Page 112 of Deviant

“Hey, what the hell?” I ask, uncaring if I’m being too loud or not. Immediately, I pull my knees up to my chest to cover myself, since I’m only in a white tank top and panties.

I half expect to find him smirking at me but am completely taken aback when all he does is grab my foot to inspect my ankle.

“Blisters. I knew there had to be a reason for you to be limping,” he groans, letting go of my foot and grabbing his bag.

“It’s nothing. It’s my stupid fault for not lacing my bootlaces tighter. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I tell him, though he doesn’t seem to be listening to me anymore.

I watch as he pulls out a first aid kit from his backpack and then grabs my leg until my foot is on his lap.

“When these burst, it’s going to hurt like a bitch,” he mumbles to himself as he dabs a cotton ball with some peroxide.

“I thought you liked seeing me in pain,” I say softly as he presses the cotton ball to my blisters, making me flinch at the sting.

“I said I take pleasure in being the one who hurts you. There’s a difference,” he explains before blowing on where it stings most.

“Oh, okay,” I reply a little too breathlessly for my liking. But Elias taking care of me like this has turned my brain to mush.

Ever so slowly, he continues on with his care, first pressing the cotton ball with peroxide to each blister and then blowing on it to take the sting away. By the time he starts applying theantiseptic ointment on them, I’m a little turned on, and more than intrigued with my caregiver.

“You’re good at that,” I compliment him.

“I’ve had plenty of practice,” he replies while putting everything back into his first-aid kit.

“With your mom?”

He nods, packing his stuff back into his bag. “Not only with her. You forget that I had to look after my brother and sister growing up. When they were younger, they would get up to all sorts of mischief, and I had to learn fast how to take care of every scrape and bruise they came home with.”

I lay back down and put my arm under my head to take in the magnitude of his gorgeous face. His strong jaw, high cheekbones, and cleft chin are a sight to behold, but it’s his piercing gaze, framed by thick lashes, that I’m completely enamored with. His eyes hold such deep intensity that you can’t help but be absolutely captivated by them. Sometimes, his eyes have this beautiful midnight blue hue to them, reminiscent of a peaceful starless sky. But other times, when he’s more beast than man, his eyes become so pitch-black that you could almost believe they can swallow you whole, engulfing you completely, until you become as lost as he is to the empty abyss.

“What?” he says when I haven’t said anything in a while.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how it must have been hard to have grown up that fast. You gave up your childhood to ensure your siblings had theirs. It’s noble the sacrifice you made for them.”

“If you want to survive the night, how about we don’t talk about my siblings, yeah?” he grunts, his blue eyes turning a shade darker.

I seal my lips shut and lean forward to pull up my sleeping bag over my frame, only to have Elias tug it roughly out of my hands and sneak his way inside it. I open my mouth to protestand explain that this bag is only big enough for one, but the small growl he makes is all I need to hear to keep my mouth shut. Now is not the time to irritate him any more than I already have. So I lay there silently, staring at the tent’s lining as Elias makes himself comfortable, his body turned to mine.

“Aren’t you going to go to sleep?” he asks after a while.

“I’m too wired for that,” is my explanation.

I could say that the half-naked man who has sworn to cause me immeasurable pain doesn’t help to take my insomnia away, but I doubt he’d see the humor in it.

“Hmm. I can think of one surefire way to help you fall asleep. Too bad you caught me on an off night,” he jokes, turning to the other side so his back is now turned to me.

I bite my bottom lip and decide that now is as good a time as any for him to come clean.

“You didn’t seem like you were on an off night last night. I guess being older, you need more time to recuperate and all.”

“I beg-your-fucking-pardon?” he says, turning to face me again.

I turn to my side and look him square in the eye.

“You heard me.”

“Did you hit your head on a branch or something?” he continues to joke. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Yes, you do. The park. The alley. The wolf mask,” I insist, only to gain a confused glare in his eyes.

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