Page 21 of Knights Game

“Your arse is going to get found out one day.”

She wiggles her arse as she sashays out of the steam room. The glass door closes, and with it my eyes drift shut, another big deep sigh escaping as I relax back into the warm tiles.

The sound of a throat clearing destroys my zen and fear ripples through me. Oh Shit. My eyes fly open and take in the huge shadow that is now covering me in my little cubby hole.

He tuts, but I don’t look at his face, no, I start at his feet. His bare feet, attached to his lean legs, and to his strong and powerful thighs, and please, oh, God, please don’t let this be who I think it is. My skin is all goosebumps even though I’m hot. I take a slow perusal up over his navy-blue Ralph Lauren swim shorts and my eyes track over those mouth-watering V muscles that are like a homing beacon to the goodies underneath.

A peppering of hair on his stomach disappears under his shorts, but I can’t linger. I can’t face the abs that I’m sure he has that go along with thebits. Instead, my gaze jumps to his face, and I see his raised eyebrow and eyes that are so ice-cold and dark that fear grips my chest in a vice-like hold. Making it hard to breathe.

My memory had done Luca no justice. But here he is, in all his unclothed goodness.

What are the chances of him being here?

“Fuck,” I finally say aloud. I’ve just told someone when I was explicitly told not to.

He’s going to kill me, this is it.

This is where I die, in the pearlescent room that smells like blossom.

My blood will be the thing coating the walls instead of the rainbows and condensation from the steam. How was he so silent? He’s a sodding bloody ninja. We had been in that room for a good ten minutes, and he hadn’t made a peep.

Flight instinct takes hold telling me to get out of this steam room, away from him. I stand up quickly, fighting the fuzziness of a head rush and step past. Thankfully he lets me, my sweaty skin brushing against his hard muscles, but he doesn’t stop me.

“Layla.”

I freeze mid grab to the glass door, pausing.

Why the fuck am I pausing?

He’s going to kill me.

I yank the door open, the coolness a welcome jolt to my flushed blazing skin. But I don’t get a chance to leave, his hand wraps around mine which is still holding the door half open, and his other grips the base of my neck. He spins me around my body at the mercy of his strength and I’m in such shock that I can’t even make myself react.

Fight or Flight.

There’s a third one: freeze.

And I’ve frozen.

I’m spun around, my face flaming, a mix of fear, excitement and - dare I even admit it - lust overwhelms me as the sensation of warm water runs through my stomach, up to my chest, along with a shiver.

What the hell is my body doing?

Tendrils of my blonde hair fall across my eyes and stick's to my sweaty cheeks. He pins me against the tiled walls and the door closes, along with my chance of escape.

He leans forward, his lips close to my ear and the deadly whisper of his voice coats my body in fear. “Didn’t I make myself clear, sunshine?”

I am so dead.

7

Luca

Her throat feels sodelicate in my hand, her pulse thrumming against my thumb as I grip her neck. One squeeze, that’s all it would take. Problem dealt with.

After I take out her friend. All loose ends tied up nicely in a pretty bow.

“My instruction was fairly simple, no?” She’s frozen against the wall, and I push myself into her. My grip tight on her hip, my fingers digging into her flesh. My body curves into hers, our skin touching, the steam making us slippery. “Keep your mouth shut, and we’ll leave you alone.”

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