“Caspian,
I’ve brought you some clean pajamas to sleep in. I’m just going to leave them
outside the door.” She couldn’t hear the water running, so when he didn’t
reply, she kept talking. “I’d be happy to run your clothes through the wash, if
you want. You can get them to me when you’re finished showering.”
She laid the pajamas on the floor, and the bathroom door swung open, revealing a strapping body—carved from curve upon curve of taught muscle,
covered in skin so white that the reflection of the bathroom lights flashed from every glistening bend—all six feet of bare skin. Elise’s mouth fell open as she dragged her eyes up to his face, compelling herself to keep them there.
“Hi.” Her voice squeaked, though she couldn’t decide if it was from shock or nerves or all-out lust.
He’d wadded his clothes into a tight ball and held them in his hand, which he extended to her. “I thank you for assisting me with my coverings. They had begun to feel stiff and unnatural.”
Elise stumbled backward, breath quickening as she accepted the crunchy bundle. “I…you didn’t have to…I could have waited until you were finished and,” her eyes flicked down his body, then back up again, “dressed.”
“Dressed? But did you not request to clean my clothes?”
“Yes. I suppose I did.” While Elise fumbled for footing, for words, for breath, Caspian tilted his head, glorified in his humble masculinity, and unfazed about standing naked in the presence of a virtual stranger. When she backed into the wall, he leapt forward and lifted her by the elbows, as if to save her from crashing to the ground, and replaced her on her feet. “Are you all right?”
With his bare chest mere inches from her face, and his other parts far too close for her to ignore, she nodded a mute yes and tucked his clothes beneath her arm.
Noticing the pajamas she’d set on the ground, he picked them up, his face illuminating with pleasure as he ran his fingers over the soft cotton and flannel. “When you see me next, Elise of the land, I shall be cleaned and dressed, awaiting our next adventure together.”
Elise blinked, at a complete loss for words as Caspian closed himself in the bathroom with a soft click.
