Page 114 of Heartless Stepbrother

Not while he hooked his fingers into the elastic.

Not while he pushed them down his hips in one slow, devastating pull.

The fabric slid over hard muscle, revealing more of him inch by inch, until…

Oh God.

Heat flooded my face so violently I felt dizzy.

I didn’t know where to look.

Anywhere but at him.

Except everywherewashim.

My pulse stuttered. My throat went dry. My mind emptied.

He stepped out of the briefs casually, like this was nothing, like this was normal, like he wasn’t standing completely naked in front of me while I sat frozen in a tub of bubbles.

I made a strangled sound, half inhale, half disbelief.

Riley didn’t acknowledge it.

He simply walked across the bathroom, unhurried, confident, utterly unselfconscious, toward the glass shower on the other side of the room.

His body was…

I couldn’t even think the word.

It felt forbidden just to look at him.

He turned on the shower, water roaring to life.

And then he stepped under it, muscles flexing beneath the spray, head tipping back as the water cascaded down every line of him.

He didn’t look at me.

He didn’t smirk.

He didn’t speak.

He just showered, naked, like dragging me out of the tub was as casual as rinsing shampoo from his hair.

And I sat there, submerged in too-hot water, cheeks burning, stunned into absolute silence.

He meant it. Every syllable had carried the hard, unbending truth of a boy born with too much power and too little conscience. My pulse stuttered, my breath jumped, and the water that had felt like sanctuary a moment ago suddenly became a trap.

I needed to get out.

Now.

I didn’t move immediately. Shock still pinned me in place.

I did not look at him. I could not. My eyes flicked anywhere else, everywhere else, landing on neutral corners and safe shadows as heat rushed up my throat.

I swallowed hard, watching him only enough to track his movements. Not enough to truly see him. Not enough to record the infuriating, perfect geometry of his body. Only enough to know when he was turned away… when I had a chance.

I braced my hands on the edge of the tub.