Page 6 of Killer Attraction

My eyes tracked Nate’s movements as he picked up his discarded suit and started to pull it on haphazardly. I let out a sigh.

“Don’t be stupid,” I muttered as I swung my legs off the side of the bed.

I wasn’t sure what came over me but I had a sudden pang of need for the mystifying man in front of me. Something that told me I didn’t want to let him go. But that was silly because it was only a one-night stand. I had to let him go eventually.

Right?

He looked up at me like he wasn’t sure if he could trust my words, which I didn’t want to analyze the irony at the moment. Acting on pure instinct, I stood and intertwined our fingers together so I could tug him along to the bathroom, since we could both use a shower.

I had a feeling he didn’t want to leave just as much as I didn’t want him to leave. And that was something I could work with.

When the water got warm, I urged him to get in. Once he was under the spray, I went in behind him, grabbed the soap, and started to wash him.

“I…umm…you don’t have to do that.” The tentative tone and stiffness in his shoulders made me pause and I wondered if he didn’t like it or perhaps he just wasn’t used to someone taking care of him.

“What if I want to?” I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

His breathing picked up, but only slightly, before he turned to face me. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for as he searched my eyes for the answer to his unasked question.

“Nate,” I said softly.

He hummed. “Why do you call me that?”

I pulled back from him, my eyes furrowed. “I…I’m not sure. Do you not like it?” I thought about it and I realized he’d introduced himself as Nathan, and I just jumped right into calling him Nate without a thought. “I’m sorry. I don’t have to?—”

His lips cut me off, stopping me mid-ramble, for which I was grateful.

“I like it coming from you,” he said softly. “Which is weird because normally I don’t like nicknames.”

I smirked. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed from the way you keep calling me little bird.”

Nate scoffed. “That’s different.”

“How so?” I asked, laughing at his ridiculousness. “It’s still a nickname.”

He crossed his big, bulky arms over his chest and tried to level me with an intimidating glare. But it wasn’t working.

“It just is.” And with that, he turned back around and moved under the spray to wet his hair, effectively ending the conversation.

I rolled my eyes, grabbed the shampoo left out by housekeeping, and reached up to massage it into his scalp. He let out a low groan that had my dick twitching, despite the fact I’d already come twice. Once he had the shampoo rinsed out, I concentrated on lathering up the body wash and spreading it all over his body.

When I was done, he maneuvered me so we switched places, and he gave me the same treatment.

“How did you get these?” he asked quietly, running his hand up my left side again.

I went still and tried to move away, but there was nowhere for me to go—not in the small confines of the hotel shower.

“Don’t,” I said, voice stern as I pushed his hand away. “It was something that happened a long time ago. I don’t even really remember it. And I definitely don’t talk about it or think about it.”

Nate just stared at me for a moment as though trying to figure out what to say to my mini outburst. I didn’t think he was going to say anything else on the subject as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry me off. When we were dry, he led me back to the bed, where he stripped the dirty sheets and got out the extra linens from the closet to remake the bed.

“You shouldn’t hide yourself. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our scars, some are just more visible than others. Do you know what scars are?” he asked as he got into bed behind me, pulling me flush against his chest.

I shook my head.

He kissed the spot right behind my ear before whispering, “They’re a reminder you survived, little bird.”

CHAPTER FOUR

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