands. It’s so pathetic I have to laugh.
Steam curls and thickens until it swallows my reflection, leaving me staring at a fogged mirror while the shower hisses. Then it pulls sharply past the glass as the bedroom door cracks open.
Ash steps inside, and my pulse skitters. I tighten the towel around my hips, not to cover up, but to hold myself together, because he knows I’m in here. And we both know why he came.
CHAPTER 20
ASH
Kael’s eyes widen,but his smile says he wants exactly what I do.
He’s wrapped in a towel, and I’m fully dressed. It’s not how I planned our first kiss when walking up here, but that towel doesn’t last long. It drops the minute his hand finds the back of my neck, pulling me in, and when our mouths meet, all my plans go up in smoke.
Even after all those showers, he smells like fire. It clings to both of us, the day still in our hair, and somehow the danger in it tilts into want. Losing control should terrify me. Right now, it makes me harder.
“Take off your shirt,” he whispers, voice rough.
My hands are trembling as I yank the tee over my head, heat blooming everywhere his gaze lands. All I want is to press against him, but I hear his breath catch, and by the time my shirt hits the floor, he’s stepped back.
“What?” I ask, a flicker of insecurity flaring.
“It’s just— Jesus. You’re rich, successful, and built like a fucking swimsuit model.” His tone is a weird mix of awe and disbelief. “I don’t understand what you see in?—”
I can’t stand hearing him tear himself down, so I close the distance and press a finger to his lips.
“You’re motherfucking Kael Wright,” I tell him, low, and?—
Oh. Fuck.
He wraps a hand around my wrist and draws my finger into his mouth. His eyes never leave mine as his tongue drags over it, and my knees nearly give out.
“Sexy,” I manage. “Funny. Kind. Artistic. You cut a tree in half.”
He smiles around my finger, tongue dragging over my skin, until a shudder rips through me.
“You weren’t too bad yourself,” he teases when he lets me go. “But I thought you didn’t want?—”
“I didn’t know what I wanted until I…” I catch myself before I saytripped over you.
“Wanted sex?” he guesses.
And the only word that makes it out of me is, “You.”
