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Chiseled? To perfection.

The perfect shade of sun-kissed dirty blond hair? Absolutely.

The demeanor of a pit bull? Oh, you bet.

An expression screaming I was a burden? Definitely, and that alone had pissed me off.

Not that I’d had my choice of saviors. The nagging voice in the back of my mind continued to tell me I needed to be nicer to him, acting grateful that he’d come to my rescue. And I was. His personality just grated me the wrong way.

As I stepped out, I tripped, and a yelp flew from my mouth. Only then did I realize the towel was far too tiny to cover every inch ofmy body. At that moment, the door was thrown open, one gruff-looking monster of a man barreling in.

Just as the towel slipped from my fingers.

There’d been a few ‘oh-shit’ moments in my life, but this had to take the cake. I’d never paraded around naked in front of a stranger.

His chiseled features had taken on the look of a killer and with the weapon in his hand, I jerked back, certain I was going to die. The awkward slow as molasses moment no one ever wanted to face fell between us. With narrowed, hooded eyes, he lowered his gaze all the way to the floor as if studying the way the towel was pooled around my feet.

One blink didn’t rid me of the apparition or the fact I noticed the thick, throbbing bulge between his legs. Oh, shit.

Act natural. Just breathe.

Kage finally averted his eyes, his chest heaving. “I thought something happened.” Every time he spoke it was as if he had gravel in his mouth.

At least his deep voice jarred me back to reality. “Do you mind?” Ugh. In contrast to his deep and commanding voice, mine sounded like I was auditioning for a Minnie Mouse part in a local theater.

Huffing, he turned around and abruptly walked out.

I snagged the towel, hating both the fact I was still feeling woozy and that he’d seen me naked in all my less than stellar glory. At least in my mind, but not necessarily in his. I bit back a giggle and struggled to wrap the towel around me, finally succeeding on the third try. When I glared at myself in the steamy mirroragain, the distortion didn’t take away the wicked smile on my face.

After a quick reminder we were tucked away to avoid being shot, I carefully opened the door. The last thing I wanted to do was to slide back into the filthy clothes. Maybe he had an extra tee shirt I could wear.

I walked out, still lightheaded from not eating, but much stronger than before. He was fiddling with items stuffed inside a bag, his jerky movements an indication he was either furious with himself or with me.

I hadn’t been the one to break into the bathroom.

His breathing remained labored and he wasn’t looking at me.

“Um, I woke up and you were gone. I just wanted to take a shower.” I wasn’t certain if I was asking for his after-the-fact permission or what.

“That’s fine. You followed my orders. That’s all that matters.”

There was no reason for his stark, gruff attitude to irritate me, but it did. I knew I was overwrought. I could feel the edge that brought out the bitchy side to me. As much as the grateful girl knew I should be groveling since he rescued me, the trust factor still wasn’t there.

At least not completely.

But I bit back a nasty response and took a few steps closer. “You wouldn’t happen to have a tee shirt or something I could wear. Would you? I’ll try and wash out my clothes later, but as you noticed, the towel isn’t very big and there isn’t a robe or anything.”

Kage barely glanced in my direction, keeping his eyes pinned on mine while reaching for a plastic bag. I don’t know why I was just noticing the stubble blooming under his chiseled cheekbones and cresting across his strong jaw. My nipples immediately hardened as I imagined the feel of the stiff beard scratching my sensitive skin.

Everything about the man was overtly masculine, but the way his eyes bore down on me with fiery admonishment kicked my annoyance up another notch.

“I bought these for you. We may need other supplies, but I figured you’d want something else to wear. You also need to eat. Slowly.”

There was no smile, but at least he didn’t act as if he was waiting for a huge thank you.

He wasn’t getting one.

I snatched the bag, turning around before looking inside. I’d had no expectations of what a man like him would think appropriate but was relieved to see a touristy tee shirt and shorts. When I dug a little deeper, I noticed new tennis shoes similar to the ones I had and… wait. What? Underwear. I gingerly pulled out not one, but two thongs.