HeatedMatch by Lynne Silver Page B

lost.
    “Why isn’t he with you then? I mean if I were newly matched,
I wouldn’t leave the bed.”
    She shrugged and ignored his almost lewd question. Her ears
strained for any sound, any clue as to her brother’s whereabouts. About halfway
down the hall, the distinctive metal clang of iron hitting iron sounded. A rap
song she didn’t recognize barreled out of the hall with the speed and subtlety
of an eighteen-wheeler.
    She immediately hung a right down another hall toward the
din, then turned into the doorway and paused to scan the room for Chase. A
festival of men greeted her. Around a dozen sweaty, hard bodies stood at
different machines and free weight stations. One hard body caught her attention
like a magnet. Adam faced a mirror with his back to her, a large weight in each
hand. His biceps and pecs rippled with each curl and lift. Sweat gleamed on his
back. Her heart raced at the sight of his body and arousal shot through her,
landing dead center at the junction of her thighs.
    She gripped the doorframe, her fingernails marking the wood.
Adam’s attention suddenly turned from his own reflection and caught her stare.
Their gazes locked and crashed in an exchange so heated she was surprised the
mirror didn’t shatter.
    She wanted to lick him, run her tongue along the grooves of
his abdominal muscles. She’d walk over to him, pull her t-shirt over her head
and press her bare breasts to his glistening back, then run her hands around
his front to rub his nipples. He’d turn in her embrace and bend his head…
    “Sis!” Chase’s voice boomed over the music’s steady thump
and knocked her out of her wicked fantasy. Out of the corner of her eye, she
saw Adam go back to his biceps curls, and she forced a smile on her face for
her newfound brother.
    “I couldn’t sleep,” she shouted. “I have too many
questions.”
    Chase opened his mouth to reply. Whatever he said was lost
as Loren’s attention was caught by a clang of steel on steel. Adam had slammed
down his weights and was making his way over toward her. As soon as he reached
her, he tugged on her arm and turned toward the weight room exit. She whipped
her head toward him with a nasty setdown for manhandling her, but closed her
mouth when she saw the look in his eyes. One glance and Loren knew her arousal
was not the only one spiking. She allowed him to escort her from the room and
they walked silently outside and down one of the long gravel paths. Finally,
she broke the silence.
    “I thought you were ignoring me.” She tossed off the
flippant comment, but truth be told, it felt nice to walk alone in the sultry
summer air with him. Maybe too nice.
    “Honestly, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. I can’t
seem to help myself around you. I should be back in the weight room, but
instead I’m out here. With you. Wanting to touch you so damn badly. Plus, why
the hell are you parading around in a nightshirt with no pants on?”
    She paused as his admission sank in and her arousal spiked
even higher.
    He frowned at the ground. “I need to cool down. Let’s go to
the pool.”
    “Okay,” she said, agreeing, though slightly annoyed by his
behavior. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind. One minute he was foisting her
off on Chase and the next he was physically demanding private time. What was
his deal? He had the home court advantage growing up on this campus and knowing
about the whole genetic match breeding thing. One would think he’d be pumped
his turn had finally arrived. Instead his angst had her emotions bouncing like
a yo-yo and she wanted to know why.
    Though, to be fair, it wasn’t as if she was the picture of
sanity when it came to him. Her body panted after his while her mind rationally
knew she wasn’t ready to commit her life to a man she’d known less than
forty-eight hours. And yet, she’d gone twenty-seven years without ever feeling
this kind of connection with another human. That had to play a factor.
    Shep had asked her to