"No, Nirah. You need to rest," he says squeezing my hip gently. His voice comes out soft, almost husky.
"I need to get up to piss anyway so I might as well go to the kitchen aswell," I smirk at him.
"For fuck sake," he groans throwing his head back into the headboard, "Why do I always give in to you?"
He helps me stand up off of him, he gets up too and picks me up off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively and my arms around his neck.
"Your leg and side idiot, put me down," I demand.
"I'm fine Nirah, I promise," he says and he carries me to the bathroom. He gently sets me on my feet next to the toilet and tells me to call for him when I'm done before he leaves the room.
We're in a cabin, it looks like it's in the woods. From what I saw on the way here there's only one bedroom and bathroom, with a open kitchen and living room. It's decorated plainly but it feels cosy.
I use the bathroom then wash my hands. "Lucien! Do you have a spare toothbrush?" I call out to him, seeing there's only one in the little cup.
I hear a knock on the door and I tell him to come in.
He walks in with a glass of water and comes over to me, "I'm going to help you sit on the counter," he says, setting the water down. He puts one hand on my waist and the other on my hip then he lifts me so I'm sitting down.
My stomach is really sore now, the cut looks like it was stiched and cleaned. Lucien probably did it while I was out.
"You okay?" He asks.
I nod at him and he reaches down into the drawer, he gets out a box of painkillers and an unopened toothbrush.
He takes out a couple of the pills and hands them to me along with the glass of water. I pop the pills in my mouth and drink the most of the glass. "You're not poisoning me are you?" I ask after setting it down.
He laughs, "bit late to ask that now love. I guess you'll just have to wait and see." He opens the toothbrush and gives it a rinse under the water before putting a bit of toothpaste on it and handing it to me.
I start brushing my teeth and he leans against the counter next to me, looking at me from over his shoulder.
Fuck he's so hot.
"Stop looking at me or I'll spit this toothpaste on you," I mumble around the brush.
"You'll spit it on me, will you?" He says smirking.
"Yeah, I don't bluff asshole."
I do.
"Really?" He asks amused.
"Mm-hm."
"Do it then."
"You're gross," I say.
He smiles, "you're the one who threatened to do it love, maybe you shouldn't say things you aren't gonna do."
"Fuck you," I mumble around the toothbrush.
"Yeah, like that. I think if you're going to say it you need to follow through," he says.
I can feel my cheeks turn red and I hate myself for it. I decided I'm done brushing my teeth so I can move on from this, "move," I say.
He pushes himself off the counter and I bend down to spit in the sink before running it down the drain with water. When I sit back up Lucien moves to over to me and parts my legs with his hands, keeping eye contact.
Holy shit.
He steps in between them, then smirks. "Do I make you nervous love?"
"No," I say. My body betrays me and I feel my cheeks turn red again.
He leans down and he's so close we're breathing the same air and my breath picks up.
"You sure?" He whispers in a deep raspy voice.
A rush of heat flows down to my core and I look down at his lip quickly then back up to his eyes, "mm-hm."
His dark eyes fall to my lips. I find myself wishing he would close the distance, but then he wraps his hands around my hips and pulls me off the counter to stand up, then he takes a step back.
He's smirking like the smug asshole he is, he knows the effect he has on me.
He's still holding me up at the hips but his back has straightened and he tilts his head to the side slightly and raises his eyebrows, still looking down at me.
"You're an asshole," I tell to him.
"A hot one according to you."
"I never said you were hot," I deadpan glaring at him.
"You did actually, I do believe you told me you would let me kidnap you because I'm 'hot',"
"I was on the verge of dying Valentino."
"Still said it."
"Just help to to the kitchen," I demand slapping his arm.
He laughs and picks me up again the same way as before and he carries me into the kitchen/living area. He walks me over to the couch and sets me on my feet next to it.
I flop backwards to lay down out of instinct but when I hit the couch it hurts my side and I curl into a ball, "Oww," I say laughing through the pain.
"You're a fucking idiot," Lucien says walking into the kitchen.
"Says you," I reply, getting comfy. I have a good view of the kitchen from here.
A good view of Lucien.
"What do you want to eat?" He asks opening the fridge.
I hum thinking. "Pancakes." I reply with a cheeky smile when he turns to look at me.
"Pancakes?" He asks dryly. I just keep smiling at him, "Questa donna sarà la mia morte" He mumbles getting out the ingredients.
(Translation: This woman is going to be the death of me)
"What does that mean?" I ask. He sounds hot when he speaks Italian.
"It means you're an annoying brat," he answers.
"How do you say, you're the biggest asshole in the world?" I ask him.
"Sei l'uomo più bello che conosca," he says licking his lips trying to bite back a laugh.
(Translation: you're the most handsome man I know)
I don't really trust him but I say it anyway, "Lucien Aresius Valentino sei l'uomo più bello che conosca." I say, probably pronouncing it wrong.
"Grazie amore mio," he says smirking.
I narrow my eyes at him, "dickhead, what did you make me say?"
"Just the truth, you would agree I'm sure," he says cracking an egg into the bowl.
"Would I now?" I say glaring at him.
"Sì amore."
I sit and watch him make the pancake batter for a couple minutes but I get board. "Valentino," I say and he looks up at me, "can I help you?"
"No, you're hurt."
"I'll sit on the counter, I'll be fine. Plus a little pain helps it heal quicker."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"We're did you hear that one love?" He asks.
"Doesn't matter, just let me help," I groan.
"No."
"Fine I'll do if myself," I say starting to get up off the couch.
"Ay!" Lucien says dropping the spoon and running over to me. He slides and arm around my waist and I put one of mine over his shoulders. "Nirah stop, you're going to fucking hurt yourself."
"Please," I whine. "Just let me help you make the pancakes then I'll do whatever you tell me to do after it, I promise."
"Shit Nirah," he mumbles takinga deep breath. He clears his throat and starts helping me walk to the kitchen. "You can help with the pancakes but then you're going to fucking rest until your better, got it?"
I hum at him.
"Words or you're not helping."
"Got it," I say rolling my eyes.
He helps me sit on the island and then we continue making the batter. I tell him off when he gets a bit on my arm and when we're done I use my spoon to flick a blob of it onto his t-shirt.
"You little shit," he glares at me.
"You started it."
"It was an accident."
"So was that," I say smiling, he clenches his jaw then uses one of his arms to pull the t-shirt off. My eyes drift down before I can stop them, looking at his bare torso now on display. He doesn't have a bandage on, his wound is healing nicely.
I study a few of the tattoos on his toned muscles, I look at the ones on his abs before I see the one he has of a snake that goes up one of his wrists. I've noticed it before, I have a similar one but it's not on my wrist.
I look back up at Lucien and he's just staring at me, I can't decipher the look on his face.
"I have one like that," I say pointing to his wrist.
He does a quick check of my body, looking for it and when he can't see it he looks confused.
I laugh at him, "it's on my hip Lucien." His eyes shoot up to mine then down to my hip then back to me. "You want to see it?" I ask.
He nods his head, he's breathing a bit heavier now and his eyes have darkened. I smirk, "Do I make you nervous Valentino?" I say, repeating what he said to me in the bathroom.
"You wish. You gonna show me?" He says leaning on the counter opposite me and crossing his arms.
I roll up my skirt on the left side of my body exposing the tattoo, the strap of my underwear is covering a bit of it and when I roll the skirt up enough that Lucien can see it he let's out a low groan.
I stretch the band up a bit so he can see the whole thing, "see it matches," I say tilting my head slightly and looking at him. He doesn't look up from my hip biting his lower lip.
When he does finally look up he pushes himself off the counter and stands infront of me locking me in with both his arms on either side of me.
The snake tattoo is on his right wrist so it's on the same side as my left hip and I look down to compare them and he does the same.
"Very similar love," he talks in a low tone.
I look back up at him then down at his lips, it scares me how much I have the urge to kiss him right now. I've thought about it a couple times, what it would be like to feel his soft looking lips on mine but I've never felt a strong pull to do it until today. His gaze meets mine when I look back up to his eyes and my lips part slightly-
Wait. What the fuck am I doing?
"We should cook the pancakes now," I rush out, my voice all squeaky.
Be blinks slightly as if coming out of a trance then he clears his throat, "yeah." He steps backwards. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute," He says before disappearing through the house. I instantly feel colder without his body heat and the tension disappears.
I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding.
I nearly just kissed Lucien Valentino.
What the hell was I thinking? He doesn't even like me, I probably made him feel uncomfortable. Shit. Did I make him uncomfortable?
I just need to pull it together before he comes back from the bathroom. I can't let him have this effect on me. I mean we're on a mission, we're going to finish this then go our separate ways. We'll probably just go back to glaring at eachother from afar at events.
That's not what I want.
I'm still sat on the island when Lucien comes back only a minute or two later, he has a new shirt on now. He doesn't say anything he just takes a frying pan out from a cupboard and sets it on the hob next to me.
He gets the oil and puts a little bit in the pan before turning the heat on. "Move over a bit, you might get sparked by the oil," he says finally breaking the silence.
I look down at where I'm sitting next to the hob, "I'm pretty damn far away Valentino, it's not going to reach me."
"It might and you have bare legs so it's going to hurt. Just fucking move over a bit," he says frowning down at my legs.
I roll my eyes and shuffle away from the pan a few inches.
"Does that suffice, Mr. Safety," I draw out sarcastically.
"It'll do. I'm not helping you if you get burnt though," he says passing me a ladle spoon to put the pancake mix into the pan with.
"How sweet," I say spooning on some mixture. He walks over to the fridge and gets out some fruit then sets it all next to me. He gets out a knife and a chopping board then he starts cutting them up.
He's good at cooking. He said him and his mama used to bake, maybe she taught him.
He finishes chopping up some bananas then picks up some strawberries. "Can you please cut them into-" I begin but he cuts me off.
"Little cubes. I know," Lucien says not looking up.
I stare at him in shock for a moment.
I've never told him that before, have I?
"How do you know that?" I ask him curiously.
"You did it with your strawberries at the hotel." I didn't think he saw me doing that. It's not like I announced to everyone I was cutting up my strawberries, I just quickly did it then continued eating.
"You noticed?" I ask.
"I'm pretty observant whether you think so or not love," he says chopping the strawberries into little bits. "Why do you like them like this?" Lucien asks me.
I bite my lip before answering, "my mum and dad used to cut them like that for me when I was little, but I liked it so they never stopped doing it. After they were killed it was just a habit of mine." I've never told anyone that before.
There's alot of things I tell Lucien that I've never told anyone before.
He looks up at me and smiles a genuine smile. "They sound like good people," he says.
"They were," I reply with a small smile of my own. I look away from him and flip the first few pancakes over.
We make the rest of the pancakes in comfortable silence. I dish them onto two plates and Lucien looks for some syrup.
He walks back over with it and tells me to say stop when he's poured enough. When he's done mine he puts some onto his and we pick our own fruit.
"I'll go put this on the coffee table then help you over." He takes both of our plates away. He sets them down then comes back over to me, I slide off the counter and he puts an arm around my waist, letting me use him for support.
He helps me sit down on the coach that's facing the T.V then he sits beside me giving me my plate and taking his. "Thank you," I say, "for everything. You know, stopping me from dying and shit."
He chuckles, "you don't have to thank me love." He picks up the remote and hands it to me, still smiling slightly.
I turn on the T.V and ask him what he want to watch, after a bit of debate we end up watching the last half of an F1 race. We both finish our pancakes and my side starts to hurt more so I swivel around and lay on my back with my head on the couch arm. I put my legs over Lucien's and smirk at him.
"Are you fucking serious right now?" He asks glaring at me.
I shrug and go back to watching the race. I hear him sigh but he doesn't move my legs off him.
We stay like this until the end of the race and I look for something new to watch. I put on The Bake Off next, I thought Lucien might disagree but he doesn't seem to mind.
The painkillers are starting to wear off a bit so I place my hand over my wound in a weak attempt to ease the pain.
"Are you sore?" Lucien asks, it startles me a bit and I swivel my head to look at him.
"A little bit, the pain killers are wearing off," I answer softly.
He gently picks up my legs and gets of the coach laying them back down. He disappears for a minute before coming back with some pills and a glass of water. He crouches down next to me and hands me the pills.
"Thank you," I say before putting them in my mouth and he hands me the water. I struggle to swallow them but I get it down eventually and cough a couple times.
Lucien laughs from beside me and I glare at him, "You're so shit at doing that," he says.
"Fuck off." I say giggling slightly and shoving his arm. He takes the glass from me and sets it on the table before getting up and lifting my legs again. He sits back down and rests my legs back over him.
He keeps his hands sitting on my calves and the contact makes me fucking blush so I turn my head to watch the T.V again. I hate that he affects me so easily.
We stay up watching T.V for the next few hours. It's around 10pm now and we've watched at least half a season of bake off. Lucien gets annoyed at them when they do something stupid and it makes me giggle. It got colder when the sun went down so we have a blanket over our legs now.
I'm getting sleepy and I yawn, Lucien looks over at me and it makes him do it to. I don't know why but I burst out laughing. "You're kinda cute when your tired Valentino," I say to him.
"That's fucking twice you've called me cute Nirah. I go around killing people for fun. Is that cute to you to?"
I shrug.
It's hot.
"You're crazy," he mumbles picking up the remote and turning the T.V off.
"And you aren't?"
He looks over at me and smirks, "I guess we're both crazy then." He moves my legs off him then gets up. "Come on love, let's get you to bed."
"I don't want to move Lucien. It's warm and if I stand up I'm going to be cold then I'll loose my sleepy feeling," I whine, throwing my head back.
"Take the blanket with you," he says picking up our plates from before and putting them in the kitchen. He comes back a second later.
I groan and close my eyes.
"Nirah, don't you fucking fall asleep." He says.
I open my eyes and glare at him. He bends down and picks me up bridal stile with he blanket still around me. "How do you do that?" I ask in shock. I'm fit from the training I have to do but I'm tall, I'm not a small person. "I'm heavy."
He chuckles briefly, "You're not heavy love," he says as if it's the most obvious thing ever. He carries me into the bedroom.
He pulls the thin cover aside then lays me down. "I have a spare t-shirt you can sleep in," he says walking over to some drawers and pulling out a t-shirt.
He throws it at me and turns around so I can change. I pull off the skirt I was wearing, hopefully the t-shirt will be long enough to cover at least some of my ass.
The top I'm wearing has a zipper at the back and I can't reach it without my side being in a lot of pain. "Lucien, can you help me with the zip?" I ask.
He tenses for a moment before turning around and walking over to me. He moves my hair over my shoulder and tells me to hold it. He starts to slowly unzip the top and I feel his rough hands gently run up my spine. I hold the front of my top so I don't completely flash him and the zip is undone a second later.
"Thank you," I say looking up at him. He stares down at me unmoving, "You can turn around again now Valentino," I smirk.
He blinks then turns away from me while I drop my top on the bed and pull his t-shirt over my head. "Done." I say.
He turns around then let's his eyes drop down my body, he clears his throat then picks up my old top and skirt then folds them neatly onto the seat.
"I can go sleep on the couch," he says.
"No stay." I say, I dont have an exuse. I just don't want him to leave me. "I mean we've slept in the same bed for like a week now, you gave in every other time," I say.
"Yeah but your hurt now, I dont want to accidentally crush you or some shit."
I giggle slightly, "what are you starting to care for me or something Valentino?" I joke with him.
He doesn't reply to me he just stares down at me with his eyebrows raised as if I'm meant to know what it means.
Huh?
"Just get in the bed Lucien, you'll not hurt me," I whisper.
He bites his lip but then walks over to the other side of the bed and sits down. I lay down on my side facing him as he pulls his t shirt off.
His back is so hot.
"You have a nice back," I blurt out before I can stop myself.
He chuckles then lays down in the bed and turns his head to me, "So, you have a thing for backs aswell as hands and belts?" He says.
"Yours," I reply.
A smile tugs at his lips and if I'm not mistaken I thing I see a faint shade of pink coat his cheeks. Lucien is blushing. "Go to sleep love," he whispers.
Then he pulls me close to him and I rest my head on his bare chest, closing my eyes. He has one strong arm wrapped around me and I lay one of mine over him.
"Goodnight Lucien," I mumble.
"Goodnight amore," he replies.
Before I fall asleep I mumble, "I feel safe with you," and I feel his heartbeat pick up underneath me.
A/N
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
um.
I don't have anything to say after that honestly.
Nirah is low key clueless that's all I can tell you. These 2 bitches just need to kiss already 🙄😩
Honestly I would let Lucien do anything to me, like this mf could push me off a cliff then save me just to run me over with a plane and I would thank him.