Chapter 114: Dangerous Fascination [III]

Tobias flinched so violently that his hand slipped against the counter. "Um—what?" He turned toward Tractor, his eyes wide. "Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just about to leave."

He reached for the towel dispenser, only to realize he had already dried his hands. With no reasonable excuse left, he stepped away from the sink and tried to move toward the door.

Tractor shifted at the same time, blocking his path with an ease that made it clear he had anticipated the attempt. "Not so fast."

Tobias stopped.

Tractor discarded the towel and turned to face him. Up close, the man’s expression was even more intimidating, though the faint amusement in his eyes suggested that he was enjoying himself far too much. "I noticed you staring at me outside," Tractor continued. "You looked as though you’d forgotten how to breathe. Then you came in here and started pretending that a perfectly ordinary tap was the most interesting thing in the palace."

Tobias’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Tractor’s lips curved into a knowing smile.

"Tell me something. Were you hoping for another look, or would you prefer to stop pretending and ask to see the rest of me properly?"

Tobias felt the heat rush straight to his face.

"I—no. I mean, that’s not—" He stopped, horrified by his own inability to form a coherent sentence. "I wasn’t asking for anything."

"No?" Tractor tilted his head slightly. "You certainly seemed interested earlier."

"I was just looking!"

The words escaped before Tobias could consider how they sounded.

Tractor’s amusement deepened. "I noticed."

Tobias wanted the floor to open beneath him and swallow him whole. He had spent the past several minutes trying to convince himself that he could recover from the embarrassment of being caught staring. Instead, the man himself had followed him into the bathroom and was now discussing his behavior as though they were old acquaintances.

"I really need to go," Tobias said, attempting to step around him again. "My family is waiting for me."

"I believe your family can wait a little longer."

Tractor shifted sideways, deliberately blocking Tobias’s path to the door.

His words were delivered with such effortless confidence that Tobias found himself momentarily unable to respond. He looked up at the towering man, then toward the door, calculating whether he could slip past him without making the situation even more awkward. Tractor appeared perfectly content to wait for an answer, his expression carrying the unmistakable suggestion that he knew exactly how flustered Tobias was.

"I’m sorry," Tobias blurted out, his gaze darting between Tractor’s face and the door he still couldn’t reach. "I shouldn’t have been staring at you like that. I know it was rude, and I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable. I’ll stop. I promise I won’t do it again."

"Shh." Tractor lifted a hand, cutting off the stream of apologies. "You don’t need to apologize. I never said I was offended, did I?"

Tobias fell silent, uncertain how to respond.

Tractor’s mouth curved into an amused smirk as he leaned slightly closer, making Tobias painfully aware of the considerable difference in their heights. "In fact, I came here to give you a better view. I don’t mind undressing if you want to take a proper look at me without all these clothes in the way."

For a moment, Tobias could only stare at him. Was this man crazy? Who said something like that to a complete stranger, especially one he had caught staring at him for all of five minutes? Tractor spoke as though offering to take off his clothes was the most ordinary thing in the world, as though Tobias hadn’t been fighting for his life trying to act normal since they first crossed paths. And yet, beneath his disbelief, Tobias couldn’t deny that the offer had stirred something in him, making it all the more difficult to decide whether he should be embarrassed or secretly pleased. As outrageous as the offer was, Tobias found himself wishing Tractor wouldn’t take it back.

His gaze drifted over Tractor’s broad shoulders and muscular chest before climbing back to his face. He swallowed, suddenly conscious of how close they were and how easily the other man could read his reaction. There was something shamelessly attractive about Tractor’s confidence, and Tobias hated that his body seemed to agree with every foolish thought crossing his mind.

"You don’t believe me?" Tractor asked.

Before Tobias could answer, Tractor reached for the buckle of his belt.

"Wait!" Tobias lunged forward.

He had intended to catch Tractor’s wrist, perhaps push his hand away from the buckle, but the movement happened too quickly. Tractor’s hand shifted aside, and Tobias’s outstretched hand landed somewhere far more intimate than he had intended. His fingers closed instinctively around Tractor’s manhood through the fabric of his trousers, and Tobias froze.

The entire world seemed to stop.

His eyes widened. His breath caught somewhere in his throat, and for one long, horrifying second, he couldn’t even remember how to move his hand. He had meant to stop the man from undressing, not accidentally grab the very thing he had been trying not to imagine since entering the bathroom.

’Oh, my God. Oh, my actual God.’

Tobias’s first instinct was to snatch his hand away, but his brain appeared to have abandoned him at the worst possible moment. Instead, he became painfully aware of exactly what he was holding and how much space it occupied beneath the fabric. His fingers seemed to register the size before his mind could catch up, leaving him staring at his own hand as though it belonged to somebody else.

How is he this big?

The thought arrived uninvited, and Tobias mentally slapped himself for having it. He was standing in a palace bathroom, touching a man he had met less than ten minutes ago, and somehow his mind had decided that the appropriate response was to wonder about his size. Then another thought followed, even more mortifying than the first.

And he isn’t even hard.

Tobias nearly stopped breathing altogether. He had no business thinking about what Tractor might look like when aroused. He had even less business trying to imagine it while his hand was still resting against him. Yet his thoughts had become a chaotic mess, curiosity warring with embarrassment while his body reacted to the situation in ways he desperately wished it wouldn’t.

Across from him, Tractor had gone still.

He looked down at the hand still hovering near his groin, then slowly raised his gaze to the younger man’s face. For a moment, he seemed genuinely caught off guard. He was accustomed to people reacting to him, of course, but the reactions were rarely anything like this. His tattoos, imposing frame, and naturally intimidating appearance tended to make strangers cautious. Some avoided his eyes, others stiffened when he approached, and more than a few seemed to expect trouble simply because of the way he looked.

Tobias, on the other hand, had stared at him outside as though he had encountered something he desperately wanted to touch but had no idea how to approach. There had been an unmistakable fascination in his eyes, accompanied by an almost comical struggle to keep his attraction under control. Then he had fled into the bathroom, only to become even more flustered when Tractor followed him inside.

The contrast had amused Tractor enough to make him curious.