Chapter 282: Tease

Without quite realizing what I was doing, I slid my fingers into his dark hair and tightened my grip, drawing a few strands back toward their roots.

Firmly.

Our hands were still intertwined when Damian suddenly released mine. Sliding his hand beneath my back, he carefully rolled me over, taking extra care not to hurt me.

A moment later, I found myself lying directly on top of him, our positions reversed. My entire body was sprawled across his broad, muscular frame.

My head was still spinning terribly from the blow, and I immediately lost my sense of direction. Blood roared in my ears, drowning out every other sound. Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited for the wave of dizziness to pass.

"How’s your head? Fuck..." he muttered, his entire body tensing.

His palm moved to the back of my head. His fingers carefully, almost impossibly gently, explored the tender area around the throbbing wound, where waves of pain seemed to radiate with every touch.

"You don’t have a concussion, but your head is going to hurt for a while. Alan said the bleeding was caused by the way you were struck. That bastard caught you at an angle, scraping the skin rather than hitting you directly. That’s why you didn’t suffer a concussion. But if he’d hit you squarely..."

His chest began to vibrate beneath me. With every word, I could feel his anger building, simmering dangerously close to the surface.

Before he could finish that horrifying sentence, I placed my free hand over his mouth.

"Enough. I’m alive, and I’m here with you. Getting angry at those bastards won’t make me feel any better."

What happened next was the last thing I’d expected.

He slowly ran his wet tongue across my palm.

I jerked my eyes open in shock, staring at him in disbelief.

The gesture had been so outrageously unexpected that I didn’t even pull my hand away immediately. And then he did it again, deliberately brushing his tongue over my skin.

Only this time, I noticed the mischievous glint dancing in his dark eyes.

There was probably an entire confession of disbelief written across my face.

"What are you doing?!" I finally snatched my hand away from his mouth and stared at my palm, where a damp trace remained. "Damian, have you lost your mind? You know perfectly well how much I hate it when you do that!"

"Just checking how much you remember," he drawled.

Propping himself up on his elbows, he slid his hands over my hips. The moment his palms touched my skin, a powerful wave of tingling sensation swept through my entire body.

Distracting myself from the strange reaction, I finally looked down and registered my position.

Not only was I sitting astride his thighs, but I was also wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt.

And only now did my skin begin to register that it was, in fact, his enormous T-shirt. Its wide neckline had slipped dangerously low over one shoulder.

Well... at least we had managed to find one complete outfit between us.

His T-shirt was on me, his trousers were on him, and thankfully, I still seemed to be wearing my own underwear.

Only now did I fully register just how compromising our situation was.

We were in the same bed, practically half-naked, and sitting in a position that left very little to the imagination.

My cheeks instantly flooded with color. They burned so fiercely that I could practically feel the heat radiating from them, as though someone had held a flame against my face.

Damian must have noticed, because the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a smile.

A mischievous one. A downright wicked one. I’d never seen that particular expression on him before.

The difference between the Damian I’d known in the past, when he’d been forced to play the role of my villainous captor, and the man currently holding me in his arms was almost staggering.

"I remember everything," I declared challengingly, meeting his gaze. "But I still don’t understand why I haven’t received those promised daisies."

I lifted my chin and deliberately turned my face away, refusing to look at him.

A low, rumbling chuckle vibrated through his chest. I felt his palm slowly glide over my waist, sending a trail of tingles across my skin.

"Turn your head a little, angry bird."

Removing one hand from my thigh, he gently caught my chin and guided my face in the direction he wanted.

And then I saw them.

A large, transparent vase filled with dozens of enormous daisies stood on the bedside table.

I’d never seen flowers that big in my entire life. It was strange that I hadn’t noticed them sooner. Even in the dim light, their enormous white petals and vibrant yellow centers stood out beautifully.

Almost spellbound, I shifted slightly on his thighs. Bracing my hands against the soft mattress, I leaned forward, trying to get a closer look.

I had to stretch quite a bit before realizing I couldn’t go any farther. My knees were planted firmly against Damian’s sides, leaving me with very little room to move.

I lowered my face toward the flowers and inhaled their fresh, surprisingly sweet fragrance.

And then I felt my T-shirt shift slightly upward.

Startled, I jerked backward. Damian had shamelessly slipped his dark head beneath my oversized shirt. His strong hands were still resting on my hips, while a warm, damp sensation brushed against my skin just below my navel.

A loud, unmistakable kiss followed.

Grabbing the hem of the T-shirt, I hurriedly tugged it over his head, only to panic and pull it back down again, covering myself.

"What the hell are you doing, Damian?!"

I scrambled off his legs, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. Retreating toward the headboard, I grabbed the blanket and immediately pulled it over myself, drawing it all the way up to my chin.

"You can’t just do that!"

"You’re the one who started it," he replied, entirely unapologetic. "Who else gets to climb all over an alpha male and tease him like that?"

He slipped one warm hand beneath the blanket and gently brushed his fingers over my exposed knee. Then his palm settled around my leg, holding it securely while his thumb traced a slow, soothing path across my skin.

"I just wanted to smell the flowers..." I mumbled, suddenly very interested in the blanket.

"And I wanted to tease you," he said with a casual shrug.