Nate's Summer Scenario - Sudden Thirst

Nate wets his lips with a long stroke of his tongue before rolling them between his teeth with an intake of breath. “It’s filthy.”

“Well, yeah,” I reply, throwing an arm out. “That’s why we’re going to wash it.”

“But then that will make us dirty in the process,” he remarks, as though I hadn’t realized that very important fact myself.

I slink closer and hand him a bucket of frothy, soapy water, and wink. “But then we can wash each other off later.”

His throat bobs at the idea before a smile curves his lips. “Are you bribing me into chores, Agent [Surname]?”

“How clever you are to see through my ruse,” I purr before swinging around and walking towards the SUV. Its usual gleam is hidden beneath a cloak of dust and a splatter of mud from our latest chase through the woods. “But we only get to do that part if we do this part first.”

A long sigh sounds from behind me, and I’m glad he can’t see the triumph in my smile.

Getting to work on the bonnet, it’s not long before Nate joins me. He pinches the damp sponge between long fingers, barely holding it steady with the very tips of them. His features wrinkle as grime begins to stain and seep into it.

I chuckle as I dunk my cloth into the bucket and begin shining up the vehicle. “It’s not that bad. It’ll only take a couple of hours.”

“Two hours?!” His voice pitches high before catching.

I wince. “Well, maybe only one if we skip the waxing.”

“Please let us skip the waxing.” He peels away as water splashes his t-shirt, deepening the earthy-toned material into a shade of forest green. Closing his eyes, he sucks in a breath before dropping the sponge back into his bucket.

My gaze immediately snaps to him as he grabs the hem of his shirt and tugs it off in one swift motion revealing a swathe of toned muscle. The sight of it draws me in, and I almost step into my own bucket of water as I tilt to one side closer to him and tip half of the contents across the sunbaked grass.

He cocks his head at me. “Need some more water?”

“I do feel a sudden thirst…”

He lets out a laugh before motioning at my part-emptied bucket. “I meant to complete this cleaning task.”

“Right,” I reply, glancing down. “I’ll go get some.”

With intense reluctance, I grab up my bucket and walk back towards the warehouse through the chain-link fencing that surrounds it.

It doesn’t take long to fill the bucket back up and shuffle back out towards the front of the building. I’m impressed that I manage to make it back without slopping the liquid everywhere.

I almost drop it completely at the sight of Nate as I return.

Looking like some model out of a soft drink commercial, his muscles ripple as he scrubs at the car, his wettened skin highlighted by beams of golden sunshine which seem to have focused solely on him.

For a moment, I consider throwing the bucket of water over myself just to cool off my rapidly rising temperature.

Nate glances over his shoulder at me with a knowing glint to his deep brown eyes. “If we get this done in less than an hour, I’ll let you hose me off.”

I swallow down my laugh and smirk back instead. “Are you bribing me into chores, Agent Sewell?” I tease in the same way as he had earlier.

His face brightens into a smile that sends my heart into palpitations, getting close to a full-blown heart-attack as he saunters towards me.

He’s so near that I have to spread my hand across the solid plane of his stomach to keep a gap between us, just so that my soaring temperature doesn’t scorch him too.

“I wouldn’t want to bribe you into anything, ya rouhi. I only ever want you to do what you truly wish,” he replies. There’s a seriousness to his words, but it comes out through a silken tone that makes my legs weaken.

“Oh, screw it,” I exclaim before dropping my bucket so as I can throw my arms around him and taste the kiss he’s been offering since smiling at me. He captures me in a matching embrace, and we walk backwards together until he bumps into the bonnet of the car behind.

I glance to where the dirtied water soaks into his jeans before raising a brow at him. “That’ll stain.”

He spreads his legs wider so as I can step in close, our hips pressed into each other’s. “Right now, I really couldn’t care less.”

He stifles my teasing reply by crushing his lips onto mine once again, and my chore list flitters completely out of my mind.