Page 25 of Guarded Love

And so damn cocky about it.

“Would you relax?” he asked when I flinched away from his outstretched hands once he reached into the shower. “I am not going to hurt you. I’m only trying to help you up. If you’re so damn determined to shower, you should at least get cleaned up after almost breaking your neck. This is not the workout I had in mind today.”

It’s not the shower I had in mind. I didn’t imagine Magnus’s hands under my arms, lifting me like I didn’t weigh anything, settling me on my good foot. I also didn’t imagine him staying once I was standing with my back to the wall, still covering myself out of shame and embarrassment.

“Honestly…” he reached for the loofah and poured body wash onto it, “… I don’t see what you’re so freaked out about. You’ve got a nice body.”

I was roughly three seconds away from burning to a crisp, even with water to put out the flames. “Stop.”

“What? It’s the truth. Great tits. Small waist. Hips big enough to grip.”

“I’ve never heard big hips used as a compliment.”

“Then you don’t hang out with the right people.”

He couldn’t possibly mean it. He was only trying to embarrass me some more. “I might have nice boobs, but that doesn’t mean I want to walk around shaking them in people’s faces.” I tensed when the loofah touched my bare shoulder.

Was he actually intending to wash me?

A rush of heat that had nothing to do with hot water engulfed my body. Was I dreaming this?If I wake up and this was all a dream, so help me…

When I dared glance up at his face, I found him serious, concentrating like this was an important task. “Here. You can lean against me. I have to do your back.”

“I… don’t know how…”

“Like this.” He took my arms and pulled me in, wrapping them around his back so he could wash mine. That meant standing skin to skin with my nipples pressing against his rib cage and my heart threatening to burst out of my chest.

Life could be pretty damn cruel. Giving me everything I wanted but not the way I wanted it. Being so close to a man like him, with nothing but a thin layer of cotton and water between us, with him gently running the loofah over my back, then even lower. I shivered against him, but he was kind enough to pretend not to notice.

The way I pretended not to notice how he grew in his briefs.

12

MAGNUS

Oh, fantastic. This was just what I needed.

She had to feel me thickening, my length growing from her nearness. I was already big while flaccid, so the activity in my briefs couldn’t be missed. I wondered if I should say something to acknowledge what I couldn’t control, but I thought twice. She was a grown woman. I didn’t have to explain things to her. Certain reactions couldn’t be helped. Even if I wanted to, which I didn’t.

This wasn’t any random body pressed against mine, warm and wet. This was Evelyn, and something about her had taken hold of me. It could have had something to do with how she didn’t make it easy like other women did. Our quieter moments felt like something I should earn, and I wanted nothing more than to do just that.

If she had been anyone else, I would have said fuck it and walked away. Let her take care of herself. Let her lie on the shower floor until the water ran cold. Instead, I washed her gently, carefully. Wanting more but holding back. I expected her to make a bitchy or sarcastic comment at any second, yet it never came. She only took one shallow, shaky breath after another while I guided the loofah over her firm, round ass.

She was usually so prickly and defiant. Now, she trembled against me, staring at my chest. What was she thinking? I wanted to ask, but something stopped me. There was something happening, something delicate and indescribable that would be lost if either of us said a word.

I turned her around so my chest pressed against her back. Oh, fuck. Her plump ass brushed against my covered cock, and I had to close my eyes, hoping for strength. She might never let me live it down. I didn’t want her to think I was taking advantage like this was the only reason I showed up today.

Had I ever cared so much about what any one person thought of me?

Had I ever wanted someone so much?

Looking down over her shoulder, my heart damn near stopped. Water ran down her tits and over her tight, pink nipples. It was like having a front-row seat to a porn created with me in mind. I could have stood and watched forever.

I guided the sponge over her with restraint I didn’t know I possessed, soaping those firm, heavy globes without touching her skin. It was only when she arched against me and slipped a little that I wound an arm around her waist to hold her close. That meant bringing her tighter against my demanding erection.

The only sound was that of our breathing getting faster and heavier. She was so near, so tempting. Her neck, her shoulder. I lowered my head and exhaled, my breath making her shudder. God, I needed to kiss her. I needed some way to get rid of the tension threatening to kill me on the spot.

She chose that very moment to go still. It didn’t have anything to do with where my lips were. It was my hand and the sponge, and how low it was slipping down her soft belly. “I can do this part,” she informed me in a choked whisper. Immediately, I let it go like it was a hot wire and let her handle the rest while I fought the devil on my shoulder.

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