Page 9 of Adrian

She nods. “’Kay.”

Blair doesn’t fight me. I’m certain she would if the circumstances were different. She’s a feisty woman. Not the sort to get naked in front of a stranger. But she’s drained, so much so that she barely knows or cares.

I unbutton her blouse and ease it off her shoulders, though I might as well have torn it down the middle and saved myself the time. It’s ruined. Everything she’s wearing is ruined. I seriously doubt the mud would come out of anything she has on, even if I washed it ten times. And there are tears in her blouse.

After dropping the silk on the floor, I lift her arms to look at her elbows. They’re also scraped, but not badly. Not hamburger.

Forcing myself not to stare at her chest, I focus on unbuttoning her jeans and lowering the zipper, exposing her panties. As I ease her jeans down her legs, her phone falls out of the back pocket, and I snag it before it hits the floor. The panty-and-bra set she’s left in is most likely matching, though who would know now that they’re filthy? Mud soaked through everything she was wearing.

Blair wraps her arms around her waist, her teeth chattering worse than before. I have a fire going in the main room. She can sit in front of it after we get her warmed up. It’s not cold in here, but her core temperature is probably lower than it should be.

I make quick work of slipping her panties off and unfastening her bra. She has several rings, earrings, and a necklace on, but I leave them for now. Getting her warmed up is my top priority. Gripping her hand, I help her over the edge of the tub. “Sit, princess. Let the water warm you.”

I shouldn’t be thinking about her the way I am. I should be a gentleman. She’s been through a traumatic experience. She probably didn’t think she would live to make it to safety. But I’m still a dude, and I’m fully aware that her pussy is shaved and her tits are perfect, perky globes with dark pink tips.

Luckily, the water has risen high enough for Blair to slide underneath it. I keep a hand on her back and help her submerge so the bulk of the mud can rinse out of her hair. It floats all around her as she holds her breath.

When I sit her back up, I tug a few leaves and twigs from the top of her head. The water is dark brown, and I reach for the stopper to pull it out. “I’m gonna let the water out and refill the tub, princess.” While it does, I remove my flannel and T-shirt. They’re soaked. My jeans and boots are, too, but I’ll deal with them later. I’m just as soaked as Blaire from the short jaunt to rescue her.

“’Kay.” Her voice is barely audible. She doesn’t look at me. She’s not in such deep shock that she isn’t embarrassed. I’m sure she’s mortified, both at the fact that I’m seeing her naked and the choices she made tonight.

Her gaze is straight forward, and I don’t think she’s really seeing anything until she suddenly says, “Why do you have bath toys?”

I glance at the pile and chuckle. “What? You’ve never met a grown man who plays with Barbies in the tub?”

She doesn’t laugh. “Do you have kids?”

“Nope. But I have nieces. Sometimes I babysit them. They like to be entertained in the tub.”

Do her shoulders relax a bit as she turns her head to look at me? She stares at me for a long time. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

I frown. “You seriously need to hang out with better people if you don’t know uncles who have toys for their brothers’ kids.”

“Yeah. That’s for sure,” she murmurs.

I flinch. She has a story. It doesn’t sound pretty. Which is interesting since I now know exactly who she is. Blair Snyder, heir to the Snyder pharmaceutical company. Not just any random rich woman. This woman is filthy rich. Why did she buy a homestead in the middle of basically nowhere? I’ve been asking myself this all afternoon.

The name Snyder is common enough that no one in my family recognized it while selling the property. It wasn’t until my suspicions grew earlier today, upon meeting Blair, that I did an internet search and easily found her in two seconds.

She reaches out and picks up the bottle of bubble bath from the corner. Her arm is still shaking. I wonder when she last ate something. “Cherry berry…” She tips her head back. “Will your nieces care if I use some?”

I laugh. “Princess, my oldest niece is two. None of them will know.” I take the bottle from Blair, fill the cap, and let it drain into the stream of clean water.

“Thank you,” she murmurs as she slides underneath the growing bubbles. I suspect she wants to hide her body from me, and I can understand that. She leans all the way back and closes her eyes. “I thought I was going to die tonight,” she whispers.

“I’m glad you didn’t. The paperwork would have been a bitch,” I tease. Not to mention the loss to humanity without this incredibly sexy creature. I mean, holy fuck, she’s smoking hot. Like off-the-charts perfection. Even her skin tone is delectable. Unless she has an amazingly expensive spray tan, her coloring is genetic, and I’m betting it’s the latter. Her entire body is the same shade, which means she never goes in the sun or she uses an abundance of sunscreen. There are no bikini lines on her hips or shoulders. Nor are there light-colored triangles around her tits.

“You’re staring,” she whispers, keeping her voice low.

“I’m sorry. It’s hard not to. You’re stunning.”

She smirks. “If only people thought what was in my head mattered more than my sex appeal.”

My breath hitches. “Princess, I’m certain what’s in your head matters more.”

She opens one eye and then closes it again. “Whatever.”

I hate that she doesn’t believe me. I hate that someone has filled her head with shit, making her jaded. In fact, she’s so jaded that she left New York to live a polar-opposite existence.