Page 86 of Gilded Locks
Like him.
The water lapped gently with her movements. Her lips parted on a silent gasp, and he found himself leaning closer, chasing sounds too quiet to catch. Wanting to know if she thought of his hands or someone else’s.
He’d purposely put his mouth close to her ear earlier, whispering words he’d never said to another woman. Ya ne mogu dyshat’ bez tebya.
He’d done it to get a better whiff of her hair and to see how her eyes might dilate. She didn’t disappoint, and he’d instantly sat back, taking the book to hide how her response to his nearness made him instantly hard.
Her breathing quickened again. The little thief was stealing an orgasm. In all the excitement, they’d forgotten to set that rule, so he supposed this was fine.
He watched, unblinking, as her reach shifted deeper and her narrow shoulder lifted ever so delicately.
Close now.
So close.
Her head tipped back against the porcelain, exposing the column of her throat where his fingers had pressed. Where her pulse had hammered under his touch.
Then, soft as snowfall, she whispered, “Hunter…”
The world stopped, and his phone creaked under the weight of his crushing grip. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. That was his name on her lips as she came undone.
His name, like a prayer.
Or was it a confession.
He didn’t care. It was his name. She breathed it out as if she could taste him on the mere sound.
Hunter’s thumb jammed into the power button and his screen went black. “Fuck me.”
But the damage was done. She’d shown her cards.
He’d thought she was washing away his touch, but that wasn’t it at all. She was doing exactly what he’d ordered her to do. She was getting clean for him.
He growled and pressed his palms against his eyes until he saw stars, but he could still see her. Still hear her raspy voice as she called his name.
“Fuck!” He was on his feet and out the door before he could remember why this was a bad idea. At the moment, the few rules he kept were lost and he had no desire to find them. He only needed to find her.
Chapter 17
Unlocked
The water had gone tepid around her, but Marigold couldn’t bring herself to move. Her body still thrummed with the aftermath of release, muscles liquid and languid. She should feel ashamed. Should feel guilty for whispering his name like a prayer into the steam.
The lock clicked and her eyes flew open.
The gilded handle on the bathroom door turned with deliberate intent, and her heart slammed against her ribs. She’d locked the bedroom door. She was certain of it.
“Who’s there?”
The ivory door flung open, and she sloshed back against the wall of the tub, cool air rushing in, hitting her overheated flesh and raising goosebumps across every inch of exposed skin. “Hunter.”
He filled the doorway like a storm given form. His obsidian eyes burned molten in the dim light, fixed on her with an intensity that made her sink lower in the water.
“What are you doing in my bathroom?”
He stepped inside, looming like a lethal threat about to destroy her. “My bathroom.”
She sloshed to the other end of the tub. “Get out!” Her voice cracked with indignant pride.
