“Okay, fairytales it is. We’ll start with Beauty and the Beast. Seems apt for our situation.”
She rolled her eyes, but smiled with pleasure as he sat in the armchair and started reading. She found herself only half-listening as she watched him. What would it be like with this man as her prince?
That was an idiotic thought. She wasn’t after a prince and she wasn’t looking to be rescued.
Yeah, because he’d already done that. Rescued her. Taken care of her. What had she done for him? Nothing. Her tummy burned. As soon as she could, she’d find some way to pay him back. When he finished, he set the book aside.
“Another story?” she asked hopefully.
He ran his dark gaze over her. “I need to make us some lunch then you need a nap.”
She groaned. “I slept for most of yesterday, and I slept in this morning. I don’t need any more sleep.”
“You still look tired.”
“I’m not. I never sleep this much. I’m pretty certain I could get up now.”
He gave her a look under his eyebrows. God, he was sexy. Who knew that listening to a man read to you could be so damn arousing? “Who is in charge?”
She sighed. Damn it. “You are, I guess.”
He tapped her nose. “You guess? I am most certainly in charge. And you are staying in bed. You need your sleep.”
“I’ve had heaps of sleep. I feel much better. It’s time I got up and did things for myself. Like going to the toilet.” Now she could feel herself blushing.
Bear ran his thumb over her cheek. She shivered, hoping he didn’t notice the movement. His touch filled her with heat. She longed to pull his arms around her. She wanted to be wrapped up in his warmth, his safety. Her clit throbbed. She had never been this turned on in her life. What if he noticed how wet her panties were th
e next time he took her to the bathroom? She’d need to keep him from seeing. “Hey now, there’s no reason to be embarrassed. You’re sick.”
“Yeah…but…it’s just so damn embarrassing!”
“Why? You need my help and I’m here to give it. I, for one, am grateful.”
That made her open her eyes to gape up at him. “You’re grateful that you get to wipe my butt?”
He gave her an exasperated look. “Grateful that I found you when I did. If I hadn’t come along you could have gotten hypothermia and died. Having someone help you do things that you can’t do for yourself is a small price to pay for being alive, yes?”
“Yeah. I suppose. Still can’t help but feel a bit weird about at all.”
“Do you remember me telling you that I’m a Daddy Dom?”
“Oh.” She thought back. She did have a hazy memory of that. Things were a bit fuzzy from that first day. “Oh God, did I tell you that I wanted a Daddy Dom?”
“You did. Don’t worry, you let me down gently when you told me that you weren’t looking for a relationship.”
“Huh, I said that, did I?” she muttered.
His eyes widened at her statement. “Sorry,” she said quickly. What the hell was she thinking? Way to freak him out. “Forget I said that.”
He studied her. “You said you liked to read about BDSM.”
“Yeah, I do. But I also like to read about murder-mysteries and I really have no desire to meet a murderer.”
“Did reading those books turn you on?” he asked bluntly.
“Bear!” she protested. Okay, now she really wanted to find a place to hide and wait for her embarrassment to dissipate. Should only take about fifty years or so.
“Hmm. I’d say that’s a definite yes. Have you ever thought about looking for a Dom?”