The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley Page B

the bag back to the floor. Reaching for his shoes, he pulled one off, then the other. The butterflies in his stomach had turned into vicious snarling, biting bats.
    “Lieutenant Jeffers?”
    Payton stuffed his shoes into his bag and tried to ignore the water sounds. The shower just made him think of all the wet, dripping, hard bodies, the other… He 44
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    The Englor Affair
    swallowed. He was going to have to hold it until he got back to his room. Any water he consumed was going to have to leave by way of sweat.
    “Lieutenant Jeffers?”
    Someone sat on the bench next to him. A black duffle landed next to his green one.
    Oh. Payton felt like someone slapped him upside the head. He was Jeffers. Stardust and imploding planets. He looked up and to his right.
    Lieutenant Edward Tavis sat next to him. He smiled and began unbuttoning his shirt.
    “I thought that was you. How was your first day?” Tavis shrugged his shirt off and stuffed it into his bag before taking out another one.
    For a second, Payton sat there stunned. The man was undressing so casually. Which you should be doing, you ninny. Payton began unbuttoning his own shirt, then remembered his taped-on dog tag. He paused. Oh well, it would look like a bandage, no one would realize what it really was. Working on his buttons again, he glanced over at Tavis. “It went well. This is a nice base. I’m anxious to see more of Englor.”
    Tavis nodded and stood. “Let me know when you have some free time and I’ll take you on a tour.” He unfastened his trousers, dropped them and sat on the bench to tug them off his feet.
    Payton hurried and removed his shirt, quickly folding and stuffing it in his bag before retrieving his athletic shirt. Galaxy, these workout clothes looked like underclothes. The shirt was thin and loose with short sleeves, almost sloppy, but it was better than the ones with the sleeves cut out of them. It wasn’t fit for polite company, but it would have to do. He pulled it over his head as the lieutenant fussed with his shoes. “I will. I—” His mind went totally blank.
    The most gorgeous man in the entire universe walked up to the lockers just to the right of them, three lockers down. Payton would have sworn that everything in the room stopped. The fluorescent lights gleamed off the man’s copper-colored hair. His angular jaw was shadowy like he needed a shave, but somehow it looked…dashing. His eyes were light, but from this distance Payton couldn’t tell their exact color. The redhead was huge, six foot four at least, but it wasn’t entirely his size that made him stand out. His www.samhainpublishing.com 45

    J.L. Langley
    shoulders were wide and his hips slim. Under his dark blue uniform trousers, the muscles of his thighs were evident. He had a beauty and grace about him one usually didn’t associate with such a large man.
    Payton stared, transfixed. His cock hardened, pushing against his pants. His fingers clenched into his palms, wanting to touch.
    Dropping his bag, the man turned to his right, talking and laughing with the dark-headed man next to him. The pale blue shirt pulled tight across his back as he reached forward with both hands and began unbuttoning his shirt. His muscled arse flexed as he shifted his weight and a deep sexy rumble erupted from him as he laughed at something his companion said. It made Payton’s cock jerk and his stomach clench. Bloody hell, those pants couldn’t possibly be regulation, could they? They sure looked like Englor Marine uniform pants.
    Payton’s breath caught. The man was incredible. The trousers were regulation, the man was not.
    Someone walked into Payton’s line of sight, snapping him out of his daze. Dust. He was staring. Not only that, he had an erection and was practically drooling. He darted a quick gaze around him, realizing that the entire room had not stopped, and hoped no one had noticed his infatuation. Fortunately, Tavis was tying his shoes. No one