Page 24 of Her Property

All he wanted was Catherine.

And then he heard her.

“Jake?” her call was so distant, at first he thought he’d imagined it. He perked his ears.

“Jake!”

He took the stairs two at a time. When he reached the bathroom, he hesitated outside the door.

“Cat! You okay?”

“Can you come in, please?” she said.

A jolt rang through his chest as he pushed the door open.

She was standing beside the tub just as he’d left her, except her face wore an expression of frustrated anger. There were tears in her eyes.

Panic ran through him. “What happened?”

“I can’t get my fucking c-c-clothes off,” she said.

He breathed out, relief running through him. He stepped forward and shut the faucet off before it overflowed.

“Can you help me?” she asked.

He stood up. They were inches apart. Her lips parted and his dick flickered to life in his pants.

Now is not the time.

“I’ll close my eyes,” he said, his voice gruff.

She shivered before him. “I don’t c-care,” she said. “I just want to get in that w-water. I’m so n-n-numb I can barely m-move.”

He closed his eyes anyway. He got her into this mess and he wasn’t about to benefit from getting her out of it. But by keeping his eyes closed, he had to fumble around with his hands. He brushed against the skin of her arms—it was icy.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Catherine,” he said. “I shouldn’t have made you—”

“Shut up,” she said.

Jake froze, surprised. Then he tried not to smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

He found the hem of her t-shirt, his fingers brushing against her bare skin underneath. Tugging it upwards, he pulled it over her head.

His cock jumped in his pants.

Finding the button of her damp jeans next, he flicked it open.

She took in a breath—he didn’t know if it was a normal breath or another freezing shudder, but it made him have to bite back a groan. He pulled down her zipper, then slid his hands toward her hips. Her skin was too damp to slide the jeans down, so he peeled them down inside out. Lowering himself down on his knee again, he tugged her jeans down to her feet. Her cold thigh brushed against his cheek and this time he knew her gasp was from his touch. His cock thickened further, despite him cursing it out in his mind.

Her hands leaned on his shoulders as he pulled the legs of her jeans off her feet one by one.

When he stood up he hesitated. She could go in the water in her bra and underwear.

“Is that good enough?” he asked.

“Keep g-going,” she whispered.

He didn’t have to be asked twice. Jake reached around behind Catherine’s back and found the closure of her bra. Slipping his thumb behind the strap, he snapped it open with the one hand.

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