Chapter 8

Zoe

The evening before the now-downgraded tropical storm was going to hit, I hummed under my breath as the razor glided along my left calf. I'd taken a long, hot shower—I'd needed it, after the day I'd had—and now I was wrapped in a large, fluffy towel, my left foot planted on the edge of the tub.

Probably should've done this while I was showering, but the space is so cramped in there .

"Zo?" came Luxor's call from out in the hallway.

I flicked the shaving cream into the tub. "Hmmm?"

"Are you decent?" I heard his hand on the knob. "I have a food question."

I called, "Yeah, I—"

But he was already opening the door. "Do you know if we have more peanut…" As he stepped into the small hall bathroom and took in the sight of me standing there, my thigh parting the towel, his voice trailed off.

In fact, the plastic jar of peanut butter fell from his fingers, and his expression went sort of slack as his gaze trailed along my thigh, to my knee, my hand holding the razor, and back again.

"Uuuhhh…"

My lips twitched. "Yes, Lux?"

"Aarrrrrr…puh?"

"Something about peanut butter, maybe?"

"What are you doing?" he blurted, finally noticing the can of shaving cream in my other hand.

I waggled it. "Shaving. What are you doing?"

His wide gaze was still locked on my inner thigh. "Watching you shaving, apparently."

"Lux."

He blinked, then his dark eyes darted toward mine, as if shaking himself. "What are you shaving? Why are you shaving?"

This time I had to press my lips together to keep from smiling at his naivete. "Because I figured if Ursula knocks out the water with the electricity, I'll wish I had done this before—"

My words cut off as he suddenly stalked into the bathroom, his gaze intent on my leg once more. The house had a master bedroom and bath—which was his, obvs—and I rented the small second bedroom and used the tiny hall bath. With him in the space, there didn't seem to be any extra room.

"What are you doing?" I squeaked when he dropped to one knee beside the tub and bent forward, eyes level with my knee.

"Watching you shave," he repeated. "Go on."

It was half embarrassing, half funny, to drag the razor along the last of the shaving cream and knock it into the tub. Through it, Luxor's eyes never left the blades, and he seemed to be holding his breath.

"What's the point?" he finally asked.

And my giggles got the better of me, bursting from my lips. He tipped his head back, his pointed ear almost touching the inside of my knee, his face framed by my thigh.

Unable to help myself, I cupped the side of his face. "Orcs don't shave?"

"Sure we do. You've seen Giza's beard, haven't you?"

Oh, that's right. The older orc had that silver-fox thing going on.

I was still smiling. "Well, humans get hair on our legs and armpits and…other places."

"Your pussy, yes." He nodded eagerly. "I like it."

I burst into laughter again and lowered my leg from the tub. "Well, female humans have become accustomed—some of us, at least—to having smooth legs and whatnot. We shave the hair off."

His gaze snapped up to mine again, incredulous. "Even your pussy?"

God, this was making me feel like I was debauching him all over again! Still chuckling, I reached for the part of the towel and slowly—so slowly, teasing him—I pulled it open.

He was eyeball-to-vagina, and I'll admit it: the way he inhaled—long and slow—made my knees weak.

Made liquid heat pool in my core, and the way he growled softly, his tongue darting out against his tusk, told me he'd noticed.

Lux lifted one hand and brushed his fingertips over my curls…almost reverently. "These are perfect the way they are."

Oh, my sweet summer child . "That's because you've only ever seen me…landscaped."

His head tipped back to stare up at me. "You shave this?"

"I keep it trimmed. I was going to do it next."

He moved so suddenly, I barely had time to peep. One moment he was kneeling at my feet, and the next he had me around my waist and was lifting . I sucked in a breath and then my bare ass was slapping against the counter near the sink.

I made a grab for the towel, but that meant the razor swung dangerously close to a green ear tip, and I decided to ignore the towel…which took that as permission to untuck completely and flop down into the sink behind me.

Lux didn't notice anything wrong. In fact, he was bent forward again, nudging my thighs open. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead what?" I snorted, regaining some of my balance.

"I want to watch you shave."

I chuckled again. "You are crazy, Lux."

"Why? I'll let you watch me shave."

"I know what a guy looks like when he shaves."

Something strangely possessive flashed across his expression before it cleared. "Oh, your dad, I'll bet?"

I snorted again, even as I began to shake the can. "My parents were never married, and he didn't stick around. Guess he didn't like the idea of being a dad." I shot a spray of the cream across my pubic bone, my voice light. I'd had three decades to get over any bitterness, after all. "But my mom raised me around her dad and brothers, so I had plenty of fabulous male role models."

Lux's gaze was fastened on my crotch. "Who taught you to reach for your dreams and what you deserved."

It was strange enough that my hand froze in the act of scraping the razor upward. "I…guess. Yeah."

"I'm glad." Dark eyes flicked to mine, then down once more. "You're a brilliant person, Zo, and deserve to have everything you dream of."

This had become… weird .

I was suddenly very aware of the fact I was sitting on a bathroom counter, legs spread like a burlesque performer, shaving my crotch.

"Thank you?" I think .

"What did you and Mrs. Albee talk about?"

His question surprised me. "Today?"

Lux planted his palms on either side of my thighs, watching the small, careful movements of the razor. "Giza and I got the hurricane shutters hung at the library, then we boarded up his shop and the bakery, then I helped a few other places on Main Street. By the time I got back to the library, you were still working with her."

This was the strangest conversation to be having while I did what was apparently performance art for him. "Uh…Mainly we talked about library organization. We were lifting the most expensive books from the lower shelves, just in case there's water damage, and she asked me my opinion about the layout."

He nodded but didn't look up. "What'd you tell her?"

He really wanted to know? "I thought she could separate the young adult graphic novels into their own shelves near the kids' section, since that could be a confidence boost for the kids who don't love to read novels yet."

"Brilliant," he whispered. Then he straightened his elbows, so his face rose a bit, and met my eyes. "You're so good at that."

"At shaving?"

When he grinned, both tusks popped free. "At librarianing. I'll bet Mrs. Albee takes your recommendation."

I pretended to scoff, but secretly, I hoped he was right.

His gaze hadn't left my face. "She knows a good thing when she sees one, Zoe. Do you have to leave Eastshore?"

The change in topic startled me, and my hand slipped.

It was just a minor nick, but I flinched and sucked in a breath.

Lux must've guessed what had happened because, with a low growl, he sprang forward, scooping me into his arms and turning toward the door.

"What—I'm fine! Put me down."

"You are not fine," he muttered, stalking into the hall, holding the towel against my ass, with my front plastered against him. "You hurt yourself."

"Occupational hazard," I quipped. "Seriously, Lux, women nick themselves shaving all the time. Just like guys and your chins."

" I use an electric razor," he muttered, sinking onto the easy chair and pulling me into his lap. "Third best human invention."

I had just enough time to wonder what the first two were before he arranged my legs over his, and I felt the shaving cream squish awkwardly between my thighs. The sensation was so weird, I smiled.

I was sitting on his lap in the living room, the beginning rains of Tropical Storm Ursula lashing at the windows, with shaving cream on my legs and pussy, staring into Luxor's eyes.

"I promised I'd keep you safe," he said seriously, lowering his chin to hold my gaze.

"I am safe," I chided. "I'm probably not even bleeding."

"Bleeding!" he blurted, reaching for my legs. "Show me!"

Chuckling, half embarrassed, I grabbed his wrist. "I'm fine , Lux. I was just startled by…"

By what he'd asked.

His gaze flickered over my face, and his expression eased into something like worry, those adorably bushy brows tugged down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay. It's…it's just that I've known for a while there's no way I can stay on Eastshore Isle, no matter how much I like it here."

"Because there are more libraries on the mainland."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded. "The money is good here, waitressing, and in the years I've lived on the island, I've come to love this place."

"Then—" He bit down on his whisper, even as his hand raised to cup the back of my neck. I wondered what he'd been about to urge me to do.

"It's not that I want to leave," I assured him. "But the Eastshore library can only afford one full-time librarian. The other two are part-time. I suppose, if I got really lucky, I might manage to snag one of those positions, if they quit for some reason. But I have loans to pay off, and I'd end up working part-time at the library, part-time at the tavern."

Why didn't I hate that idea?

"But it's not what you want ," he said sadly. "What you've worked so hard for."

"Lux, I—" How to explain? When I couldn't even explain it to myself? "It's my dream to become a librarian," I told him softly, stroking his forearm. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize for your dream, Zo. It's a good dream. I just wish…" The breath he took was shuddering. "It's a good dream," he repeated.

It was. But sitting here in his arms, I wondered about it.

I'd only decided to become a librarian a few years ago. Until then, I hadn't known what I wanted to do with my degrees, and I'd been content on Eastshore. My dreams had changed.

Was it possible they could change again?

"Besides…" His grin looked a little crooked, like it was forced. "This is just a hookup, right? Roommates."

It didn't feel like a hookup.

My hand moved to his chest, and I could feel his heart thudding strongly beneath my palm. "Luxor…"

He hadn't seemed himself these last few days. Granted, it had been less than two weeks since we'd upgraded from roommates to roommates-with-benefits , but he'd seemed a little different in the last few days.

Unable to stand still—more than usual, at least—unless I was touching him. More intense when we made love. More desperate. At first, I'd joked that I'd created a monster, but I think having sex with Lux was making whatever it was worse.

Or better.

"Hey!" he suddenly said, expression and tone unnaturally bright, "Sakkara invited us over for dinner one night, did I tell you that?"

It was such a non sequitur that I could tell Lux was eager to change the subject, so I forced a politely interested face. "He invited me ?"

"Sure, you're my friend, aren't you?"

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. "I am," I managed past the lump in my throat. I swallowed and managed a smile. "But let's not make plans yet. It's possible we're going to lose power, but maybe not. Sounds like the storm isn't as bad as we were worried about."

Even with our noses inches apart, Lux made a show of cocking his ear toward the window. "Sakkara changed his mind about staying and got the last ferry out this morning with Emmy. Everyone else is planning on hunkering down. I tried to convince Mr. Wilson to leave, but he thew a bucket at me."

The mental image of the spry old hardware store owner chastising a well-meaning Luxor had me grinning, and I was glad the mood had lightened. "He's lived through more hurricanes here on Eastshore than you have."

"I know." When Lux shrugged, I could feel it beneath my palm. "I just…worry. I want everyone to be safe and happy."

I patted his chest. "You're a protector."

His dark eyes widened, and he jerked up and away. "No, I'm not. Giza—Karnak—Sakkara. Those guys are protectors. I'm just…" His lips tugged into a frown. "I'm just me."

I remembered what he'd said about being the youngest, the little brother of the group, and wondered why he'd had to look up to them all. Why he'd referred to himself as broken.

"Luxor, listen to me." My fingers curled around his t-shirt. "There's nothing just about you. You're kind and sweet and loving and protective. You're not broken."

His gaze was on my lips, as if he couldn't understand my words otherwise. "Not anymore," he murmured, and I wondered what that meant.

"Lux, what did you do today?" He met my eyes once more but didn't look as if he understood what I was asking, so I clarified. "You busted your butt to help Eastshore. Everyone in Eastshore. You hung boards and moved outdoor furniture and tied down boats, didn't you? Don't deny it, that's what we always do before a hurricane, and you were in the thick of it."

"Yeah…?"

I knew it. "You're a part of this community, in a way that I'm not, even after living and working here for years. I know these people, but you help them. You're a good guy." A special guy.

I watched his lips move as he repeated help them silently, and his eyes slowly widened.

And I smiled. It was a bit sad, but still, it was there.

It seemed unfair that I was going to have to leave Eastshore right after I'd found someone like Lux. When I'd moved in with him, I thought he was a big, dumb goofball, but the last few weeks had taught me so much. Not just about him, but about me too.

This hookup brought us both pleasure, and it meant that he was now quite adept when it came to giving pleasure. But I also hoped, when I moved out, he'd remember me as the female who taught him to be proud of who he was.

"Now…" I took a deep breath and squeezed my thighs together, just to feel the squish of the shaving cream. "What was that about the peanut butter?"

Lux blinked, then his lips reluctantly curved into a smile. "I wanted to know if you had another jar somewhere. I thought we had an unopened jar."

I shook my head. "I'm not deviant enough to keep a secret stash of peanut butter in my bedside table. Why?"

"I wanted to make Thai noodles tonight, but then I thought maybe I should save the non-perishables in case we lose the refrigerated foods."

I used my palm on his chest to push and wriggle my way toward his knees. "Smart. How about we just make that frozen pizza?"

When the thunder cracked, almost overhead, I startled, squeaked, and almost fell off his lap. Lux caught me around the waist, then stood, taking me with him.

"Deal." He set me on my feet. "I'll pop that in the oven. Sounds like it won't be long until the real winds hit us."

Nodding, I clutched my towel around myself and backed away, suddenly cold now that his arms weren't around me. "And I'll finish up and wash all this cream off."

"One day, can I have a go?"

I stopped in my tracks. "At…shaving me?"

He nodded; his gaze sincere. "I like your legs and pussy and—your armpits? Is that what you said? I like them any which way. But if you like to shave them, I want to help."

The idea was so absurd, I found myself chuckling again. "Maybe one day," I half-promised as I backed into the small hall bath.

But I'll admit, the knowledge that he found me attractive and desirable in any state? Even when I was perched on the sink, my shaving-cream-covered crotch even with his eyeballs?

It made me feel… good .

Worthwhile. Cherished.

Protected .