Taking a deep breath, I forced my grip to relax and set the knife back in its place, smoothing out any hint of my near rebellion. It was foolish anyway. A knife, against him? He’d only laugh. But the impulse gnawed at me, that burning need to fight, to prove I wasn’t just some delicate thing he could bend at his whim anymore.
He would definitely threaten me using my family.
I could feel his gaze again, sharp and aware, even if he kept his back turned. He knew. He always seemed to know.
Swallowing my frustration and trying hard not to get tempted to attack him only to be punished, I sat on the stool in front of the counter keeping healthy distance from him. He noticed though and only chuckled.
“You look awfully on guard. Do I wreck your nerves that badly?”
How do I tell him he did not wreck my nerves, the problem was he was worse. He unmade my defences.
I just stared at him, not giving him any response. I wonder how a man as big as him could move with such elegance in the kitchen. I took him to be a messy type. And he was messy when it came to… sex. But here he was a different story. Cutting vegetables, washing them, and there was not a hint of him being a beginner.
So he could cook.
Unexpected.
My eyes raked over him once again as he skilfully flipped the rice and added some herbs. And the smoky flavour hit my nostrils. My stomach instantly growled and he chuckled. My jaw tightened and I felt my cheeks burning. Last time we both were in the kitchen, I was pressed against the counter and he was…
I shook my head. Do not go there, Sera.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts I didn’t notice him moving and when I did he was already towering over me. As soon as I sensed him, my eyes widened and I instinctively jumped out of the stool almost toppling over if it wasn’t for him grabbing me by the arm and pulling me against his anked chest and the stool hit the ground.
“Careful, ptichka, it’s too soon for you to fall for me.” His pale blues stared down at me with amusement. The dark charcoal hair fell on his forehead hiding his straight and thick brows, the lashes that casted shadows over his high bones. My skin tingled through the bathrobe. His lips twitched, and the damn dimples made my heart race before I reminded myself who he truly was.
I jerked myself away from him, and second surprise of the day, he let me. “Don’t… don’t sneak up on me.” I backed away grabbing the counter and fixing the bathrobe as he scoffed and took a step forward.
“Sneak up on you? I was just cooking breakfast.” His voice was a low murmur, but there was that unmistakable edge of amusement in his eyes. He took another step forward, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him.
And his nakedness didn’t help.
I clenched my jaw, refusing to let myself be drawn in. “Maybe don’t stand so close, then.”
He tilted his head, lips quirking into that infuriating half-smile. “Can’t handle a little closeness, little bird?”
My stomach twisted, and I forced myself to stay calm, meeting his gaze evenly. “I can handle plenty,” I shot back. “Just not… whatever game you’re playing.”
He raised an eyebrow, the dimple deepening as his smirk grew. “Oh, ptichka, if I were playing, you’d know.”
I swallowed ahrd as he held my agze in a terrifying cage and reached fro something on the counter. I could ahrdly see it before he was lifting his finger and pressing it against my mouth. “Just wanted you to have a taste.”
The salty, savoury texture of the gravy evoked my taste buds and his finger pressed deeper into my mouth followed by his another one before he was massaging my tongue.
I felt my cheeks flame as he held his fingers steady against my tongue, his gaze growing darker. His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth, tracing slowly, almost tauntingly. And it didn’t help how the muscle beneath his jaw ticked.
“Look at you,” he murmured eyed moving to my lips. “So obedient when you want to be.”
A small involuntary sound escaped my throat, and I cursed myself for it as his lips curved into a wicked grin. He withdrew his fingers slowly, watching my every reaction, his eyes tracing the trail left behind on my lips and leaving me breathless as my hold on the counter became almost frustrating.
And he put the same fingers inside his own mouth making my breath hitch and heart skip a beat. “You taste better than the food, ptichka,” he purred. “Maybe I should make a meal of you next.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but the words died as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with other hand and his fingers grazed my neck with deliberate slowness. His gaze held mine and the heat between us rose seven skies higher, making the room feel suddenly smaller.
“Unless, of course,” he whispered, “you can’t handle this kind of closeness.”
My jaw clenched as he ran his tongue over his lips, glistening them and nibbling on them as if he was trying to seduce me. And was it working? I didn’t know… I didn’t want to know.
Taking another step back before my hair coiled around his fingers fell against my chest.
“You should try seasoning that more,” I said, glancing at the bowl from which he scooped the garvy with feigned disinterest. “Smells bland.”
He chuckled.
Judas chuckled.
I expected him to pound on me and punish the heck out of me by now. I disobeyed him more than four times today and he was still smiling and chuckling at me. Who was this person?