Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Benjamin wasn’t quite sure how he’d ended up here.
All he knew was that, at the words “used ladies’ underwear,” his stomach had dropped, his mouth had gone dry, and he’d felt the overwhelming urge to dip his hands into a bucket of bleach.
Benjamin had never chugged water while making unflinching eye contact with someone before. It was a little uncomfortable, to say the least. He felt unreasonably like he was doing something he shouldn’t.
When he paused to breathe, Benjamin didn’t know what to say, so he went for the obvious. “Nice apartment.”
4B gave him a lazy smile. “You think so?”
“Mm-hmm.” Benjamin took another gulp, the glass halfway drained now. Some inner politeness meter was insisting that he needed to finish the offered water before he could leave.
“What’s so nice about it, exactly?”
Of course, Benjamin hadn’t actually paid attention to anything in the apartment between the door, the bathroom, and the couch. He had no idea what was on the walls or what other furniture there might be. But he couldn’t look away from 4B’s gaze, not even to search for inspiration in the moment.
4B’s eyes were really an alarmingly pale green. People must make comments all the time.
“Your couch,” Benjamin finally said, for lack of any other ideas. “Very soft.”
4B’s lazy smile grew into a devious grin, his eyes heavy-lidded. “You should try it without the clothes.”
Benjamin blinked at him. Or he was pretty sure he did. He might only have flinched. “Excuse me?”
4B shrugged a careless shoulder. “You know, watching TV shirtless or whatever. I like how it feels against my skin. That’s why I chose it.”
“Oh.”
4B kept his apartment really warm, didn’t he? Benjamin wanted to loosen his collar or maybe press the cool glass against his forehead. He took another drink instead, still caught in 4B’s gaze.
“I don’t know your name,” he finally admitted.
“It’s Atlas.”
“I’m Benjamin.”
Atlas’s eyes flashed with some secret amusement, there and gone again. “Of course you are.”
Benjamin didn’t know what that meant, so he ignored it. “Do you—do you know who got you the, um, box?” he found himself asking. He was immediately mortified by his own question—it wasn’t any business of his who Atlas’s paramours were—but there was no taking it back.
Another one-shouldered shrug. “There are a few candidates.”
Benjamin made a face before he could help himself.
Atlas didn’t seem offended by Benjamin’s disgust. He only laughed, low and a little raspy. He was really very close, wasn’t he? Their knees were practically touching. “Have you received any exciting gifts of your own, Benjamin?”
“Oh, no,” Benjamin found himself admitting. “The holidays are kind of a wash for me this year.”
“Why’s that?”
“Oh, just…” Benjamin’s eyes were getting painfully dry. When had he last blinked? “No people.” He tried to set his now empty glass down blindly, relieved when Atlas swiped it from his hands before he could drop it.
Benjamin tried to frown down at the offending glass, but he was still caught in Atlas’s gaze. “This drink is really strong.”
Atlas’s lips twitched. “It’s water.”
“Oh. Right.”
Atlas leaned impossibly closer. He smelled like every wet dream Benjamin had ever had, all warmth and skin and musk. “Do I make you nervous, Benjamin?”
Benjamin couldn’t have lied if he’d wanted to. “Yes. You do.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do.” Benjamin had the sense of Atlas whispering in his ear, but that couldn’t be right because Atlas was right in front of him, looking into Benjamin’s eyes. “Can I tell you something, Benjamin?”
Atlas should really turn down his thermostat. Benjamin wasn’t just overheated now but kind of… melty. Like he was sinking into the couch, his limbs too heavy to move. And there was a sound coming from somewhere. Like someone was letting air out of a tire. A hissing, almost.
And something… something was touching Benjamin’s leg. Something was coiling upward. From his calf to his thigh and over his hips. Something deliciously cold and very strong.
But if the touch was cool, why was Benjamin still burning up?
And Atlas was still right there, pale-green eyes glowing.
Oh, right. He was waiting for an answer.
“Yes.” Benjamin nodded. Or maybe he only thought he did. “You can tell me something.”
Atlas’s eyes flared with heat. “I like making you nervous.”
He was so close now. So very, very close.
His lips were barely a breath away. Was he going to kiss Benjamin?
No, that couldn’t be right. Benjamin didn’t get kissed by men like this, men with stunning muscles and beautiful tattoos and dangerous smiles.
Men who smelled like spice and musk and other delicious things.
And Benjamin should probably warn Atlas that there was something loose in this apartment. A pet snake maybe, winding around Benjamin’s waist now. Keeping him here, on the couch. It had to be a really big snake, considering how much of Benjamin it was managing to cover.
That should be alarming, shouldn’t it? Benjamin should be alarmed. He should be shouting, not melting.
A door slammed across the hallway. A sharp, clear sound that broke through Benjamin’s mental fog.
He jolted upright, breaking eye contact with Atlas, who immediately leaned back into a slouch. Benjamin looked down, but there was nothing there. No snake coiled around his waist. Not even a stray belt flung across his lap to explain the sensation.
Benjamin looked back to Atlas, and he could swear a flash of annoyance crossed that handsome face, there and gone. But then the lazy smile was back. Benjamin must have been mistaken.
He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Sorry, I got dizzy there for a second,” he said, his throat remarkably dry. “I must have had too much to drink.”
“Too much water?”
Right. Benjamin had been drinking water. Why had he even been drinking water on Atlas’s couch in the first place?
His confusion made him defensive. “I mean before.”
“You just said you had no people.” Atlas propped his chin in his hand, raising his brows. “Were you drinking alone? Tossing back shots by yourself?”
Benjamin straightened, squaring his shoulders. “Maybe.”
And then Atlas was leaning in close again, smelling like sin, his lips parted as if for a kiss. Benjamin froze once more.
But Atlas didn’t go for Benjamin’s lips. He ran his nose over Benjamin’s jawline instead, a millimeter away from skin touching skin. He breathed in deeply, then leaned back with excruciating slowness. “You don’t smell like liquor.”
“Wh-what do I smell like?” Benjamin asked. He immediately shook his head. “Wait, don’t answer that.” He stood abruptly. If he stayed one more minute, he was going to do something he couldn’t ever recover from. Something that would necessitate a new name and change of address.
Something like pouncing on Atlas and claiming that kiss he kept imagining was coming his way.
“I have to go.”
“So soon?” Atlas was lounging in his chair now, his thick thighs sprawled open, that muscled chest just… there. Like the world’s most infuriating temptation.
Benjamin didn’t answer him. He didn’t offer any more excuses. He only hurried out the door.
He wasn’t sure, as he slammed it shut behind him, why he felt like he’d just escaped a predator’s lair.
It didn’t matter anyway.
Benjamin wouldn’t be going back.