A few minutes later the door opens, followed by a gush of steam, and he steps out.
Shirtless.
Steps out of the bathroom shirtless. In a towel. A towel wrapped around his hips. Shirtless. Towel. Hips.
The chain with two dog tags is hanging from his corded neck, making his tattoos pop even more.
I always laughed at women who lost their ability to think when they saw a hot body.
Well, I am those women now. My brain completely checks out, and I swallow a very dry lump in my throat. An arid one. I’m suddenlyverythirsty.
“Hey. Have you seen my bag?”
“Your bag?” I blink like a dummy, my eyes fixated on his torso.
“Yes,” he repeats slowly, “a bag. I had a bag this size,” he spreads his arms wide, “in the bathroom,” then he points at the cloud of steam, “over there.”
“Oh! The bag!” I smack my forehead a little too forcefully. “Ouch!” I exclaim. It brings me back to reality, and a low chuckle reminds me that I’m not alone in the room. “Yeah, bag.” I feel my cheeks heating up. “I moved it to the closet. Sorry. When I went to use the bathroom, I nearly fell over it, so I just, you know, moved it. Over there.” I point at the door. “In the closet.”
“Alright. You moved it? Where?”
“To the closet.” I point at the door again. “In the closet.”
“Over there?” He points the same way, and his right, very developed pectoralis jerks in response, making the dog tags click.
His nipple jerks too, and my eyes catch on the little rays of sunshine on his tattooed chest. Because yes, Archie has pierced nipples. Two shiny, golden rings. And yes, itisa dragon with its tail adorning his neck. It wraps around his front, hugged by dozens of other artful tattoos, the meaning of each I hope to find out.
His abdominal muscles are taut and ripped. It’s like someone painted those little grooves with a brush, so they’d look more pronounced.
“Leila, are you there?” His voice is low, and the chuckle at the end lets me know he’s having fun with this.
“Yes.” I blink twice again. “What?”
“Where did you move my bag?” he repeats and bites his lower lip. Specs of laughter twinkle in his dark eyes.
“In the closet,” I respond quietly, tucking my hair behind my ear and looking down, embarrassed.
“Over there?” He points again, clearly knowing exactly what he’s doing to me, and I narrow my eyes at the jerk, aware of the game he’s playing.
“No, over there.” I flip him off and march to the bathroom. My stew will be fine for a few minutes without me while I, myself, stew in my anger.
Loud laughter follows me, and I flip him off with my other hand too. Okay, now we’ve established that I’m a thirsty fuck around this man, and he knows it. We’re stuck here, and he just made it harder on the both of us. Well, I’ll make sure to make itharderon him too.
I turn the shower on, and…Dang it,are there any towels in here? I look under the vanity and don’t find any. They might be in the closet, because I haven’t seen any specially dedicated areas for linen.
I march back out and straight into the tiny closet.
And one person is already there. Standing naked. The towel pooled around his feet. His legs are almost fully inked, a humongous phoenix graces his back, wings spread over his shoulders. It touches the dragon’s tail, entwining together. I know for a fact that phoenix is Kayla’s design and is probably much newer than the dragon. It’s such a beautiful and tasteful piece of art, that I just stand there, admiring the view.
Until he bends over.
Then I get another view, but not less exciting. Archie is ginormous in more places than one. I can’t take my eyes off of him as I imagine his balls slapping against my ass with every thrust he makes, and I clear my throat because it’s suddenly the Sahara. No one could blame me for it.
He slowly turns to face me, his eyes finding mine. Soft, gray pants in hand, one brow arched in silent question. He’s not ashamed to be on full display. Why would he be? With a bodyand art like that? I’d be walking around Little Hope naked every day if I looked like him.
Naturally, my eyes dart down, but he covers the goods with his pants.
“Did you forget to look at something else?” he asks mockingly. His tongue pokes inside his cheek before a boyish grin stretches across his face.
