Page 55 of Echo Power

Jeez, the world is literally going to hell, and I'm thinking about sex.

"I need a new shirt," Dax announces. "Wait for me in the foyer."

"Sure, because I follow orders when you command me to do something without explaining why."

"I did say why. Should I drop to my knees and beg you to do what I tell you?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me. I beat the crap out of you just now, so maybe you shouldn't try to boss me around."

Rather than snarling at me, he spins around and stalks out of the room.

I follow him into the foyer. Not because he commanded it, but because I need a change of clothes too, which means I have to walk through the foyer to go upstairs. Earlier this morning, I'd found a ton of women's clothes in the closet of the bedroom I'd slept in. A note taped to the closet door had said, "For you, Allison." Sefton bought clothes for me before I set foot in this house.

The creepiest part of all is that Sefton thinks I'm going to marry him.

Dax takes the stairs two at a time, leaving me to scramble after him. The idea of being alone when those creatures are outside makes me uneasy. But Dax goes into his room and shuts the door. Message received. He doesn't want to talk to me or even see me right now. So I retreat into my room and change into clean clothes, despite the fact wearing things a madman chose for me gives me a weird slithery feeling in my gut. Knowing he picked underwear for me is just plain icky. Once I'm dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, I march down to Dax's room and knock on the door.

It swings open.

Dax is wearing nothing but a towel that looks like it's about to fall off his hips.

I shouldn't be ogling him. It's inappropriate when we have important things to do. Things I suddenly can't remember. His hair is wet, and droplets of water trickle down his chest, drawing my focus to the edge of the towel. I can see a few dark hairs poking out above the terry cloth.

"Did you take a shower?" I ask.

"Obviously."

My attention shifts to his face, and I suddenly realize something. "You shaved."

Besides getting rid of his beard, he slicked his wet hair back to tame the wild locks. He looks, um, kind of good clean-shaven. Kind of?Ugh. He's hot. Even the scar that slashes across his jaw can't diminish his sex appeal.

Dax frowns. "What is wrong with you?"

"Huh? Nothing." I tear my gaze away from his pecs. "Are you ready to go search the study?"

"Does it look like I'm ready?"

He doesn't wait for my response, instead stomping over to the bed where he's laid out clothes for himself.

I should leave. Wait for him downstairs. But I can't convince my muscles to move. I also can't talk my eyes out of staring at him.

Dax whips the towel off and flings it onto the floor.

Suddenly, I'm breathing harder and my skin feels warm all over—warm and tingly. I can see everything, from his hair down to his toes and all the bits in between. But it's his dick that captivates me. I've seen it before, felt it inside me, so I shouldn't get breathless and tingly from seeing it again. My hand drifts up to my throat, and I can't stop myself from petting my skin while I imagine him touching me.

He stands there for a minute, just gazing down at the clothes he laid out on the bed.

Is he doing that on purpose? To get me horny? If he is… Well, mission accomplished.

Finally, he gets dressed. The charcoal slacks and golden tan dress shirt he chose look damn good on him. He slips on a pair of socks and brown loafers too. I'd chosen casual clothes—jeans, a T-shirt, and tennies—because I assumed we'll be running for our lives again any minute. But he looks like he's heading out to a corporate lunch meeting.

"Did you have a job before Sefton dumped you into the Echo?" I ask.

"I was the CEO of Stainthorpe Limited, our family's marketing firm."

"You made it sound like you were a ladies' man who didn't care about anything but sex."

"Maintaining the company my father started was important to me." He saunters closer, leaving only the barest gap between our bodies. "I admit I was an arse who treated women like toys. But whatever you might think of me, I took my work seriously."

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