Chapter One Hundred and ten

Ariana's POV;

It was past 8pm. Dinner was long done and over with. Damien had his dinner up in his room long before everyone else because of his medication and to my surprise he did not ask for too much of my attention. Throughout the day, he hadn't requested for my presence, not even when he needed my help. It was strange but a bit relieving.

I was currently talking to Brianna about bringing Mico over to the house the next day because Damien had agreed to letting him in.

"Alright. I'll see you gutsy tomorrow." I said and dropped the call.

Barely two minutes after, another call came through. It was mom.

"Hey mom."

"Ariana, darling, are you close to Damien?"

"Uh, no. Is there something you want to tell him?" I wondered why she didn't just call him instead.

"I just wanted to check on him. I feel like he's not okay and I've been trying to call him since. I'm too tired to walk over to your side of the house."

"Oh. I'm sure he's okay." I said, casually dismissing her worries.

"Never doubt a mother's instinct baby, I felt the same way just before the accident." Her tone was eerie like she was telling a gory story.

That had me sitting up abruptly. What if something was really wrong and that was why he hadn't called for me since?

"I'm going to him right now." I hopped on my feet and was already at the door by the time I said that.

"Thank you." She said with a relieved sigh.

I knocked slightly on the door and there was no response. Then I pushed it open and saw that he wasn't anywhere in the bedroom.

"Damien?"

I heard a loud groan coming from the bathroom and I rushed in.

The sight before me startled me out of my skin.

I saw him leaning over the bathtub holding his head in his hands.

"Damien, what's wrong?" I said, standing by his side.

"I arrgh!" He exclaimed, wincing in pain.

"I just managed to take a bath and now my head feels like it's about to fall off." He groaned in pain.

"Oh no! Let's get you up."

I managed to pull up his heavy body up not minding that he was just in shorts that showed off his taut body.

Focus Ariana, I told myself.

I pushed the button and the wall opened into the closet.

"Can you manage to wear something? I'll pick the outfit out for you." I offered.

"Yeah." He managed to whisper, leaning on the island dividing the closet.

I picked out some soft comfy clothes for him to put on and excused him so he could change into them.

I stood outside the closet waiting for him to come out so I could tuck him in bed properly.

Damien usually slept on the left side of the bed facing the terrace but this time he walked over to the side I usually slept on. I made nothing of it because I wasn't sleeping in here with him.

I knelt on the bed and placed the blanket over him as I saw his eyes shut. I turned and was standing up to leave but then he held me by my arm. I turned back to him with a questioning look on my face but his eyes were still closed.

"Please stay." He rasped out.

"Damien we had a deal, I can't stay here with you."

"But why?" His eyes slowly opened to meet mine.

I opened my mouth to speak and no words of explanation came out.

"I just can't." I shook my head.

"I promise I won't do anything. I can't even do anything, you heard what the doctor said and you can see that I'm actually in a lot of pain." His talking was slow, it showed how physically exerted he was and was also pretty convincing but I didn't trust him.

He must have seen the hesitance in my actions.

"I need you. Please." There was emphasis on every word.

Why did those words have my heart beat rhythmically?

I huffed and puffed a few times.

"Ugh fine!" I conceded and rolled my eyes when I saw him show off his dimple with a smile.

I gradually laid down next to him. For some reason, I had rose tinted cheeks as my head pressed against one of the many pillows.

In the blink of an eye, Damien had his head on my chest and locked my legs by intertwining them with one of his.

He nuzzled between my breasts and sniffed my scent. I wasn't wearing a bra so they jiggled as he moved.

"Damien..." I called in stern warning, recovering from the blush that covered by cheeks after what he just did.

"I'm not doing anything, I promise." He mumbled and dropped slight kisses on both them.

I gasped. The nerve of this man!

"I'll leave this room if you try anything funny, Damien." I threatened.

"Yes, sorry." He simply said, placed his head properly on them and sighed in content.

"I've missed this." He said.

"I know." I hummed as he slightly rubbed on my exposed back under the covers.

"I love you." He said and dropped a kiss on my shoulder.

I kept mute. I couldn't respond to that, not at all.

****

My eyes opened and darkness greeted my eyes. It was only about 5am and I was already awake.

I stared down at the sleeping form who had himself clung to me and was sleeping peacefully.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice because of how much of a light sleeper he was. I couldn't let him see the affection I had for him, it would only raise his hopes about us being together. It was a risk I could not take.

"Good morning babe." I heard his groggy voice say. I froze. He's too much of a light sleeper.

"Morning." I muttered, faking a yawn as I untangled myself from his strong grip.

I slid out of the bed and with wobbly feet, I managed to get myself to the bathroom to prepare a bath for him.

I laid out all the stuff that he needed after filling the bathtub with warm water.

"Damien, your bath is ready." I announced as I came out.

"I want you to bathe me." He said.

I laughed boisterously for a few seconds until I saw how serious he was. It was then my amusement disappeared into thin air.

"Say what now?" My jaw dropped.

"You have got to be kidding." I said, patiently waiting for him to tell me it's a joke.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" He blankly questioned.

"Damien you've been handling your hygiene just fine ever since so why would you want me to bathe you now that you're well on your way to full recovery?"

"It's fine if you can't. You're probably just scared as always."

As always? I was offended.

"What do you mean by that?" I scowled.

"I mean that you shake like a leaf for every little thing so I'm not surprised that you cannot take up this challenge." He said with a casual shrug.

"I am truly offended, Damien." I said seriously glaring daggers at him.

"Truth hurts." He hummed.

"That's not true!" I countered.

"Prove it."

His eyes dared me and I was silly enough to take up the challenge to salvage my bruised ego.

"Get into the bathtub right now and I'll prove you wrong." I said with my chin up.

He smirked, got on his feet and walked past me, bumping my shoulder slightly on purpose.

"I can do this!" I whisper yelled to myself shutting my fist as I basked in self confidence.

I got in and saw he was taking his shirt off, then his pajama pants. It wasn't until his hands held the elastic band of his boxer briefs that my senses clicked back into action.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"Don't take that off, you'll have to wash your," I swallowed not knowing how to put the words right. " 'property' by yourself." That was the only word I could think off.

"Fair enough." He said with a hum of mock approval.

He carefully sat in the tub and I walked over, picked up the loofah and applied the bathing shampoo.

My hands shook as I took my soap filled hands towards him and got on with scrubbing. I could feel his eyes on me and it got me even more self-conscious.

I scrubbed his arms, then his well sculpted chest down to his finely crested abs. I felt his breath on me as I scrubbed slowly and it left goosebumps on my skin.

I soon went down to his legs, avoiding his unmentionables, then, I scrubbed on his thick calves and thighs before applying my soap on the loofah specially for his face.

"Shut your eyes." I said.

"But I want to look at you." He gave me puppy eyes. Who's babying this man?

"Damien..."

"Yes ma'am." He sulked like a child and did the needful.

He must have hit his head really hard.

I washed his face and turned away to let him do the rest.

Dare, done and dusted. I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back.

After doing his thing, I made sure all the soapy water had gone down the drain before rinsing once again.

He towered over me and my eyes made the mistake of trailing down to his...

He's huge! I screamed in my mind. There's no way that would fit in me.

Wait, why was I thinking anything of that sort would happen between us? Hell no, I would never let it happen! Get your mind out of the gutter Ariana Delaney.

I battled those thoughts in my mind until a chuckle jolted me out of my reverie.

I looked away bashfully because he had caught me staring.