Page 17 of Blazing Desires
“That self-deprecating laugh. You’ve done it a few times now and Ihateit. You don’t need to pretend around me. Never withme, love. And like I said, seems reasonable enough to me to check for spiders.”
I have no idea how to respond to that. I was fully expecting him to laugh with me, but he seems so intent on telling me how he feels all whilst checking the fruit exactly as I did. So I don’t say anything. Instead, I watch him studying the banana. I should get back to my book and leave him to it, but I'm so painfully drawn to him that I don't have the strength to look away.
He finally nods, happy with his inspection, and peels the skin away. I take in the way his teeth close around the tip on the first bite and my cheeks burn all over again. It's the nudge I need to pick up my book and tear my gaze from his mouth. But before I become fully absorbed again, I speak to him in the quiet of my room.
“Thank you, for eating with me Blaze.”
“Anytime, love.”
Chapter 8
A Devastating Beauty
Blaze
The rest of the afternoon passes by in relative silence as Davina reads her book, cosied up on the big couch that makes her look so tiny in comparison.
I spend my time going over details on my phone, reviewing camera footage and the schedule for the week. Not that there’s much on there thanks to her father's demand she be confined to her room. I know why he's doing it, but my heart aches at the thought of her being locked in here nearly 24 hours a day.
I cannot stop my eyes from drifting over to her and watching her while she reads. The soft expression on her face as she absorbs the words written on the pages causes the edges of my mouth to tip up. Another piece of her burrows its way into my cold heart.
She’s always loved to read, and I’m relieved that it’s the one thing she has managed to still find joy in after all these years. I'd have thought she would have been spoiled by her father and turned into a brat, but it seems her spirit has been stomped on and crushed instead.
From what I’ve gathered since my arrival this morning, I couldn’t have been more wrong in who I was expecting to find. I’m still raging about it, at seeing her turned into a shell ofherself. I’m completely unprepared for her to be this way, and it shatters my carefully-constructed plan.
On what must be my hundredth glance up to look at her in the sun’s fading light, I find her moving to stand. She stretches her arms over her head, causing her jumper to rise with the movement.
My eyes skim over the exposed skin of her waist, drinking in the curves there. My hands tingle at the thought of touching her—I just know her skin would be velvet soft. I need to look away before I get on my knees and beg her to let me run my hands over her body.
“Just going to the bathroom.”
She interrupts my spiralling thoughts, pulling my gaze to her face. I nod once and focus back on my phone, not trusting my voice to come out normal. I am back to being rock-hard and trying to hide it. I desperately need to re-adjust, but I’ll have to wait for her to leave the room. I can feel her staring at me as if she’s expecting a reaction or for me to go full-action man on her in a repeat performance from earlier.
Get the fuck in that bathroom Mea Divina, before I do something stupid. Like peel those clothes off you and taste you, making you come on my tongue.
So, I keep my eyes downcast. Davina finally enters the bathroom and only after hearing the lock click do I stand and re-arrange my dick. I am still painfully hard, but at least it is no longer trapped against the zipper of my trousers.
A knock sounds on the door, I steal a glance at the bathroom to ensure that Davina is still in there. Satisfied that I know where she is, I move over to it.
“Who's there?”
“It's Noel.”
My fists clenched at Noel’s nasally voice cutting through the door. He’s the last person I want to be dealing with right now.
“The fuck do you want, Noel?” I growl.
“The kitchen staff need the trolley back and I have a message from the boss,Blaze.”
He tries to imitate the way I say his name, but it only comes out as if he has a bad cold. I roll my eyes.
This dick.
I move and grab the trolley. Unlocking the door, I do a quick sweep of the gap I created before I open it fully. I push the trolley out and it hits Noel right in his protruding gut.
“Ow, fuck man! Watch it!”
He grunts and rubs his stomach. I give zero shits if it hurt. He had been trying to peer into the room, no doubt to sneer at Davina or say something that would get his nose broken by my fist.
