Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
My fingers brushed his when I took it, and a little spark zipped up my arm. “Thanks, Kevlar.”
His midnight-blue gaze softened. “Call me Lucas.”
I knew enough about the Hounds to understand they didn’t ask people to use their real name lightly. This was a big deal, but I managed not to squeal like a little kid. “Okay, Lucas.”
His fists clenched at his sides, the muscles in his arms tightening. With a slight lift of his chin, he muttered, “Go take your shower.”
I stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, leaning against the solid surface while I caught my breath. I was in Lucas’s room. About to sleep in his bed. In his shirt. Next to him. If this were a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
I didn’t want to waste a second standing there overthinking everything, so I set my purse on the floor and turned on the shower. After stripping out of my clothes, I stepped under the stream of water. My smile was hopeless when I opened his bottle of body wash, and the steamy stall filled with his scent.
I washed slowly, letting the hot water melt away the tension from my shift. But it didn’t lessen the fluttery awareness in my stomach. If anything, it only grew.
When I finally stepped out, I wrapped myself in a towel and reached for his shirt. I pulled it over my head, and it fell halfway down my thighs, dwarfing me completely. And I loved it.
After smoothing the fabric over my hips, I tugged my panties back on. Then I took a slow breath and opened the bathroom door, all too aware that Lucas was waiting on the other side.
When I stepped out, Lucas’s gaze dragged over me slowly, heating with something I didn’t have a name for yet. The shirt hung off me like a dress, but the way he stared made me feel like it was see-through.
“Get in bed.” I nodded and moved around to the far side, climbing beneath the covers. Then he added, “Go to sleep.”
Sleep felt impossible with the way he was looking at me, but I whispered, “Okay.”
While I sank deeper under the blanket, Lucas disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I lay there listening to the faint sounds of the shower, every small noise making me more aware that he’d be next to me in bed soon.
By the time the water turned off, I could barely catch my breath. I tugged the sheet up to my chest and pretended to be relaxed, even though my heart was beating loud enough that I was sure he’d hear it when he came out.
I squeezed my eyes shut just before the door opened. The mattress dipped beside me a moment later, and I inhaled slowly, trying to calm myself. But the scent of his body wash was thick in the air, making things worse.
I shifted once. Then again. My awareness of him made it impossible to settle.
I rolled my hips a little, trying to get comfortable.
Then another small shift.
Lucas’s voice cut through the dark. “If you keep wiggling like that, I’m gonna stop pretending I can sleep.”
I froze, my skin feeling like it was on fire. For him.
6
KEVLAR
The silence between us shifted into something heavy. The only sounds were her shallow breathing and the blood roaring through my ears.
The sheets had just barely stopped rustling, and my pulse was still hammering from every innocent little shift of her hips, each unconscious brush of her thighs against mine as she tried to find a comfortable spot beside me. That was all it had taken to damn near push me past my limits.
I was known for being calm under pressure. Cool. Unshakable.
Control was my default mode. But this tiny, sweet, fiery little thing had somehow found the crack in my armor and started prying it wide open. And she hadn’t even meant to.
She was wearing my shirt. When I’d handed it to her earlier, she’d smiled like it was no big deal. There had been no hesitation or nerves. Then she came out of the bathroom in it, soft hair clinging to her damp shoulders and bare legs beneath the hem of something that had no business looking that good on her.
I’d barely managed to walk into the bathroom without backing her up and bending her over the sink to claim what was already mine. My hands had twitched with the urge to haul her against me. My jaw had locked to keep from saying all the filthy things I’d been thinking.
Now she was next to me in my bed, wearing my shirt. Moving restlessly like some kind of sweet, sleepy temptation sent to test what little restraint I had left.
And I was failing.
Hard.
My thick cock was aching, pressed against the front of my boxers, throbbing with her every movement. I’d tried to stay still, keep my breathing steady, and stop the tension from rolling off me in waves. But every rustle of cotton on her skin and tiny shift of her hips beneath the sheets was another punch to my control.