Chapter 2
Iwas staring.
Oh God, I was staring!
I knew I had to look away, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t turn my head.
How could I when the man standing in front of me looked so damn good?
Tiny rivulets of water streamed down from his dark, short-cropped hair, coursing over broad shoulders and a range of chest muscles that looked like they’d been chiseled from solid marble. My attention was glued to the tiny drops of steam collecting on perfectly defined pecs and abs, not to mention the long, toned muscles running the length of his arms.
But while his form might have been as close to perfect as I’d ever seen, the condition of the man himself was far from pristine.
All kinds of scars—some old, some new—crisscrossed his body. I spotted half a dozen healed long gashes, along with more than a few round bullet wounds. Some cut through the black ink of the tattoos that decorated his chest. Taken all together, his body told a story of a life lived in violence.
But strangely, none of that took away from the allure of the man standing before me. If anything, it only made him more captivating.
And then, because I seemed to have lost all sense of reason and self-preservation, my gaze dipped even further down.
Oh. My. God.
Clearly, it had been far too long since I’d had the opportunity to indulge in sexual thoughts.
My life these days just didn’t allow for it. I’d been in survival mode for too long. When you found yourself living day to day, constantly looking over your shoulder, pleasure became a luxury you can’t afford.
But now, I couldn’t seem to help myself.
I stared at the long, thick cock hanging between the man’s muscular thighs, and suddenly, my mouth felt dry. Without thinking, my lips parted, and I flicked out the tip of my tongue to wet them.
Just then, the man’s cock pulsed with a surge of blood, bobbing slightly as it grew even thicker, even longer.
I heard myself gasp and felt my heart begin to hammer as a rush of heat washed over me—heat that had nothing to do with the cloud of steam that was now rushing past me and pouring out into the bedroom.
The thought that I shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t be doing this, raced through my head.
But instead of doing the reasonable thing and running like hell for the door, I found myself biting my lower lip as I lifted my gaze.
That turned out to be a huge mistake.
His features were just as devastatingly gorgeous as his body. His eyes were deep-set and lapis blue. His brow was straight and hard, his jawline even harder. He looked only a little older than me—four, maybe five years, which would put him around thirty.
My breath hitched as I tried and failed to read his flat expression. He didn’t seem terribly surprised that I’d walked in at him. Seeing as several seconds had passed and he still hadn’t made a move to cover himself, he certainly wasn’t shy about showing off his body. But his thoughts were a mystery.
Was he upset? Amused? Annoyed? His face gave nothing away.
All I could say for sure was, for someone with a stone-cold stare, the man was hot as hell. The kind I could have stood there appreciating all day, like a statue in a museum carved by a Renaissance master.
After another couple of long seconds, he cocked his head to the side.
The movement might have been slight, but it had a huge impact—enough to violently thrust me back to reality.
This wasn’t a lifeless stone masterpiece; it was a living, breathing man.
And an incredibly dangerous one, by the looks of it.
One I wasn’t even supposed to look in the eye.
Yeah…well, I’d looked at a whole lot more than that.
Immediately, I turned my face to the floor and stumbled back a few steps.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I mumbled, tripping over myself to get the words out as fast as possible. “So sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here. I never would have opened the door if I’d known. Please forgive me.”
I managed to make it all the way to the bedroom door. My hand was wrapped around the knob when his deep voice stopped me.
“Wait.”
It was a command, plain and simple.
Even though every instinct in my body told me to run like hell, I didn’t dare disobey. I was already in enough trouble as it was after breaking two of the cardinal rules.
No talking.
No eye contact.
I froze.
“Turn around.”
Shit. I should have known it was too much to hope the man would simply accept my apology and laugh it off. Judging by the frosty nature of that stare, he wasn’t the type to laugh at anything.
All I could do now was pray that if I followed his commands, he wouldn’t report my behavior to Jane. She might have been kind enough to offer me a job when I was at my lowest, but the nature of her business didn’t allow her to tolerate anyone who broke the rules.
If she found out that I didn’t just make eye contact with a client but stood there gawking at his naked body for several seconds, I’d be out on the streets before sunset. And if that happened, I’d really be screwed.
Out in the open, without a place to hide or a way to make money, it would only take the feds a few days to find me.
And then…well, I didn’t want to think about what would happen after that.
“Look at me.”
I grimaced at the client’s words, even though the rich timbre of his voice ignited a brand new rush of heat inside me. No matter how I responded, I’d be breaking one of Jane’s rules, so I decided to go with the more flexible of the two.
Keeping my head down, I shook it gently. “I…I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it a moment ago.”
There was no point trying to deny it, so I tried to explain myself instead.
“I shouldn’t have done that. Like I said, I didn’t think you were in there. I was caught by surprise and?—“
“Surprise made you lick your lips?” I heard him step out of the bathroom, coming close enough that, without lifting my head, his bare feet entered my field of vision. “You were shocked into staring at my body?”
“I…I…”
Shit. I had no answer to that. Not one that would save my ass anyway.
A heavy silence hung between us for a moment, long enough for him to let out a long breath before saying, “All right, then tell me why you don’t want to look up at me now.”
Now, there was something I had no trouble answering. “Because it’s against the rules.”
“The rules?”
“Jane’s rules,” I explained. “No talking. No eye contact. Keep your head down and your hands to yourself.”
“But you’ve already broken all those.”
Not all of them.
As tempted as I’d been, I’d somehow managed to keep my hands to myself.
“Not purposefully,” I argued. Besides, there’s another rule—the most important one: If you see something you shouldn’t—no, you didn’t.
“Hmm. That is a good rule,” he admitted. “What happens if Jane discovers you broke any of her rules?”
“I’d lose my job, sir,” I said. “And I really can’t lose my job.”
“I see...and what if I promised Jane would never find out? Would you lift your head and look at me then?”
Oh God, it was tempting. So very tempting.
It had been so long since I’d felt anything beyond the constant anxiety and depression that came with being in hiding. Just looking at the man for a few seconds had shattered all that horrible isolation and kindled countless sensations inside me—desire, longing, need.
The kind of sensations that reminded me that I was still alive. That there was more to life than mere survival.
And all I had to do was lift my head and look at him to experience that again.
But there were other reasons to hold back, I reminded myself.
This wasn’t just any man. This was one of Jane’s clients. At the very least, he was a criminal and, judging by the scars crisscrossing his body, a dangerous one.
He clearly wasn’t the kind of guy to play games with…no matter how good they might feel at the time.
But before I could finish wrestling with all these conflicting thoughts, a knock sounded on the bedroom door behind me.
Without thinking, my head shot up in panic, my eyes wide as they met the cold blue gaze of the client.
At some point, he’d wrapped a long white towel around his waist, securing it with a tuck at the hip. If I wasn’t so terrified by the thought of losing my job after being found with a half-naked client, I might have been disappointed.
“Mary, are you in there?” Rose called out, sounding annoyed on the other side of the door.
Shit.
I froze, cursing myself for not listening to my instincts and running out of the bedroom while I’d still had a chance. Now what the hell was I going to do?
I looked at the man across from me, silently pleading for help but knowing better than to expect any.
That’s why I was so surprised when the door knob began to turn and he called out, “Wait.”
Immediately, all movement on the other side stopped.
Without hesitation, he strode toward me. Stretching out his arm, he corralled my back against the door, keeping me hidden, while, with his other hand, he opened it a crack and peered out.
“What do you need, Rose?”
“Sorry, sir,” she replied, her tone instantly changing and becoming far more pleasant. “I was looking for Mary. Have you seen her?”
“No.”
There was a pause from the other side. Then, “Are you sure, sir? I could’ve sworn I saw her come in here a few minutes ago.”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the room grew dark and heavy. The man’s expression didn’t change, but one of the tendons in his neck twitched. It was the tiniest movement, but it was, without a doubt, one of the most menacing reactions I’d ever seen.
Any hopes that the man currently pinning me against the door might somehow not be as dangerous as I’d thought vanished instantly. Though his arm barely brushed against my chest, I could feel a violent kind of energy coiling inside him at being questioned.
“You were mistaken.”
Even though I wasn’t the one he was talking to, his icy tone sent shivers down my spine.
“Of course, sir,” Rose said, instantly contrite. “I don’t know what I was thinking. But if you see her, can you send her my way?”
The man gave a curt nod before shutting the door in her face.
I opened my mouth to thank him, but before I could make a sound, he pressed a finger against my lips, stopping me.
It was a common gesture, but feeling his warm skin against such a sensitive part of me still felt surprisingly intimate.
Heaven help me. If this was my reaction to one simple touch, maybe I really was starved for contact.
The client inclined his head toward the door, signaling that Rose was still listening on the other side. We both remained motionless and silent for another few seconds until, finally, the sound of her footsteps retreated down the hall.
Only then did his hand fall from my lips.
I let out a long breath.
“Thank you,” I said in a whisper.
He nodded.
“But…” I stopped myself, remembering his intense reaction to Rose’s question.
“But what?” he prompted, seeming perfectly calm with me.
Maybe it was a mistake, but I decided to risk it anyway. “But why did you help me?”
He looked at me for a long moment, his deep lapis eyes seeming to study my face, almost as if he wasn’t entirely sure of the answer himself.
Eventually, he said, “Because you’re right. I can’t have you lose your job. Not yet.”
Then, without further explanation, he opened the door and peeked out into the hall.
“All clear,” he said before stepping back and allowing me to pass.
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
I rushed out of his bedroom before Rose could catch me sneaking out.
I should have felt relieved. Just a minute ago, I was afraid of losing my job...or my life. But now, a brand new question was burning in my head, one that I had a feeling would haunt me for weeks.
What the hell did he mean, not yet?