Page 89 of A Clash of Stars

“Are you smelling my pillow?” he asked me curiously.

His grin was so gorgeous I didn’t want to look away, even when I felt the red spreading over my cheeks.

He walked to my side of the bed, handing me the coffee. I sat up, propping myself up on the headboard, “I tried to stay up last night, but I didn’t realize how tired I was.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, taking a sip of his coffee. “Well, drink up. We have a big day ahead of us. He pressed a kiss onto my forehead and walked into the bathroom. I watched his muscles flex across his back, and I made a slight groan, then immediately covered my mouth. Ev turned around towards me, stopped, and leaned on the door frame facing me.

“You know…this isn’t the first time you’ve stared at me in a bathroom. Do you like what you see, Clara Bear?”

My eyes went wide at his appalling question, but I couldn’t look away. He placed his coffee on the counter in the bathroom and stripped off the rest of his clothes, leaving him completely nude. I used all the power I could to look at his face instead of exploring his body with my eyes.

“Now that I’m watching, are you too shy to gawk at me now?” he asked curiously.

I smirked and chuckled at his spot-on question. Then I worked up the courage to explore. His chest was still so hard and strong, and his muscles were toned and curved in the most perfect places.

As my eyes drifted lower, I noticed the strong muscles that formed the V-shape between his hips. I continued to look down when he surprised me by turning around, leaving an amazing pair of cheeks that were perfectly perched on his body.

“Gawking time is over, darling. I’ll let you explore more of me later.” Then he closed the door. I let out a ragged breath and took a sip of my coffee.

Shit. I was in trouble.

Chapter 26

After our fun stare-down this morning, I was able to watch Evander emerge from the bathroom in his most glorious suit. I took the chance to look at him and admire just how exquisite he really was.

The black suit form-fitted his body, hugging all the good parts. His buttoned-down shirt was black with speckles of purple embroidered around the collar. His hair was fixed to one side, and his crown sat proudly on his head with gems of amethyst.

His skin was dewy and fresh, and his jaw was thick and sharp, but his eyes were the gentlest green, so opposite from all of his other features that were so intimidating. I felt kind of bad for studying him, but he was my husband, after all.

“You gawking again?”

I could hear the smugness in his question as he fastened his cuff links. My eyes moved to his, and with some newfound confidence, I stood up, grabbed my clothes, and snatched the crown off of the bed. I walked directly toward him as I stared directly into his eyes and spoke.

“I was just wondering when you would move out of my way because yourwifeneeds to get dressed.”

I could have high-fived myself for the comeback. Moving around him, I couldn’t resist but inhale his strong teakwood, which completely paralyzed me.

He moved away from the door and sat on the bed, leaning his elbows onto his knees, staring at me. I rolled my eyes at him, “What do you want, Evander? I know that look.”

His lips pulled into a smile, but his eyes didn’t.

“It’s my turn now,” he said with a certain darkness that sent chills over my skin.

I tilted my head at his question and moved around in the bathroom, setting up my clothes. But in reality, I was avoiding what hetrulymeant. When I worked up enough courage, I finally looked into his eyes and asked him the question I already knew the answer to, “It’s your turn for what, Evander?”

His eyes began to glow a soft emerald as he spoke, “It’s my turn to see you.”

The true realization hit me with what he was asking me to do, and I felt my cheeks blush. He wanted to see me, me without all of these clothes and me completely bare to him. A knot started to well up in my stomach, nervousness wrapped around fear of rejection. He had seen only part of me when we were in Manzanita. What if I’m not as beautiful as he thinks I am in the daylight? What if he doesn’t like what he sees?

I stopped myself from all of my frantic and unrealistic thoughts. I knew what I had to do for two reasons. The first was I stared at him this morning, so it was only fair, and secondly, I wanted to see what he’d do, or mostly how’d he react.

I turned my body to face the mirror, and I took one deep breath. When I glanced up, I could see my eyes glowing a soft hue of purple. I convinced myself I would do it. I would strip down in front of Evander.

I turned around and walked to the doorframe, and that’s when I saw him. He leaned back on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows. My heart began to race as I felt pure desire radiating from both of us. We were an explosion, a catastrophe, waiting to happen. What we both felt was dangerous yet so incredibly invigorating.

A huffedbreath left me as I started this tortuous exchange of watching and undressing. With a shaky sigh, I pulled off my white shirt, exposing my black lace bralette. The lace on the bralette was worn down, trying to withhold all of the gloriousness on my chest. I knew that, and now so did Evander. When I looked at him to gauge his response, his expression was blank. I didn’t let his underwhelmed expression stop me, although the thought crossed my mind.

I pulled my green cotton shorts down my legs, exposing a matching pair of black lace underwear. This style was my absolute favorite, hugging my curvy hips and cheeks just enough to leave the rest to your imagination. I tapped into my powers to reach out to Evander to see if I could feel what he was feeling. His wall was completely up, not allowing me in.

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