"Very quickly," I murmur.
"Enough for the two of you to have done some hanky-panky, while he was prone on the bed."
I spring up from my seat. "I think I heard the bell of the shop door. Did someone just walk in? You know, we need to have someone at the front counter at all times, right? We can’t afford to be seen as unprofessional."
"Hmph," she rises to her feet, "I can take a hint. If you don’t want to talk about it, you just have to tell me; no need to invent excuses.
She turns to leave and I call out, "Really, Elsa, there’s nothing more to it."
She raises a finger over her shoulder, "You know you can’t lie to save your life, right? I am going to get it out of you, one way or the other, Mother Theresa."
"Ugh, don't call me that, please."
"You can't blame me. You are too good-natured, too much of a do-gooder, and you can't lie for shit... If the shoe fits..." She chuckles as she walks out of the office. I slump back in my chair. She’s right. You’d think running my own business would have made me savvy enough to pull off a lie? But that’s not the case. I’ve managed to stay honest about most things so I’ve never needed to lie. Plus, I know I’d never be able to pull a fast one on anyone. So I try my best to stay honest. But I can’t talk about what happened with Axel to anyone. It’s too soon.
Later in the evening, I walk inside the house. I locked up at 5 pm and rode home with Adrian. Walking up the staircase, I pass the floor on which his room is located and hesitate. Do I dare go in and check on him? What happens if he uses some of his stupid mind-magic on me again? But I want to see how he’s doing. I can just peek in and not actually enter. That would be okay, right? Yeah, I can totally just pop my head around the door, check him out, make sure he’s okay, and then run off, and he won’t know it.
Mind made up, I head down the corridor, peeking into the first doorway to find the room is set up with the physiotherapy equipment that Sheena had mentioned to me. The next door is shut. I push it open and find it’s a bedroom. The shower is running in the bathroom so whoever is staying here… Sheena probably, is in the shower.
The door to the third is half open. I peek inside, then step through and walk across the floor of what seems to be a living room, and to the half-open door on its other side. I glance around the door and see him. He leans against the pillows on his bed, wearing a shirt and a pair of sweats.
The dressing around his head has been replaced by a smaller plaster.
His eyes are shut, but his face seems to have regained some of its color, for he’s not as pale as he was in the hospital. His eyes are shut, the dark lashes an inky curve against his cheekbones. His chest rises and falls, his hands folded over his stomach. He’s definitely asleep. I step inside the room, and reaching the bed, I stand over him.
At this proximity, I can smell that dark scent of his. Heat from his big body reaches out to me. A shiver runs down my spine. His t-shirt clings to his shoulders and outlines every ridge of his pecs, before it stretches across his concave stomach. The sweatpants ride low enough on his hips that I can make out the trail of hair that disappears inside the waistband. The fabric at the crotch is tented though… Hmm… Is he aroused in his sleep? Or is that just his general state?
I glance at his face again. His eyelids are closed, his breathing steady.
He’s still on painkillers, right? Surely, he must be. He’s definitely out of it. I reach down and palm the tented fabric. The warmth singes the skin of my palm. I press down and I swear, his dick seems to thicken. Goosebumps pop on my skin. My nipples tighten. I trace the outline of his length through the cloth and my core clenches. Jesus Christ, the man is packing all right. My mouth waters. I want to taste him. I really, really want to drag my tongue across his shaft and find out if he tastes as dangerous as he smells. I lean over and rub my cheek against the thickness.
A shudder grips him. I glance up and find his blue gaze is fixed on mine.
12
Axel
I’d sensed her as soon as she’d peeked through the door. Had felt a ripple of awareness curl in my belly as she’d walked over to me. It’s good to know that, despite not being fully functional, physically, my senses haven’t been impaired. As she’d stood next to my bed, I’d sensed her drag her gaze down my body, had known when she’d moved, and then she’d placed her palm on my crotch. Motherfucker! It had taken everything in me not to swoop down and grab her hair and push her face into my aching length. Instead, I’d watched as she had surveyed the column of my cock outlined through my sweats. Her breathing had sped up and her lips had parted. She’d fondled my dick, and just as I was sure that I couldn’t pretend anymore, she’d leaned down and pressed her cheek to it. Like it was an object of worship and she was adoring it. Then, she’d turned her face up and had spotted me.
Her mouth opens in an 'o' of surprise. Her cheeks flush. Her chest rises and falls, and I am sure that she’s going to turn and bolt. Instead, she wraps her hand around my length and squeezes.
"Fuck." A growl rumbles from my throat.
It seems to rouse her from of her reverie, for her blush deepens. She begins to straighten and I shake my head. "Don’t," I say in a low voice. "Don’t go."
She bites down on her lower lip and more blood rushes to my groin.
"Take me in your mouth," I order.
She swallows, "What if I don’t want to?"
"Don’t you?" I fold my palms behind my neck.
Her gaze widens. "How are you—"
"—able to move my arms without trembling?
She nods.