61__Sleepless

The boldness of his question paired with the gentleness of his voice completely hypnotized her.

Amelia stared up at Marc, her pounding heart heavily in her chest. With her gaze staring intensely into his, she swallowed to moisten her drying throat.

The slow descent of his gaze to her lips only heightened the tension between them.

He released a soft breath, studying her inviting lips. “Amelia, I… I don’t think this is a good idea. The movies.”

She struggled to keep her composure. “Oh? W-why not?”

His brows were furrowed, clearly showing how troubled he was. “Makes me want you.”

There it was again. His unfaltering honesty. She forced her gaze to lower. “H… oh, uhm…”

She bit her lip, not a damn word making it past her lips. She couldn’t allow this. The constant sexual tension between them would get in the way of any progress Marc could make. That would simply negate the entire purpose of what they were trying to do here.

It was easy to confuse sexual attraction for something else and for someone who was just experiencing certain emotions for the first time, Marc could easily make the error.

She had to be the responsible one here.

“Okay, uhm…” She stood, holding her breath as she looked down at him.

He pulled back, resting his back against the couch as he looked up at her, the desire in his eyes unhidden.

“Maybe we should stop here for today,” she said.

He quietly nodded but looked clearly dissatisfied.

She looked nervously about. “What?”

He tilted his head. “Nothing, it’s just… you didn’t answer my question.”

She looked mildly puzzled. “What qu…”

His earlier words replayed in her head and she stopped, staring at him. “Oh.” She swallowed. ‘Must I answer?”

He frowned slightly. “Well, it feels odd to be the only person baring my goods here. You now know that I’m aroused by what I saw. I’d like to know the same about you so I don’t feel so… so…”

His frown deepened as he searched for the word.

“Embarrassed?” she offered softly.

His face took on an odd expression. “Yes. Yes, that’s it. Although... it only makes me feel worse to admit it.”

Her heart strangely warmed and she pursed her lips. With a nod, she agreed. Right, this was to make things easier for him. “Okay, well… to answer your question. Yes.”

He looked at her in silence for a long moment.

The moment stretched and Amelia avoided his gaze wondering if he expected her to elaborate.

“Really?” he asked softly.

Her heart kicked up again, fuelling the butterflies in her stomach. She nodded and could see the wheels turn in his head. “Yes, it’s… remember, I said it was normal? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. For most people, watching a spicy scene can lead to sexual arousal. For me too.”

The curiosity mixed with the heat in his eyes. “And you’re going to take care of it?”

His gently curious tone didn’t take her attention away from the shocking nature of his question. Her eyes widened. “Say what?”

“Are you going to take care of it?” he repeated. “Last time I was frustrated, you told me it’s okay to do it myself. Will you be doing it yourself tonight?”

Her face was slack with shock as she stood before him. He was asking her if she’d be touching herself tonight.

Her mouth opened and closed without a single word.

Her cheeks were a perfect shade of pink, Marc noticed. He’d flustered her. “Yes,” he said for her, reading her face like a book. “You will.”

She was frozen stiff and he stood, urging himself to leave before his thoughts got any more heated than they already had. He looked at her. The image of her in her bed with her fingers between her thighs flashed into his head and he swallowed hard. “Have fun. Lots of it.”

***********

Last night had been torture.

Marc had tried to distract himself by journaling his thought processes during the duration of each movie they watched, trying to write down specific scenes and the thoughts they conjured up in his mind. It had all been unbelievably futile.

His pen wouldn’t move. He’d only managed to write a single line before his mind completely lost interest in the journalling and turned to thoughts of Amelia.

Thoughts of Amelia and what she was currently doing. He hadn’t wanted to think of it, that’s why he’d tried to write, but he’d failed to keep the thoughts out.

Eventually, he’d laid in bed, an aching mess as his mind tormented him with images of her hand between her spread thighs.

He regretted asking her the question and had angrily flung away his covers, getting out of bed to do a long set of frustrated push-ups.

In the end, Marc did far more push-ups than he’d planned, struggling to flush his mind.

Now, he stood with a cup of his morning coffee in hand, staring blankly at the view outside the kitchen window.

The sound of quiet voices reached him and he turned tiredly towards the kitchen entrance.

Putting down his coffee, he strolled out of the kitchen and spotted Amelia and James in the living room, dragging giant cardboard boxes.

“Hello!” James greeted, bright and pink-cheeked. He gasped, blue eyes widening. “You look terrible, dad.”

Marc blinked. “You’re too kind, bud. Thanks a bunch.”

“You’re welcome!” quipped James, completely immune to sarcasm.

“You’re getting better at that,” Amelia said casually, her gaze focused on the boxes. “Sarcasm, I mean.”

His sarcasm was quickly turning into a skill. She’d take full credit for that.

He looked at her, head tilted tiredly to the side. She looked bright and fresh; she must’ve gotten some good sleep. His mouth curved bitterly.

Feeling the heavy glare, Amelia looked at him. The stare she was faced with made her blink.

“Oh,” said James. “We don’t have enough cardboard for the entrance, mummy.”

She snapped out of it, turning away from Marc to look at his son. “Oh. We do! A new printer and copy machine were brought the other day, the boxes are probably still in your dad’s office. I’ll go get them.”

“No, I’ll get them!” James said, puffing out his chest. “I know where dad’s office is and everything.”

She chuckled oddly. “No, no, I’ll get them.” She needed to escape Marc’s stare.

Unfortunately, James just hurried off towards the stairs, leaving Amelia there.

Having lost her chance to escape, she was forced to remain there, awkwardly setting up their cardboard whilst he stared at her.

“Well?” he said.

She tensed, her stomach already fluttering. Her eyes gave him several nervous glances. “Well, what?”

He nodded towards her. “What are the boxes for?”

She perked up. “Oh! Uhm, James wants to build a fort. So, I collected a bunch of boxes for it.”

He nodded, his gaze intensifying like he had more to say.

She swallowed hard, readying herself to battle a giant wave of attraction if he asked her the silent question that obviously stood between them.

Luckily, before he could, the lift open.

“Someone’s here!” Amelia said in relief.

The sound of heels clicked against the floor and then Elizabeth appeared in the living room.

“Good morning,” she greeted, tossing her handbag on a sofa.

“Morning!” Amelia smiled at her, getting a smile back.

“What are you doing here?” Marc questioned, glaring at her.

“When are you moving out?” she countered. “This place is like a prison with that single elevator to access it. And what’s with all the bloody security downstairs?”

“It’s for James’s safety.”

Amelia heard her phone ring and looked at the tea table up by the windows where she’d left it.”

“What happened with Christopher?” Elizabeth asked.

Amelia walked away to answer my phone but kept an ear to their conversation.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marc muttered. “Don’t ever bring me another piece of garbage to work with.”

“Marc, he’s my friend. You shot at him.”

“He deserved it. I can’t stand the revolting sight of him, so tell him to leave the country if he’d like to live a normal life.”

Standing by the windows, Amelia was forced to stop listening to them talk as she looked at the caller ID on her phone.

She quietly answered the call. “Dad?”

“Why are you here so early?” Marc asked, glancing back at Amelia as she spoke softly on the phone.

“To see James. I missed him.”

He raised a brow at her. ‘You’ve changed, Liza. You used to be able to go years without seeing him.”

She lowered her gaze. ‘Those years were torture. And mum was the reason I stayed away like that. I’m not letting her control me any longer.”

“Living in that house means you’ll always be under her control,” he told her.

She looked at him. “But being there let’s me know whatever they’re planning. For example, I found out that Ethan is planning to take Amelia.”

Marc didn’t even flinch. “That so?”

“Yup. He believes that there’s something she’s after that made her marry you and he’ll just give that to her to make her leave you and then he’ll get the biggest chunk of inheritance. He’s already made her the offer.”

He frowned at that. “He made her the offer?”

His sister nodded. “You were right. They tried to get her on their side as soon as they could. Mum’s brothers are probably waiting for Ethan to be successful so they can kick you out the picture and swindle dad out of his money.”

Marc shook his head, waving it all away. He didn’t care what those creatures did to Arthur or his money, all he cared about was Amelia. “Ethan made her the offer, you say? Interesting.”

“Lily?”

Elizabeth turned around and lit up when she saw James. “Hey, Jamie!!”

“Lily!”

He came running into her arms, laughing when she snatched him off the ground and cuddled him.

“Gosh, you’re getting heavier by the day!”

“Lily! We’re going to build a fort!”

She gasped. “How exciting!”

He nodded. “There are more boxes upstairs, but… they’re too heavy for me to carry.”

Marc turned for the stairs. “I’ll get them for you.”

“No, no.” Elizabeth shook her head, smiling. “Let me, Marc. Please.”

Slowly stepping away, he nodded, waving towards the stairs.

James and his mum were walking happily up the stairs when Amelia came marching back into the room.

He noticed that she was angry, but he was just as cross.

“Well?” he demanded with much more sass this time. ‘You didn’t tell me about the talk you had with Ethan.”

Her anger snapped off for a moment, letting shock take over. “Oh? How did you know about that?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Why didn’t you tell me that he approached you? Why did you keep it a secret?”

Staring at him, she became obviously flustered. She quickly recovered, however, crossing her arms furiously. “Okay, so I kept a secret. And? You’re not one to talk.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Marc. You got my father kidnapped!”

He blinked. “Oh… That.”