Page 33 of Unveiled

Pushing past him, I rush up the stairs, not bothering to wait for him. I need a shower, food, and a nap. And not necessarily in that order. I hear him following behind me, stomping up the steps as soon as I walk through the door, but I don’t want to pay him any attention.

“We need to talk,” he calls after me. I roll my eyes as I continue walking away from him. He can talk all he wants. That doesn’t mean I’m going to listen. “We’re going to dinner tonight.”

I stop in my tracks, nearly tripping over myself. There’s no way I just heard that right. “Dinner…?”

“As requested, I set up dinner with Ethan. Tonight at six o’clock,” he tells me. As the words leave his mouth, I twist on my heels and sprint at him, wrapping my arms around his neck as my body collides into his.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Don’t thank me yet, little one,” he says into my ear as he wraps his arms around my waist, holding me against him so I can’t pull away. “I still have rules.”

“Wear a dress you like, don’t call you the monster, listen to what you say. Got it.” Disentangling my arms from his neck, I try to pull away, but he holds me tight.

“And what are you going to call me, little one?” he whispers in my ear, his voice turning husky in anticipation.

“Nothing. I plan to ignore you the entire time,” I answer with a shrug of my shoulders. “Can I go now?”

He squeezes me tighter, making the last of my air exit my lungs forcefully. “You know how much I love a challenge.”

With that, he finally releases his hold on me. I stumble as my feet land firmly on the ground, and debate how wise it would be to make some kind of snarky remark back to him. All that would do is encourage him to keep pushing, though.

“Oh, and Ainsley?” he calls after me as I walk away from him, my mind set on food once more. “I’ll be much better behaved if you agree to marry me and wear that ring.”

“Not happening,” I call back without even stopping to think about it. He wouldn’t do anything that bad. This is his family, too. My mind flashes back to the way the ring looked on my finger this morning. The morning light made it shine so brightly that I could see every color through the diamond, and it sat on my finger perfectly. Like it was made for me.

Stop thinking about it, I chastise myself. Food, shower, and a nap. That’s all I need to think about.

“Let me clean up your back before you get dressed,” the monster says to me as I finish curling my hair. I’m standing in his bathroom in nothing more than my bra and panties, and he’s definitely enjoying the view.

I nod my head in agreement and turn the curling iron off. As he walks toward me, I lean over the counter, giving him a full view of my bandaged back. He changed the bandage this morning, but with my shower earlier, it’s peeling off at the edges. One snag on the dress I wear and it’ll rip right off.

Carefully so he doesn’t hurt me, the monster pulls the old bandage off, revealing his name carved into my back. It still aches, and the air hitting it makes the pain more prominent, but I still don’t regret it. I might have to wear clothes that’ll cover it for the rest of my life, but it was worth it.

“You know, we should probably just let it breathe now,” he tells me as I watch him admiring his handiwork through the mirror. He looks up, finding my eyes in the mirror and raises an eyebrow, expecting an answer from me. I only shake my head as a response. No way am I going to Ethan’s without this thing covered up.

The monster sighs, but he doesn’t fight me as he collects the ointment and bandages from below the sink. As he spreads the ointment over my back, his fingers leave a trail of fire in their wake. I hate the way my body reacts to his touch. All of this would be so much easier if I didn’t crave this feeling.

“Is this okay?” he asks as he sets the ointment on the counter next to me. I nod my head, letting him know that what he’s doing is fine. He checks on me too much, afraid he’s hurting me even though the worst of the pain is behind us. “After we get home tonight, I’m taking this bandage off so it can breathe.”

I nod in acknowledgment, knowing that’s the best thing to do now. “I can clean yours up, too, if you want me to,” I offer as he places the bandages across my back, covering every inch of his name. He denies me every time, saying it doesn’t need to be cleaned. Before I caught him, I’m sure he was just letting it go, and it was getting infected every time he reopened it.

He denies me this time, too, and I’m almost grateful. When he does this, the air between us becomes electrified as the universe begs us to give into each other. If I were to touch the bottom of his abs to clean him up, the night would be over before it’s even started.

“There,” he says as he places the last bandage on my back. “Go get dressed.”

He must have showered while I was napping. After I ate lunch, I came upstairs to shower and fell asleep with my hair still wet. The monster woke me up about an hour ago, telling me it was time to get ready, but he was already changed from the clothes I last saw him in.

“Do I have to try on every dress you’ve bought for me, or are you going to come tell me which one to wear?” If he’s going to be picky about my dress, we could be waiting another hour just for me to have clothes on.

“I would love a show,” he answers with a smirk as his eyes scan my body again. “But, if you’d prefer, I can show you which dress I choose.”

With a roll of my eyes, I lead us out of the bathroom and to the guest room, knowing that’s where most of my clothes still are. I certainly didn’t pack any dresses in my suitcase for a week at Ethan’s house.

The monster and I walk into the closet together, going straight for the section with too many dresses for me to ever wear them all. “What about this one?” I ask, holding out a strapless lilac sundress that covers all the way up to my neck in the back and the front. Perfect.

The monster looks it over, but shakes his head in disapproval. Great. We’re really going to play this game. “What would you like me to wear?” I ask before picking out another dress to have it denied again. Of course, this is going to be the one time he’s picky about what I wear.

Stepping out of the way, I gesture for him to take my place so he can see all the dresses. It takes approximately two seconds before he pulls out an equally cute sky blue sundress with the back open down to my mid back.

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