Clenching his fists, Aiden pivoted and walked to the Navigator’s backend. He wrenched the hatch open with more force than necessary and grabbed the box containing the tent he’d purchased earlier in the day. Fully aware that Dana and Jace were tracking his every move, he stalked to the large patch of lawn fronting the house. “If you’re done making a monkey’s ass of yourself, maybe you’d care to help me,” he snapped at Jace.
The bang of a screen door preceded the steady crunch of boots approaching through the leaves. Ignoring the smirk on his brother’s face, Aiden ripped the box apart and dug out the stakes for the tent.
An irritating chuckle snuck from Jace. “I don’t know what you’re so worked up over. We’re on the same team here.”
Jace couldn’t have it more wrong. Instead of opening himself up for Jace’s inevitable ridicule, Aiden tossed the stakes at his brother. Not directly at his head, though it was tempting. “Make yourself useful.”
Dana hung her wench dress in her bedroom closet before venturing into the kitchen. Ms. Whiskers met her with a plaintive yowl near the cupboard. “Oh, so now you’re talking to me. Easy to see where your priorities lie.” Bending, she gave the tabby a scritch behind the ears and snatched the box of cat food. After trekking into the utility room, she shook the ocean catch medley into the ceramic kitty bowl and left Ms. Whiskers to chow down. Much as a hot shower enticed her with its siren song, she found herself abandoning the kitchen for the living room. The large bay window afforded a perfect view of Aiden and Jace erecting their tent.
Okay, tent was a relative term. The damn thing was practically bigger than her house. With mounting dread, she watched Jace walk to the Navigator and drag a pair of inflatable mattresses and an air pump into the clearing. “Oh my God. They’re never going to leave.”
Groaning, she slunk into the bathroom and turned the shower to full blast. Steam filled the cramped space. She quickly stripped and jumped behind the opaque screen, a blissful moan escaping her as jets of hot water pummeled her aching muscles. “Oh yeah, baby, give it to me.” She squeezed a fat dollop of vanilla-scented shower gel into her shower mitt and stroked the suds over her skin. The nubby texture of the mitt glided over her breasts and her nipples pebbled at the friction. Automatically, her mind conjured an image of Aiden’s palms cupping her soapy breasts, his thumbs swirling circles over their tips. Meanwhile, Jace’s mouth would be—
Dana yanked her hand from between her legs. She had nothing against solo stimulation. In fact, she was a big fan of it these days. But getting hot and lathered over the men—correction, dragons—taking over her front yard was a monumentally bad idea. She needed to keep her wits together and not do something stupid.
“It’s all Jace’s fault. Planting that scene in my head.” She tore the mitt off and flung it inside the shower caddy suctioned to the tile. After shampooing and conditioning her hair, she stepped from the shower and dried off. Winding the towel around her head in turban fashion, she pulled on her favorite red flannel pajamas and trekked into the living room. She curled on the couch and reached for the TV remote just as two knocks sounded on the front door. Craning her neck, she spied Aiden through the stained-glass medallion. For a brief moment, she debated ducking to the floor and pretending she wasn’t in the room. Like that’d do her any good. Duh, he obviously knew she was somewhere inside the house.
Huffing a peevish breath, she pushed to her feet and walked to the door. She sprung the lock and narrowed her eyes at Aiden. Despite the fact she was covered head to toe in unsexy flannel, he visually devoured her like she was a tasty T-bone. She coughed pointedly. “Something I can help you with?”
Rather than answer, he leaned closer, his nostrils twitching. “You smell…delicious.”
His husky words made her tingle in all sorts of inappropriate places. Hopefully my nipples aren’t poking out in a happy hello. To be on the safe side, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that a warning? I don’t need to worry about you basting me in barbecue sauce, do I?”
Aiden’s mouth crooked in a slow, wicked smile. “Normally I’d say no, but I’ve got this interesting visual going on…”
Oh great, now she did too. She dropped one arm and tightened her fist on the doorknob. “What did you say you wanted?”
“I didn’t, but since you asked.” He shuffled his feet on the front stoop. “Jace is threatening to kick me out of the tent with how bad I smell. And frankly, he’s not in much better shape. Do you think there’s any way we could use your shower?”
From what she could tell, he didn’t stink at all. If anything, he smelled masculine and yummy, like he’d been rolling around in leaves and damp moss. Buck naked. Yeah, talk about interesting visuals. One that didn’t need to be inside her head. She rubbed her collarbone. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
His gorgeous blue eyes turned beseeching. “I promise we’ll be fast.”
Well, if there was one thing he was, it was fast. And really did it make much difference if she allowed them in the house? They’d had plenty of opportunity to attack her before now.
And would you mind if they did? She bit the inside of her cheek. Shut up, Dana. Angling the door open wider, she flipped her mocking inner voice the bird. “Come in, but I’m timing you.”
“Can you wait to start the clock until I get back? I need to grab fresh clothes from my duffle.”
She exhaled heavily. “Fine.”
His grin was bright enough to power most of southeastern Michigan. “Thanks. I’ll be right back.”
Waving her hand in dismissal, she returned to the couch. As promised, Aiden returned less than a minute later. He carried a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a small leather bag that she assumed contained his grooming supplies. She started to get up but he held out his hand.
“Stay. Just point me in the general direction and I’ll find the bathroom on my own.”
“Follow the hallway and it’s the first door on the right.”
Aiden nodded and strode toward the hall. She sank into the cushions and crooked an arm over her eyes. “I’ve walked into the freakin’ Twilight Zone.”
The muffled sound of Jace crabbing about something outside leaked through the window. Rather than get up to investigate, she remained sprawled on the couch. Frankly, she was too exhausted to budge. Plus the cushion beneath her head felt extra cushy tonight. So very…nice…and…smooshy.
“Uh, Dana?”
With a jerk, she snapped out of her light doze. Her arm tumbled to her lap and she glanced toward the deep, seductively masculine voice. The air squeezed from her lungs in an embarrassing wheeze. Holy—
Aiden stood less than two feet away, clutching a hand towel over his groin. The skimpy scrap of white terrycloth did a piss-poor job of covering his gloriously naked body. Sculpted muscles contoured a smooth, bronzed chest. His abs—damn, forget about six, they were more like an eight pack—looked to be chiseled from marble.
“Any chance you have a bigger towel?”
Somehow she pried her chin from where it’d dropped to her chest. “Um…yes. Hold on.” Please, please hold on. She most definitely didn’t need him losing his grip on that teensy hand towel.