Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“Fine.” Keith rolled his eyes. He swiped his hand over his chest and stomach to gather some gel and then washed his groin. “I’ll do it myself.”
Still lowered to the tub floor, Brian’s face was directly across from his hand, and he stared as Keith smoothed it over his testicles and dick. When he snaked his arm over his hip and washed his crease, Brian blinked a few times and stood.
“I’ll get your back,” he rasped. “Turn around.”
Keith did as his mate asked, pressed his palms against the tile, and spread his legs. “Like this?” He tilted his hips and looked at Brian over his shoulder. “Do you like what you see?”
Brian made a strangled sound, squeezed his eyes shut, and took in a deep breath. “You know I do.” He opened his eyes and lowered his gaze.
Keith did the same and moaned at the sight of his mate’s erect shaft. “That’s really nice. Do you want my help with it?”
Shaking his head, Brian reached for the gel and then poured more into his hand. “You’re beautiful.” Warm, slick hands reverently moved over his skin. “I’m so turned on, it’s painful.” They smoothed over his backside. “But I saw how injured you were, how lifeless you looked.” Brian dipped his face forward and pressed his mouth to Keith’s neck as he continued washing him. “My drive to take care of you is through the roof.” He held onto Keith’s hips and moved him under the water. “I can’t do both. You’ve got me so discombobulated, I don’t know which way is up.”
Though he was thrilled that his mate found him attractive, he also understood his protective instincts, and he was giddy they were focused on him. “I’ll stop teasing you.” He turned around, letting the spray wash all the suds away. “For now.” Once he was done, he stepped aside, making room for Brian. “Your turn. I’m going to wash my hair.”
“I’ll do it.” Brian quickly scrambled for the shampoo.
“Okay.” Heart full, he smiled softly. Everything he thought he’d known and wanted had been upended during the course of one day and he had never been happier. “Thank you.”
Chapter 5
“Are you hungry?” Brian asked as he dried Keith off, making sure to keep his touch gentle. Whoever and whatever had hurt his mate in the past wouldn’t get a chance to do it again. He would make sure of that.
Shrugging, Keith said, “Food isn’t a priority for me.”
He ran the towel over his mate’s unnaturally thin frame. “Well, it needs to be. You’re underweight.” Remembering their earlier conversation, he cringed and rushed to correct his mistake. “I like how you look. You’re very handsome.”
“Oh yeah? Does that mean you’re into super skinny guys?”
“No.”
Keith arched his eyebrows. “So you’re not into me?”
“I mean yes,” he said in a rush.
“Well, in that case, I better not eat anything right now. It’s late and I need to watch my figure.”
“None of that is what I meant.” Brian rubbed his palm over his eyes. He was normally good at diplomacy, but now, when it mattered most, he kept saying the wrong thing.
Keith grinned and tugged on the towel wrapped around Brian’s waist.
“What are you doing?”
“Your chest is wet. I’m returning the favor and drying you off.” He made good on his statement and ran the towel over Brian’s torso, his movements slow and controlled. “If you didn’t mean any of that, then what is your type?”
“My type?” His synapses were firing in every direction. His mate’s attention to his body aroused him, while the things he had learned about his past distressed him, and his physical condition worried him.
“Yes. What kind of person are you into? Sexually.”
The first whiff of his mate’s scent had woven through him and recalibrated his urges and desires. He would never be sexually attracted to another person, nor did he want to be. “I’m into you. Only you.”
“Good answer.” Keith lifted the towel and rubbed it over Brian’s hair. “You’re very suave.”
“I’m being sincere.” He reached for Keith’s hand. “Even with your confounding personality, you are the most appealing person I’ve ever come across and I desperately want you, but I need to feed you.” He looked at him imploringly. “Will you eat for me?”
“Even with.”
Brian flinched. “I have got to stop saying that.”
“You know I’m teasing you, right?” Keith draped the towel over Brian’s nape and tugged him forward until their chests bumped. “I’m so giddy that you’re my mate, I can’t help myself. I feel like I’ve gone back in time eight years.”
The little he had gleaned about Keith’s history broke his heart, but he wanted to understand more. He needed to know everything about this man. “How about we go downstairs so I can feed you and then you can tell me what happened eight years ago.” Eventually, he’d ask about the years before and after that time too, but he had to start somewhere.