Inmate of the Month (Souls Chapel Revenants MC 7)

Something in which I’d managed without his help—but barely.

Putting a bra on was obviously something that he’d never done before, so I’d spared him that task. But taking off? I’m sure he had plenty of experience with that.

“You get that done while I get this opened and ready,” he said as he gestured toward the hot tub.

I did as he asked, using the suggestions of the therapist, and managed to get my shirt off with no problems.

My jeans, however, were a different story.

The button of them proved to be tricky and taking pity on me once he had the lid up and over the side of the hot tub, he turned around and helped me get them off based solely on feel alone.

When his knuckles brushed my stomach, I breathed in a fresh lungful of air, and promptly went straight to heaven.

Why?

Because Laric smelled soooooo good.

I’m talking, let’s bottle up his scent, shove it into a candle, and fill up my entire home with only the smell of him.

“Need help getting in?” he asked as he slowly shucked my jeans from my legs—they were much harder to get off than they were to get on. That, or Laric was taking his time, torturing me by running his big man hands down the length of my thighs.

I mean, I’d never considered hands to be sexual before.

Sure, a man’s hands could do a whole lot of things down there, but all Laric was doing was slowly running his hands down the length of my thighs. That really shouldn’t be as sexual as I was taking it.

I mean, the throb in my lower regions was now superseding the throb of my shoulder.

He reached my ankles when he said, “Put your hand on my shoulder so you don’t fall on your ass.”

I did, but as I moved my hands toward that beautiful bare skin, my hands brushed against his hair, and I nearly moaned at the softness.

I wanted to bury my hands in his hair, pull him into my belly, and ask him to do questionable things to me.

“Your hair’s really soft,” I said as I ran my fingers through the tendrils that brushed against his neck.

“If you say so,” he mumbled as he unhooked one of my leg prisons from my foot. “I just wash like everybody else does.”

“My hair isn’t that soft,” I said as I went for another pass of my fingers through his hair. “And I put stuff in it to make it soft.”

“I use two in one shampoo that’s made for dandruff because I like the smell. Not because I have dandruff,” he joked.

I grinned as he finally got my other leg unhooked.

“Let’s forget about putting these pants on for a while,” he suggested as his big hand squeezed my calf.

If he asked me to forgo pants around him, I’d do it.

“Sure,” I teased. “I’ll just continue wearing the clothes that you conveniently take off.”

He chuckled as he came to a stand, and my fingers in his hair were sadly shaken loose as he moved.

The next thing I knew, I heard a splash as he got himself into the hot tub.

“Need help?” he asked.

I had no idea.

“I’ll see what I can do on my own,” I said as I carefully climbed into the hot tub. “It’ll be nice when I can submerge myself. This whole ‘keeping it dry’ mess is for the birds.”

He hummed as he moved toward the opposite side of the hot tub to give me room.

Just as I’d found my footing, a soft blue light illuminated the entire tub, giving me the ability to see.

My eyes automatically went to the man, and not where I was going.

Which was how I almost ended up dunking myself in the water as I tried to sit down.

My feet went out from under me, and the seat went a whole lot deeper than I ever thought it would.

“These are too deep,” I grumbled, barely able to keep my arm above water while I floundered.

Two strong hands caught me around the waist and held me up, and I sighed in appreciation.

“Thank you,” I murmured as I moved my feet back underneath of me. “I thought it was shallower.”

He moved me until I was able to stand in the middle, but then I started shivering because of the cool night air.

That’s when I realized that I was miserable.

My hands hurt. My feet hurt. I was cold. The hot water was doing just enough to let me know what I was missing.

And I was on the verge of tears.

That was, until he pulled me down until I was sitting on his thighs.

Everything from about collarbone down was blissfully warm, and the only thing that was better than the warm feeling surrounding me, was having my body so close to his. On his. His hands on me.