The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley Page A

It still thought he was a sheltered prince back on Regelence where he would never be allowed in the locker room of a gym, even with a chaperone.
    Payton hitched his bag up again, held his chin up high and strolled right into the locker room…and almost swallowed his tongue. Good Galaxy, men were just walking around naked. Okay, focus, Pay. No blushing. Locker. You need a locker. Oh, right there past the man with the nice muscled arse and hairy legs.
    He was staring and he couldn’t afford to stare. These men weren’t going to tell him anything or let anything slip if they thought he was different. Gritting his teeth, he moved toward the red metal grid lockers. The thought of what he’d heard today still chafed. Nate was top of the food chain here, and if people saw his sexuality as vulgar, then no way could Payton, a mere lieutenant, socially survive them all knowing. And if it ever got out that he was a Regelence prince? It was going to be tough enough getting them to be comfortable since they saw him as the admiral’s eyes and ears when he wasn’t around.
    Toward the end of the bank of lockers a door was open, and blessedly no one was in front of it. Payton hurried over and pressed his thumb to the locking mechanism. The light above the thumb pad flashed green, signaling it registered his print. Just to make certain, he closed the door and tried it. It was locked. Pressing his thumb to the thumb pad again made the lock click open with a winding sound. Good, it worked. He unzipped his bag and turned around, searching for a place to set it. Big mistake. A nude man stepped out of a cloud of steam pouring from an opened corridor. The sounds of skin slapping tile echoed out along with laughs and conversation. The guy coming out of the shower room dried his hair with his towel, completely unconcerned about his nudity.
    Payton’s cock started to fill. Good Galaxy, the man was hung like—
    No staring.
    Looking down, he found the blue plastic-coated metal bench and willed his prick to ignore the pretty man with the wet dripping muscles and washboard abdomen. This was proving to be a test of willpower. All these well-formed bodies parading around in the www.samhainpublishing.com 43

    J.L. Langley
    buff were going to be the death of him. It was going to bloody kill him to keep from gawking and blushing.
    He sat, hunkering over his bag, and took a deep breath. The room smelled musky and faintly of muscle ointment, but the scent of sweat and raw male lingered there too, teasing his nose. None of those smells should be appealing, but his cock twitched, proving differently. He felt like banging his head against something. Pulling his bag into his lap, he reached into it with one hand and with the other pinched the inside of his thigh…hard. Yeouch. His prick got the message and softened again.
    Once Payton was sure he had his errant body under control, he took out his clothes.
    Men were talking and laughing. He could hear water running from behind him in the shower room, but that wasn’t the only water sound. It also sounded like… He glanced up and around. To his right was the entrance, more lockers and more men. One man popped another’s arse with his towel and laughter ensued followed by playful threats. There was no one Payton recognized. Where was that sound coming from?
    Payton pulled his shoes and gym shorts out of his bag. It sounded like someone—
    He turned his head to the left and froze. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. Oh galaxy, no. It was someone relieving himself. To his right was an open doorway and along the wall a mirror. From his viewpoint he could tell exactly where the open doorway led.
    In the mirror a man stood displaying his back and a wall of urinals in front of him.
    Payton gulped down air, his gaze shooting to his bag. He was having a hard time getting oxygen into his lungs. Don’t panic, Pay. No way could he use the water closet in front of everyone.
    In a daze, he blinked and dropped