Page 71 of Lawless
I left him to it and went and sat in my living room. I turned on the TV and tried to hook up my streaming services now the island had decent internet. I almost cried when I saw the Netflix logo appear. Life on Dauntless was looking up all the time. I looked forward to binge-watching a whole lot of shows, my boyfriend tucked onto the couch beside me, while we both drank as much milk as we wanted. Not bad, considering how bleak it had all looked when I’d arrived.
“Not bad at all,” I said to Frank, and she meowed in response from my lap.
I watched TV until I heard the shower turn off. I listened for a while, but I didn’t hear the door, so I moved Frank onto the couch and then walked down the hallway. I rapped gently on the door. “You okay in there?”
“Yeah.” His voice sounded strained.
“You sure?”
Silence for a moment and then, “Can you come in here?”
I opened the door.
Holy hell.
Natty was naked, holding a towel somewhat draped in front of his junk, but, like some sort of renaissance statue, it only served to draw my gaze. Which then immediately made me feel like a creeper. My face burned as I quickly studied the ceiling instead. “Do you need a hand getting dressed?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, because I’m trying to seduce you.”
I looked at him, and he dropped the towel.
And okay, I’d never had that reaction from a renaissance statue, because Natty was flesh and blood, and he wasn’t just beautiful in some sort of ideal, artistic way—he was also hot as fuck. Also, renaissance statues didn’t have erections. At least none of the pictures they’d shown us in high school art class had. I might have got better than a C if they had.
“For the record, I am absolutely in favour of being seduced right now.”
Natty grinned, despite his blush.
“Is your seduction going to include a sexy walk, or...?”
He made a face. “Probably not, no.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let me help you hobble seductively into the bedroom, and we’ll see what happens then. Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” he said, both his smile and his blush growing again.
And, Natty’s sprained ankle aside, I wouldn’t complain if every morning was exactly like this one.
Chapter 20
NATTY
There was nothing sexy or seductive in getting helped into Dominic’s bedroom and onto his bed, wincing at every step, and then needing a moment to catch my breath while he carefully placed a pillow under my foot. I’d been hard in the bathroom because I’d let fantasies of Dominic carry me away while I showered, but the reality wasn’t anything like that. So I dragged a corner of the blanket over my dick while Dominic restrapped my ankle and then pinched my toes to make sure the bandage wasn’t too tight. It was the opposite of sexy. But then he stood up and flashed me a grin and winked, and it was like he’d flipped a switch. My dick stood up and took notice all over again.
Dominic pulled his T-shirt over his head, dropping it onto the floor. My gaze was drawn to the way his hand went to the button on his shorts—and to his knuckles, which were covered in scrapes and scratches. There was also a large red mark on the side of his ribcage, where he must have hit rocks or something last night. I felt a stab of guilt for that. Those bruises and scrapes were his battle scars. Dominic had fought the tide for me, and he’d won. Dominic didn’t seem to notice them at all—he was still grinning as he stepped out of his shorts and underwear—but I saw them. I saw how hard he’d fought to save me.
“What’s that face for?” he asked me.
“What face?”
“You got serious all of a sudden. Is your ankle okay?”
Warmth filled my chest. Even now he was thinking of me first. I smiled. “Yeah, but don’t make me move it. Get up here so I can kiss you.”
“Bossy.” But his grin grew, so I knew he liked it.
