Of course, by jumped, I meant kissed him vigorously with a desperation I hadn’t felt in years. I had spun around in his lap, twined my hands in his hair, and tugged his mouth down to my own so I could have my way with it. Even caught by surprise as he was, Adrian was a damn good kisser. The control I held didn’t last for long, and soon enough, my back was being pressed into the hard wall of the tub as he swapped positions on me.
That blasted man could have done anything he wanted to me just then, and I would have let him. I was doing a very good job of encouraging him, I’d think. I wouldn’t have stopped him– hell, I would have even helped him!
But he didn’t take advantage of me, or rather, not nearly as much as he probably wanted to in that moment. He held on to me for dear life, before tearing himself away from my lips. The look in his azure eyes promised retribution, and lots of it, but he didn’t act on it then. Instead, he pulled away and let me go, breathing hard, although I was certain he didn’t need to.
By the time I left my daze, he was at the other edge of the bathtub, staring at me and smirking. “Oh, I’m never going to hear the end of this one, am I?” he asked rhetorically, laughing softly.
I blushed even harder, if that were possible, my face flushed from the activity. “I don’t think I’ll be able to hold this one against you– I’m the one who lost control, after all.” There was no way I could be angry at him for this when I was the one at fault.
He frowned, pressing a hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel feverish,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. “I’d best get you cleaned up before you come to your senses then.”
I crossed my arms, glaring at him. “You know, if you’re trying to piss me off, it’s working.” Why was he expecting me to yell at him for something I’d done? It wasn’t his fault he was so irresistible. Sure, maybe he’d helped to contribute to that fact, but it wasn’t as if there was much he could do to stop being so damn appealing.
“My apologies, love. I was anticipating quite a different reaction from you,” Adrian sighed, running a hand through his dripping wet black hair. It was plastered to his head, which was a very weird look for him. I couldn’t tell if I liked it or not.
I tried my best not to giggle. “Come on, I don’t always get upset with you whenever anything like this happens.” Even then, the only reason I’d get mad at him was because he’d catch me off guard.
His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “I beg to differ, Kathryne. You’ve thrown me out a window for kissing you before,” he said, applying the washcloth his other hand was holding to my arms. “Though since it you initiated it, I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to be so violent.”
I could tell he was distracting me with conversation again, and this time I was grateful for it. “The window thing was a fluke, and you know it,” I sputtered, trying to defend myself.
“You wouldn’t have been able to do it had you not meant to,” he replied, running the cloth down my back. “Though I’ll admit I was being too forceful that time. I couldn’t bring myself to let you go.”
Oh great, now he was being sappy. “Yes, and then I threw you out the window. What did you learn from that, Adrian?” I asked sarcastically, idly grabbing a few strands of his hair and playing with them. He used to be able to pull his messy hair back into some semblance of order, but now he wore a shorter hair style. It looked good on him, but I sort of missed the longer hair. It was easier to make fun of him when he could put his hair up in a ponytail.
He took his own sweet time before answering the question, and soon enough, my entire top half was covered entirely in suds. “Hmm, I can’t say. I was a tad busy trying to defy the law of gravity.”
I poked his chest with my free hand. “I wouldn’t have inadvertently thrown you if you hadn’t decided to kiss me out of the blue!” I exclaimed. I was doing my best to glare at him, but my heart wasn’t in it at all.
“I’d go through worse to get more,” he grinned, placing a hand on top of my head.
Confused, I stared up at him quizzically. “What the he–” then it hit me. “You pervert!” I would have punched him, but in that moment he saw fit to shove me underwater.
Once I surfaced, I was fuming. “What was that for?” I screeched, shoving him.
His grin widened. “The bubbles were obstructing my view.”
“That doesn’t mean you need to shove my whole head underwater. I haven’t even started to wash my hair yet,” I grumbled, crossing my arms. At least I hadn’t tried to breathe in right as he’d dunked me.
“No, but you were about to hit me. It was self-defense,” he replied, pulling back. “Lift your leg for me?” He held out his hand expectantly.
I did so, yawning. Today’s stress was starting to catch up with me. Plus, he’d promised he wouldn’t do anything unless I did something first, so I felt relatively safe in handing over my body parts to him. “Maybe if you weren’t such a humongous perv I wouldn’t try to hit you all the time.”
He shook his head, applying the washcloth to my foot. “You enjoy my innuendos just as much as I do, don’t kid yourself.” The slight coarse texture of the cloth on my skin was making it hard not to giggle, something that hardly portrayed how I felt about his jokes accurately.
But I couldn’t help myself. As he traveled up my leg, I started laughing helplessly. Of course, by that time, he’d noticed my reaction and was only making it worse by actually tickling me. I smacked at him, trying to make him stop, but it seemed that my attempts at fighting only made him more eager to attack me. I was flailing, trying to flee from his hands, but to no avail. I ended up breathless, weak, and at his mercy.
“A–adrian! Stop!” my throat choked on the words, making them sound garbled and unintelligible. I could barely understand myself, and I knew what I wanted to say. The lack of oxygen making it into my lungs may have had something to do with it though.
Never mind that his hands felt wonderful on my skin regardless of what they were doing, I just loved breathing a little bit more than I loved him. “I– I can’t breathe!” If he was trying to make me pass out, it was working.
He ignored me, switching to my other leg despite my protests. His hands ghosted across my skin, too fast for me to see properly. Though maybe I was starting to pass out– I couldn’t tell which. I was having severe trouble thinking properly.
Then again, around Adrian, I always had issues doing any sort of work that involved using my brain. Well, not all the time, but definitely whenever he wanted to distract me. Right now would be a very good example of that. He was lucky the lack of air made it hard to move, otherwise I’d be punching him like there was no tomorrow.
“You know, having you here like this reminds me of the days we spent back in your room,” he said suddenly, dropping my legs. “It’s hard for me not to reminisce about the time we spent in that shower of yours.”
It took me a moment to catch my breath and figure out what he was on about. I sat up, blushing furiously. “Yeah, that’s not happening, sweetheart. I’ve had enough for one day.” Oh, I remembered those showers too, a little too well if the time I’d spent in them after Adrian had ‘died’ was any indication. Those memories were recent enough that I had no desire to have them replaced by him.
I liked my time spent alone better anyway.
“Okay, first of all, that’s a very roundabout way to think about it. Second of all, you’re not allowed to compare me to your alone time spent in the shower,” Adrian scoffed. “The only reason I didn’t pull out all the stops back then is because you wouldn’t have been comfortable with it, so don’t you dare tell me that you’re better off masturbating. That’s just insulting.”
I’d completely forgotten that he was capable of reading my mind. I really needed to stop doing that. “How would you know?” I asked, my hands automatically clenching into fists. “You’re not going to be touching me any time soon, so you can forget winning this argument, buster.” He could be insulted all he wanted. There was no way in hell I was going to let him win this time.
He snorted, stepping into my space and backing me into the wall of the tub. “I know for a fact that I can do a much more satisfying job than you ever could, sweetheart. You wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off me.” Someone had way too much self-confidence.
I wasn’t about to point out that I couldn’t stop myself from touching him in the first place. That would just prove his point. “You keep telling yourself that,” I snickered, shaking my head. The poor man would never learn.
“I don’t have to tell myself that, Kathryne. I know it to be true.”
Now he was just asking for me to punch him. “We’re not having this conversation,” I growled. If he kept up with it, no doubt I’d agree to something stupid, if only to get him to shut up.
He smiled. Then he grabbed the shampoo bottle that was sitting on the edge of the tub. “Why not? I happen to be enjoying this discussion. It’s so very...informative.”
Where did I put my bowie knife? “Adrian, just stop it. I do not want to talk about this with you of all people,” I said, resisting the urge to sigh in defeat.
He’d started massaging my scalp at some point when I’d been talking. Sure, it involved hair soap, but I’d take what I could get. “I suppose we’ll talk about it later then,” he replied, dunking me underwater again.
Of course, I was completely unprepared for it again, so I came back up sputtering insults and whatever water had tried to go down the wrong pipe. “Dammit, Adrian! At least give me some warning before you do that!” I coughed. My lungs and throat burned from the exposure to the warm water, adamantly rejecting the foreign fluid. A shame water was too dense to breathe in– it was rich in oxygen.
“Well, there’s still soap in your hair, so.” Fair enough.
Fortunately, I managed to shut my mouth before I was shoved in once more. “I don’t think I like this system very much,” I told him bluntly, pushing my bangs out of my eyes. “Let me wash my own hair.”
“No. I like your hair,” he said, applying his hands to my head. Apparently he’d grabbed conditioner while I’d been below. “It’s soft.”
Well, duh! That was because it had gotten wet! “How come I’m the only one getting cleaned up here anyway?” I asked, dunking myself voluntarily before he could get to it. I did not need to be forced again, thank you very much.
Adrian chuckled. “Because I already took a shower this morning while you were asleep. You, on the other hand, actually need it.”
Was that a subtle way of saying that I was starting to smell? “Well, excuse me. If somebody hadn’t knocked me out, I might have been able to take a shower before being kidnapped!” Sudden abduction made me very cranky.
“I would have washed you while you were unconscious, but Ignotius wouldn’t let me,” he replied, pouting. “I was told that you wouldn’t appreciate it in the slightest.”
Especially so if I’d woken up in the tub while that was happening. Oh, he would’ve gotten an earful from me for that! I grimaced. “Am I allowed to dry off now? I’ve had enough of this whole bath thing. I think you’ve seen enough of me naked for one day.” I really needed to stop thinking about what he would do to me in a tub while out cold. He had enough crazy ideas as it was.
He flipped a switch next to the water nozzles, and shortly afterward I heard the telltale sound of draining water. “Yes, I suppose you are. Though there really is something I must contest about that statement of yours, love,” he said, stepping out of the bath to grab a stack of towels.
“What about it?” I demanded, puzzled. What was he going on about now?
Hands gripped my sides, hoisting me out of the tub. “I’ll never get enough of seeing you naked. It’s not something I’m going to tire of, even if you were to refrain from wearing clothes the rest of your days,” his voice was suddenly whispering right into my ear.
Amazing how he could be so touching and perverted at the same time. “I can dry myself off, you know,” I scolded, slapping his hands away. A fervent blush coated my cheeks as I backed away from him in embarrassment.
“So?” he asked, wrapping a towel around my hair. “I enjoy doing nice things for you. Just because you can do something by yourself doesn’t mean you have to.”
I hated when he was being logical. It was difficult to argue with him when he was making sense. “But this is awkward!” I complained. Really, the only reason it was awkward was because I was over-thinking the situation way too much, but he didn’t need to know that. Even though he probably already did because he could read my mind whenever he wanted to.
The laughter emanating from him after that only confirmed my suspicions. “Only awkward for you, I’m afraid. I’m perfectly okay with this,” came his amused reply.
Soon enough, I was dry and tightly wrapped entirely in cold, damp towels from head to toe. The temperature was doing nothing to help my temper, because I was absolutely seething. “Was all of that really necessary?” I snarled, my hands balled into fists at my sides.
He merely smiled mysteriously and nodded his head before tossing me over his shoulder and hauling me out of the bathroom. That look of his only made me want to stab him even more for what he’d done.
After I’d told him how awkward having him do everything was, he’d proceeded to make things even more so. With towels. I wished that I hadn’t said anything to him at all, because my remark had prompted him to take his own sweet time using the towels to make sure there wasn’t a single drop of water left on my skin. It had been like a massage, only a hundred times more disconcerting because it was him doing the massaging, and he had no qualms with trying to seduce me the whole time.
What made it even worse was that the only complaint about it that I had was that he’d been so thorough...which was what I was going to hurt him for. Awkward situations were stressful enough on their own, and he’d just gone and made things worse.
“Kathryne,” Adrian said, pinching my arm to get my attention. “Kathryne, stop daydreaming.”
I jumped, hitting the back of my head on his. “What?” I snapped, rubbing the new injury in the hopes that it would keep it from swelling.
He set me down on his bed, eyes sparkling mischievously. “It’s later,” he replied, grinning.
What in the world was he talking about? “So? I’m tired. I plan on putting on pajamas and going to sleep.” I did not like the look on his face. He was plotting something, and whatever it was, I knew I was not going to like it.
“Oh, you can go to sleep after,” he said smugly, pulling off one of the towels. “We have an argument to finish.”
He was really going to try having that conversation again? “Didn’t I already tell you that I wasn’t going to talk about this with you?” I asked him incredulously. I should have seen it coming. He never listened to me.
Adrian shrugged. “Honestly, I wasn’t planning on talking about it.” Well, it seemed I wasn’t the only one capable of holding a grudge.
“Well, you’re not going to be doing anything about it either!”
“I beg to differ. You made a statement that is simply not true. I fully intend to prove you wrong.”
Yeah, no way in hell. “That’s not going to be necessary, Adrian. I’m not changing my mind.” I did not like where this was going.
If he didn’t stop smirking at me, I was going to slap him. “All the more reason it is necessary. You won’t let me try,” he sighed, pulling another towel away.
“Because I don’t want you touching me like that!” I yelled, moving away from him. This whole argument was making me feel incredibly nervous. I hadn’t stopped blushing since he’d started being so pervy.
He followed me right until I backed myself up into the headboard. “Why not?” he asked, close enough for his warm breath to breeze over my face. “I’m not going to hurt you. You already have an idea of how it’s going feel, so why are you so resistant to it?”
I tried to hold on to the fabric keeping my chest from view, but he was able to pry it from my grip regardless. “You’ll cheat, that’s why,” I squeaked, scrambling to cover my chest. “You won’t play fair.” I knew that because he’d already admitting to it before this fiasco had started.
“So you admit that if I were to attempt persuading you, I’d win?” he snickered, loosing my hair from the fabric holding it back.
That was not what I’d said! “No!” How dare he twist my words like that! “I’m telling you that you’d cheat and therefore I’m not going to let you try because it wouldn’t really be proving me wrong!”
“And if I didn’t cheat?”
Still no chance in hell. “You’d still fail,” I stated bluntly.
“You’re wrong, Kathryne,” he shook his head, smiling like he knew something I didn’t. “I’d win.”
I glared at him. “Bullshit.”
“I’d win, Kathryne.”
“Really? Because I highly doubt that.” There was no way I was going to let him win this time.
He shrugged. “I don’t.”
“You wouldn’t win, Adrian!” I insisted, frowning.
“Would too.”
“Would not!”
“Yes, I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“You’re lying,” he drawled, poking my stomach.
I snorted. “Oh yeah? Prove it.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he replied, barely giving me the opportunity to figure out what I’d just agreed to before he claimed my lips.
This was nothing like when I’d jumped him earlier. I’d thought that kiss had been passionate. Adrian had obviously been holding back before, and I only knew that because that earlier moment was gentle compared to now. There was no room left for thought, if only because feeling had taken up any and all available space left in my brain. My hands tangled their way into his hair, wanting to keep him as close as possible.
I could feel him smiling against my lips, clearly amused by my lack of control. So I bit him, gasping as I felt the stinging sensation that accompanied my actions as if it were my own pain. He growled, plunging his tongue into my mouth. I felt rather than heard the moan that escaped my throat as a result. I was far past hearing anything.
It felt like an eternity before he released his hold on my lips, now swollen and red. But he didn’t stop there. Prying my hands out of his hair and pinning them to the bed freed his movements, and he was ready to take full advantage of that; trailing barely controlled kisses down my throat, and grazing his fangs against the sensitized skin.
He nibbled at the base of my neck, chuckling when I tried to free my hands so I could grab him again. “Not yet, love. I’m still exploring,” he said huskily, running his tongue from my clavicle to my breasts.
My heart just about stopped when he took one of the tender pink pieces of flesh into his mouth to nibble and suck as he pleased. The stutter before it picked up into a pounding double-time ensured that the blood racing through my veins caught fire twice as fast. When he switched sides, a slew of soft-spoken curses slid past my lips.
I’d been so determined to fight him on this, but there was no way that was happening any time soon. My nerves were going haywire, and it all felt way too good to put any proper effort into fighting it. What really got to me was that I was burning up from just a kiss. I wasn’t going to last very long if he kept this up.
Once he was done with my breasts, he let his mouth wander elsewhere. Every single inch of my skin was subjected to the...delicate...ministrations applied by his kisses. Naturally, he saved the best for last. Tying my hands behind my back with a spare blanket, Adrian gently pushed my thighs apart, settling between them with a wicked smile on his face. In all due honesty, I was starting to appreciate that expression.
“Shall I prove you wrong, love?” he asked thickly, blue eyes gleaming in the dim light of the evening. A shiver traveled down my spine as the words registered in my head.
I was torn between nodding furiously, and letting him do as he wanted, or shaking my head and trying to run from him. The second option was likely a futile attempt, since I was boxed in. However, I wasn’t exactly keen on the enthused nodding either, as that was far too embarrassing for me to even consider for very long. Fortunately, Adrian seemed content to interpret my deep blush as a sign to continue because I wasn’t able to keep tossing either option about for very long.
Or rather, I wasn’t doing any thinking whatsoever because as before, there was no possible room for it. For that matter, I could barely breathe. I’d had no idea Adrian was so talented with his mouth, but that skill was going to be the death of me.
My body acted of its own accord, hands curling into fists as my hips volunteered to sacrifice themselves to his tongue. Meanwhile, my nervous system was busy trying to tell me that I was falling into forever and gee that wasn’t a problem at all because damn it felt good. It didn’t matter that I was holding onto my sheets for dear life, squirming uncontrollably, or that there was a ball of tension quickly winding itself up down in my gut. I was too busy being swamped by the feeling of what he was doing to care.
When he added his fingers to the mix, I thought I was going to burst from the added pressure. The sensations I reveled in were becoming too much, almost, but not quite, overwhelming me as they rushed through my body. It was almost as if I were teetering on the edge of drowning, and he refused to let me sink under the waves.
Ah, but I wanted so badly to drown! Better to fall under than to be left treading water for what felt like hours on end. My lungs burned with the urge to scream, to beg for anything that would lead to an end. I’d never been an exactly patient woman.
Then the dam broke, and I really did scream. There wasn’t quite any feeling in the world like the one that happened when all the tension in my muscles decided to burst into fireworks and leave me warm and breathless, with no urge to move, much less open my eyes.
Adrian pulled away, only to rejoin me seconds later. Thankfully, his head was nowhere near my thighs this time, instead resting on top of my chest. “Well?” he asked, chuckling softly at the disgruntled groan that escaped my lips.
I thought about lying for a brief moment, but there was no doubt in my mind he would only seek to ‘prove me wrong’ again. Not that the idea wasn’t at all appealing, but I didn’t think I’d survive if he opted for a repeat performance. “Oh fuck it, you win,” I sighed, exhausted. Sleep was the only thing left on my mind that mattered, and it brokered no room for arguing or anything else.
“I think your reaction was proof enough of that,” he replied, sounding smug.
Why did he have to make it so difficult for me not to argue with him? “Then why’d you bother asking?” I demanded sleepily, half-opening my eyes to glare at him.
He was smiling, blue eyes crinkling at the corners. An honest smile, rather than a self-satisfied one. “Because if you don’t admit it out loud, we’ll argue about it again.”
I didn’t think I’d mind running over this particular argument with him again, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him any time soon. “I think you need to shut up now.” Preferably before my weird thoughts convinced me to bicker with him again.
“Sleep well, Kathryne,” he said, shaking his head. “There will be plenty of time to try to beat me up tomorrow.”
Rolling my eyes, I shoved away the towels that covered the bedsheets and settled underneath the warm fabric before realizing that at some point during our exchange, Adrian had replaced my underwear. When he’d had the time to do that, I had no idea, but I was still thankful for it. I didn’t like going to sleep without it. Mostly because I never knew when I’d wake up with stained fabric.
“Night, Adrian,” I mumbled, passing out shortly after.
Though not before he pulled me into a hug and tucked my head under his chin. Sneaky bastard.