But first things first, I had to get down the stairs.
I tiptoed towards a nearby wall, hugging my upper back close to it when suddenly, I froze in place, a noise capturing my attention. It sounded like grunting and effort mixing together in a familiar rhythm.
Were they? He and Ainsley? No, it couldn’t be.
If they were, I had the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. However, for a reason I can’t understand, I didn’t. Nope, like an idiot, my curiosity got the better of me. I turned in place, cursing myself.
What the hell are you doing? This is your chance!
It was as if I was being pulled by an invisible force, a perverse tractor beam, a need begging to be satisfied. With each step I took, the noise continued to grow louder, amplifying my now insatiable curiosity. I came upon a partially opened door, just beyond it, the source of the sound. Hopeless to help myself, I peered inside, expecting to see them having sex.
But, that’s not what I saw – not even close.
It was Dorian all right but he was alone, shirtless and… doing pull-ups.
Hypnotized, I forced a dry swallow down my throat. When he’d pressed his body against mine in the observatory earlier, I felt the hardness of his torso under his clothing, but this was something completely different.
Time seemed to stand still while I gawked at him. Each strong pull accentuated the slabs of muscle running down his lean backside. Intricate tattoos lining his arms and back, twisted and flexed, almost like they were alive.
Before I realized it, I’d forgotten all about the reason I left my bedroom or even that I was trying to escape in the first place.
Holy shit. He was fucking hot.
If I didn’t know any better I could’ve sworn I was on the verge of drooling when from behind, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Shocked, I turned to see Ainsley, a bitchy look plastered to her face right before she snarled at me.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Before I could respond, she looked past me into the room where Dorian was working out. After, she refocused her attention in my direction, crossing her arms at her chest.
“Why are you out here spying on him?”
Fed up, I assumed the same posture, crossing my arms as well.
“You know what? I really shouldn’t even tell you. You definitely don’t deserve it, not after the way you’ve been acting.”
Her posture hardened even more. “What are you talking about?”
Shaking my head, I looked up towards the ceiling and exhaled before staring at her again.
“Are you blind, Ainsley?” I began, my tone heavy with disbelief. “Dorian?”
She shrugged, shaking her head at the same time. “What about him?”
I knew I wasn’t imagining him coming on to me. How in the world was she not seeing the same thing? Even though I really didn’t like her in the least, telling her what had been going on would be awkward, if nothing else.
It didn’t matter. It had to be done.
“Okay.” I exhaled. “Fine.”
While I had the courage, I blurted it out. I basically told her everything that happened, especially the part where he’d taken me to the observatory to get me alone. At the very least, I expected her to be in shock, or call me a liar… Hell, who knows? Instead, after I finished, she just stood there, wordless.
“Uh!” I groaned, slapping my palms against the outsides of my thighs. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
She shook her head. “No. Why would I?”
Raising my hands toward my face, I rubbed my eyes before dropping them away. “I don’t understand. Don’t you love him?”
Almost immediately, Ainsley reached towards her face as well. Only unlike my gesture of frustration, she covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.
I frowned. “What’s so funny?”
Eventually, the giggling subsided. “Of course I love him. Why wouldn’t I?”
I don’t think I’d ever been so confused my whole life. Nothing about this made any sense.
“I don’t understand. How can you say you love him when I basically told you he is trying to get in my pants?”
Ainsley had this look on her face like I was the dumbest person on earth. “Duh, it’s because he’s my brother.”
Brother?
Stunned, I opened my mouth to say something, not even sure what that something was, when Dorian appeared in the doorway. Covered in a fine sheen of sweat, his chiseled torso glistened.
Oh man.
My mouth fell open. He looked at Ainsley and then at me before speaking. Luckily, I’d snapped my mouth shut again by then.
“What is going on out here with you two?” He paused, glaring at me. “How did you get out of your room?”
“Don’t ask me,” Ainsley snapped. “Her whereabouts aren’t my problem.”
Dorian grimaced at his sister. With that, she turned and stormed off, leaving us alone together.
As for me, I was done playing games. Once Ainsley was out of earshot, I looked at Dorian. “You left the door unlocked, and I opened it…”
While I talked, he began to wipe at the perspiration covering his body. Clutching a small towel, he passed his hand across the deep ridges and grooves of his chest and along the midline of his abdominals.
“I…” I stammered, the angry thoughts I had seconds earlier escaping from my brain like harmless vapor.
Dorian looked up from what he was doing. He caught me, a smile curling in the side of his cheek. “You were saying?”
Bastard. Bastard. Bastard. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Determined to finish, I shook my head and glared at him, but before I could say a word, he cut me off.
“You mentioned the door. I, um, left it unlocked on purpose.”
What?
“Well if you did that, then why were you asking what I was doing? I haven’t exactly made it a secret that I don’t want to be here. I was on my way out when Ainsley stopped me.”
Dorian chuckled. “On your way out? That’s cute.”
“Cute?”
It was like he was constantly testing me, playing mind games. He didn’t respond but instead turned around and motioned for me to follow him into the room where he’d been working out. Obviously, my plans to escape were history. With reluctance, I started walking, trailing behind him into the room.
Room was an understatement…
It was more like a massive suite, almost the size of the presidential suite at the Bellagio. Not that I’d ever stayed there, but I’d worked a couple of private parties in it before.
Only, this wasn’t a hotel, it was his home. The rich really did live better than everyone else, certainly better than me in my shitty one bedroom.
Trailing behind him, I soon found my eyes drawn to his spectacular backside. On the one hand, I felt a strange sense of liberation knowing Ainsley was his sister, but at the same time, I was more confused than ever.
Not only that but with each second my eyes fixated on his hard, muscular ass, I began to feel disgusted with myself. After all, what kind of woman wants to sleep with the man who killed her fiancé, even if said fiancé was a worthless piece of shit?
Dorian stopped and turned around, facing me. Slinging the towel he used to dry off his sweat across his broad shoulders, he stood there looking like a vision of masculine perfection.