Chapter 14
Ava
When I woke up, it was morning and I recognized the room immediately. It was where I had fallen asleep the previous night, in the arms of a man who had made me feel safe.
Commando was lying next to me, his arm splayed defensively over my breasts and he was sleeping with his lips pressed together in a firm line. I couldn’t help but smile. I remembered everything clearly, every move, every touch, every thrust and I felt a quiver in my belly. I wanted him again.
I moved, his arm slipping over my breasts and that was when I saw his hand. There was blood, dried and caked on his knuckles and a cry rose up my throat. I wriggled up and sat up in bed and he groaned and moved in his sleep, turning his face away from me and towards the window.
I wanted to touch his hand, feel the bruise under my fingertips but I was afraid of waking him. What happened last night? Where had he gone while I was sleeping? An electric shock ran down my spine, when I remembered the look of rage in his eyes. Every time he glanced at the bruise on my arm, that rage returned. For a moment, I wondered if he had found Blaine. How could he? I hadn’t told him the name of my ex boyfriend. Who had he gone out and punched the crap out of? In the middle of the night no less.
I stepped out of bed, and reached for his t-shirt on the floor. I slid it over my head and it fell, oversized and loose over my body. Just a few more minutes. I’d let him sleep for a little while longer…
In the kitchen, I opened and shut the cupboards to look for something to make for him. Everything was empty. The fridge had four eggs in a forgotten carton, and the rest of the shelves were stacked with beers. What did the guy eat? Did he just survive on alcohol and fresh air?
I opened the kitchen windows as I cracked the eggs open on a frying pan. The smell of fried eggs filled the kitchen and a thrill ran down my spine. I was looking forward to seeing his face when he woke up. Placing the fried eggs on a plate, I opened the freezer and thankfully he had some ice. My instinct was to put some ice on his bruise.
Filling a glass with a few ice cubes, I carried the glass and the plate of eggs to the bedroom. I nearly gasped with surprise when I saw him sitting up in bed, the sheets covering his groin and his eyes looking expectantly at the door.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush with excitement. His blue eyes were piercing my soul. His tattoos looked dark and threatening in the morning light.
“I was already awake when you slipped out of bed,” he said and ran a hand through his ruffled brown hair. His stubble looked darker on his jaws, and his biceps bulged as he placed his arms on folded up knees.
I walked towards him, suddenly not sure if I could balance the things I was carrying. He had a destabilizing effect on me, and I felt silly…like a giddy teenager.
“I brought you some ice,” I said and looked at his knuckles. He followed my gaze and I thought I saw a sense of self-consciousness in his eyes.
I placed the plate of eggs on the bed beside him and picked an ice cube from the glass. His hands remained on his knees, and I gently touched his bloodied knuckles with the ice cube. If it stung him, he wasn’t showing it. Commando didn’t make a single move.
I slid the ice cube over his skin, watching as the dried blood began to get wet again.
“You should have done this last night. It would have helped with the pain,” I said and when I looked up, I saw that he was watching me.
He reached for my wrist and my breath caught in my throat. With his eyes fixed on me, he plucked the ice cube out of my hand and instead of dropping it to the ground, he brought it close to my face.
My lips instinctively fell open, my heart thudding against my chest because I had no idea what he planned on doing next.
“Beautiful, sweet Ava,” he said the words in a breathy deep whisper as the ice cube came closer to me. Slowly, he touched my lips with it and I felt the cold sting of its surface. He was watching me, noting my every reaction. He slid the ice cube along my lip and my body shockingly sizzled with a new wave of heat. How could I feel so hot and cold at the same time?
Then he was slipping the ice down from my lip, leaving a trail down my neck, till he got to the neck of the t-shirt. He looked up at me, his blue eyes glowing bright and without warning, he dropped the ice cube. It went sliding down the t-shirt and I leaped with a giggle. The ice tickled and surprised me as it slipped down my front, grazing my left nipple and then dissolving in a small puddle on the carpet.
I was still smiling when I looked at him. He was not. He was looking at me from under his heavy eyelids, like he was formulating some kind of plan in his head. Whatever he had planned, I was game.
There was nothing that he could do to me that would scare me.
I wanted everything.