It could wait.
Finally, the elevator beeped and the doors opened.
Balto stepped inside wearing his gym clothes, but he didn’t look sweaty and fatigued. His muscular arms weren’t throbbing with the blood that pumped in his veins at a higher rate. He headed for the table, his blue eyes locked on to my face.
I stared at my captor and savior and only felt gratitude in my heart. But I also felt a million other emotions. The one I felt the strongest was longing…I missed this man. We’d been distant for the past week, hardly speaking and never touching. Now that he’d made the ultimate sacrifice to keep me, I trusted him deeper than I ever had before. If it weren’t for Balto, I would have been Lucian’s prisoner until he killed me or I killed myself.
He stopped at the chair facing me, his arms resting on the back of it.
I stared at him, frozen in place by those blue eyes. They always had an icy appearance, but when I was the recipient of that gaze, I only felt warmth. I stared at this behemoth of a man, paralyzed by his strong presence.
He continued to stare, like that was a sufficient replacement for a conversation.
I hadn’t really had a chance to express my gratitude or ask why he’d changed his mind. The second he made his decision, he pushed me away, like he hated himself for not giving me to Lucian. Instead of spooking him, I decided to talk about something completely unrelated. “How was your workout?”
He couldn’t stop the surprise from creeping into his gaze. “A waste of time.”
“Just weren’t feeling it?”
“Heath and I talked the entire time.”
“Oh…” There was only one thing they could have talked about.
He turned away. “I’m going to take a shower.”
I watched him leave, disappointed by the cold conversation. I’d assumed he would be in a better mood today, but he seemed to be in a worse one.
I joined him in the large shower, stepping in behind him and shutting the door behind me.
He’d just rinsed his hair of shampoo when he turned to me. His eyes didn’t light up with arousal at the sight of me. Instead, he seemed annoyed that his privacy had been breached. The man was exceptionally moody for someone so rugged and cold.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Does it matter? You’ve already joined me.” He grabbed the bar of soap and rubbed it across his powerful chest.
I moved past him and under the water so my hair could become slick against the back of my neck. The beads of warm water ran down my chest, making my tits firm at the change in temperature. My nipples hardened as goose bumps sprinkled across my body.
He rubbed the bar of soap over his left arm as his eyes stared down at my body because it was impossible for a man like him to resist boobs right in front of his face. He stared at them without shame then moved the bar of soap to his other arm.
“Why are you ignoring me?” I didn’t wash my hair because I’d already showered that morning. My makeup wouldn’t survive under the water for long. The humidity would make my waterproof mascara weaken, and soon it would drip down my cheeks.
“I’m not ignoring you. I’m staring at your rack, aren’t I?” He moved the bar of soap down his grooved abs and to his hardening dick between his legs. He rubbed the soap around the area and lifted his cock to rub his balls.
“You know what I mean, Balto.”
He returned the bar of soap to the shelf, his dick hardening further.
“This conversation has to happen eventually. You aren’t the kind of man to shy away from things.”
“But I’m also not a man who enjoys conversation either.” He maneuvered under the water, forcing me out so he could rinse the soap from his body. “If I could live the rest of my life without speaking, I would.”
“Then you wouldn’t be able to tell me how you want to fuck me.”
His gaze darkened as he looked at me. “I wouldn’t have to tell you. I would just do it.” He let the water run over his head and down the back of his neck. His palms moved to his face, and he ran his fingers through his short hair. When he was finished, he stepped out of the water so I could move back in.
Since he would deflect me every chance he could, I got to the point. “Why did you change your mind?” When I moved under the water again, my nipples had the exact same reaction. They stiffened at the comfort of the warm water.
His eyes stared into mine, ignoring my breasts. “Because I did.” He turned away and stepped out of the shower, dismissing the conversation once we talked about something real.