Waking With You

Emma~

When I drift close to consciousness, I feel warm, which is strange when considering the shivering I was doing last night. The temperature dropped quite drastically, and whoever’s idea it was to put a sofa under a drafty window is as messed up as that jailor of mine.

My jailor. I’m trapped, it really happened.

Suddenly, I’m no longer dozing; I’m wide awake and in a bed with Orion’s arms wrapped around me tighter than a vice. When did I get here? Why am I here?

I have been known to do my fair share of sleepwalking when I was a child, but that’s not happened in years. Even in sleep, I think I’d still be repulsed by him... unless it was him?

Oh hell, what if he brought me here? He carried me into his bed even after I made it clear that wasn’t on the cards for us, what a pig. I’d rather have woken up with frostbite than lie beside him, even if this bed is deliciously warm.

I’ve never felt so comfortable in a long time. The satin sheets kiss my skin as it wraps around my legs and torso to hold in the heat. I’m not used to being held, my family is loving but we’re not big on touching, so the feeling of his chest breathing against the back of mine is practically new. Why does it feel so normal… so…

No! This is wrong. This is totally and completely wrong. He pulled me into a bed with him without my permission and is holding me here so tightly that the only way I can escape is to wake him and interact.

I don’t want to speak to him! I don’t want to know what color those eyes are early in the morning before the darkness in his glare takes over. I don’t want to notice how his curls have moved in his sleep, causing a fluffy mess just begging for my fingers to run through it.

Oh! I hate him.

I hate that my mind is running wild and all I can think about is how close he is and how right this feels. But it’s not right, he’s evil, he’s horrible, and he threatened my father, my family. I shouldn’t like this!

Orion moves slightly in his sleep, and from what I know of the male anatomy, this situation just got a whole lot worse. The material of my dress isn’t thick enough to hide the sensation of something prodding my backside, and I can’t help but jump up from the shock.

Waking as if just been told the house is on fire, he shoots from the bed, and I finally feel my senses start to calm themselves from the lack of contact. I watch him as he looks around the room and can’t help but blush at the fact he’s only wearing boxers.

Are pajamas really that hard to come by for a man so rich?

My eyes drop to the floor the second I realize, but the imprint is etched too deeply into my mind to ignore. The defined muscles of his chest and arms, the carved v pointing down below, and the bulge held back by a brave piece of fabric. Why is it so hot in here? Wasn’t it meant to be cold last night?

“Care to explain what that was all about?” Orion says through gritted teeth, and to my dismay, makes a move to crawl back in.

Not a chance, this is not happening again. I did not sign up for this; in fact, I didn’t sign up for anything!

“I don’t know, care to explain why I’m no longer on the sofa?” I snap as I remove myself from the warm confines of the bed. I want to groan as I feel the assaulting temperatures of a winter morning, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of thinking he did the right thing.

“Was I supposed to let you freeze?” He asks, not bothering to cover himself but lying on the bed all the same.

Is he doing that to make sure I avoid eye contact? Because it’s working.

“I seem to recall a certain pig claiming not to care,” I comment icily while making my way toward one of the internal doors.

Hopefully, one of these will lead to a bathroom, and I can warm up under a nice hot shower. He’ll not deny me that, will he? I wouldn’t put it past him to have more ways to add to my discomfort.

The first I open leads to a walk-in wardrobe, and I shut it swiftly before moving toward the next. Why does the layout have to be so confusing, I mean, I just want to warm up a bit and clear my head.

“First on the left.” Orion comments with amusement, and I skip the door I was about to open and head to the other. But annoyingly, it’s another damn wardrobe; he’s playing with me again, and I turn to glare at him.

“Why would I be looking for an empty wardrobe?” I refuse to look anywhere but his eyes, which proves to be quite challenging, but I manage it all the same.

Blue. I comment to myself without thinking, as I notice the color of his eyes. Damn it, I wish I hadn’t realized. Now I have no choice but to be aware of how I’m looking into them, and with the light shining through the window, I find that they are practically glowing at me.

“I thought you were looking for what was yours.” He shrugs, and I scowl.

I could comment on how it isn’t mine, how I don’t want it, and how I wish I wasn’t here long enough to care, but I don’t. Why waste breath starting an argument that is likely to occur later anyway?

“I’m looking for the bathroom.”

“Oh well, you had it right the second time then.” He winks, and I turn to head in there without another comment.

I’m getting better at biting my tongue; I just hope I don’t bite it off the longer I stay here.