Page 53 of Whisper Of Attraction (Whisper Lake 3)

CHAPTER 15

Axel dipped his head beneath the ice-cold water and half expected to see steam rise off his heated skin. Never in his life had he been this turned on. Brynn had almost proved too much of a temptation for him to resist.

Cursing under his breath, he moved so that the freezing spray cascaded down his chest and back. He was coming to the conclusion that taking a cold shower was a myth and it was not going to do the trick. He might be harder now than he was before he’d stepped under the chilly water.

It wasn’t the shower’s fault. He was beginning to accept that there was no antidote to what ailed him. Brynn was too potent.

The faintest touch of her soft mouth brushing his was all it had taken for him to lose his mind completely. He’d asked her if she wanted to go home, and when he’d asked that question he’d had no plans to leave her on her doorstep.

Thankfully, during the five minutes it took to walk back to her house, he’d realized that there was no way he could follow through. He was here to do a job, and crossing that line was not part of it. He knew the right thing to do would be to remove himself from the assignment, pack up, and have someone who was not personally involved be reassigned to Brynn’s case.

That was the right thing to do.

So why did the thought of doing it sound so fucking wrong?

He blew out a frustrated sigh as he shut the water off and grabbed a towel from the rack hanging on the wall. After drying off, he stepped into his sweats and when he straightened he noticed that he was still at half-chub. It seemed to be a permanent condition around Brynn. His body had no concept of what was appropriate and what wasn’t. It had no grasp of what or who was off-limits. And Brynn was off-limits.

As he left the bathroom, he was prepared to put on mindless television before spending another restless night with visions of Brynn’s naked body playing like a peep show in his brain.

There were some things that once seen could not be unseen. As much as he wished he could erase the image, Brynn naked was forever imprinted in his mind’s eye. Axel adjusted his semi-hard junk and wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to live a normal life.

He’d just stepped into the bedroom when there was a knock at the door. His heart slammed into his chest. His visitors were limited to two people: Ryder and Brynn. Ryder was spending the night at the high school so that meant there could only be one person standing on the other side of that door.

Axel flexed his hands as he stared at the doorknob. He’d barely managed to escape tonight without his self-control snapping. If he opened that door, chances were he’d do something he couldn’t undo. He could ignore the knock and let her believe that he was already asleep.

That would be the smart, safe thing to do.

His feet moved and he watched as his hand turned the knob.

Apparently, smart and safe was not the route he would be taking tonight.

The second the door swung open, he knew he’d made a mistake.

He was in big trouble.

Brynn stood in front of him dressed in cutoff sweats and a T-shirt. Her face was scrubbed clean and her eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them. She had an air of vulnerability and strength, combined with a complete lack of self-awareness that was turning out to be his Achilles heel.

Any other woman that looked like Brynn did, that had everything going for her the way she did, would be fully cognizant of it. But she honestly had no clue of her effect on him. And that was sexy as hell.

The energy between them crackled with unspoken tension as they stared at one another.

“Hey,” he managed to croak out, keeping his hands at his sides so he didn’t drag her into the apartment and kiss her until he forgot all the reasons why being with her was wrong.

“Hey.” She lifted her hand in a small wave as a nervous smile pulled up on her full, pouty lips. “Um…” He watched her eyes dart beside him as she swallowed hard. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” He backed up, careful to leave a good three feet between them as she stepped inside.

When she shifted to shut the door behind her, he noticed that her hands were trembling just like they’d been when she’d tried to unlock her front door.

She was clearly nervous then and now. Of what, he couldn’t be sure. But he was sure that everything in him was screaming for him to fix it. To assure her. To pull her into his arms and hold her until all of her trepidation and anxiety were gone.

Instead, he crossed his arms.

Her eyes followed his movement and the look of unabashed appreciation made him remember he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He’d been so focused on Brynn that he forgot that the only clothes he had on was a pair of sweats.

Which meant that if he kept watching her watch him, the soft cotton that was covering his lower region was going to be in tent formation.

Not trusting himself to speak, he cleared his throat.

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