Page 4 of The Banning of Bath Bombs
The man smirked. “Call me Ross. Everyone does.”
That’s it? No surname or clan name? How rude. Or perhaps it wasn’t rude in this circumstance? Declan had just ported out of his bathroom and apparently into this man’s home, after all.
Was this Ross’s guest bathroom, or his en suite bathroom? Was a lover in the room beyond?
“Declan?”
Declan looked at him quizzically. “Yes?”
“Your bath water looks more like a kid’s science project. It’s a baking soda and vinegar volcano gone wrong.”
“A baking soda and vinegar volcano? What the blazes does that mean?”
A soft, resigned sigh escaped Ross’s lips before he shook his head and motioned to the tub. “It means it needs to go away before I have to clean the bathtub and floor. Well, I have to clean the tub now anyway.” He said this with aplomb that most would envy.
How fascinating. So fascinating Declan tried to take a step forward to enter a proper conversation, completely forgetting his nude state and about the bathtub he was standing in. Pain flared in his toes, making him cry out and throw himself backward. His grimoire launched from his hands, thudding against the tiled wall above his head before dropping straight into the water. Declan stopped flailing and landed on top of it.
“Fuck! Fuckity fucking fuck!”
He spoke a spellword andpoof—the tub was now clean. He had no idea where the water had gone, nor did he care.
All he cared about in this moment was his once-again sodden grimoire. Declan shifted and fished it out from underneath him. He squeezed it to his chest, water squishing out of it like a wrung-out cloth. His breath hitched and his eyes burned.
“Oh, no. No no,” Ross said, hands up in a soothing manner. “Please don’t cry.”
“B-But my grimoire! My precious baby! How could I live knowing I ruined a fifteenth-century relic?!”
Declan sniffled, and Ross’s eyes grew a fraction wider. Then a tear traveled down Declan’s cheek as his lower lip jutted out. His heart hurt.
Declan scrambled to his feet and tried going to Ross to explain just how important this grimoire’s discovery was, but he kicked the side of the tub instead and would’ve fallen back down if not for Ross’s quick reflexes. The vampire steadied Declan and shook his head.
“Stop trying to step out of the tub like it isn’t there.”
Declan looked down and his lip jutted out a little more. “I forgot it was there!”
He played up the sad puppy act a little longer before frowning at the sensation of wet leather against his chest. Oh, right! His poor grimoire. Something teased at his memory, about the last time he’d gotten a grimoire wet, how things had gotten, er, rather messy. Explosions and all. He held his breath, but this one didn’t seem intent on exploding, at least?
Well, so long as things didn’t go boom, he could straighten out this mess soon enough. Er, starting with where he was and how he’d ended up here, naturally.
Chapter 2
Ross
How did one handle having a complete stranger suddenly land in your bathtub?
Ross was not asking this question rhetorically. He actually needed an answer.
Said stranger was incredibly fit—six-pack abs included—and wore his grey hair up in a man bun, probably to avoid it getting wet. Not that Ross was checking him out, per se, just taking the situation in. Handsome stranger in bathtub didn’t help his plans to return to bed, for the record.
Well, actually, he did know the first question to ask. “Pants?”
The man blinked, looked down at his naked self, and seemed to consider Ross’s question. “Pants do seem like the appropriate first step, don’t they?”
“Towels are right here. Dry off. I’ll be back in a minute.” Ross took said minute to go and fetch pajama pants, a shirt, and boxers, but he also texted his husband as he moved.
Naked guy found in bath. Don’t panic.
Glenn texted back immediately:Known man or some random man?
