Chapter 17: A few Weeks later.

*Gray*

A few weeks have gone by now since the day of Angel being carried in through my door beaten and bruised. She's walking again and talking thankfully, I no longer have to bathe her but I do stay close by in case she needs my help. And her cast gets taken off in a week. My negotiation over the phone with the old man went well, we have so far decided to wait a while before taking action on it. I want Angel to recover before I fill her in on anything I have planned, and I also had something I wanted to talk to her about, to get her opinion on. But, before that, I wanted to treat her and give her my time for a full day. Help her ease and take her mind off of all the things she has had to endure so far.

Speaking of the devil.

Angel opened the door to the guest room and limped out slowly making her way into the kitchen. She scratched the back of her head, running her fingers through her messy bed hair as she yawned. Her hand that rubbed her belly had come up under her shirt, pushing it up just enough to reveal a portion of her perfectly round belly and caramel-toned skin. She wore a pair of my boxers, they were red along with a matching color pair of name-brand socks that I had given her the other day. She had lost a few pounds since the day of her coming back to my current home of residence, but she still looked better than any of the women I have been with before her.

Her bruises had faded away quickly due to the ointment the doctor had provided and her ribs healed before her leg had. I was currently relaxing on my couch in the main area with the tv on, and the remote in my hand as I watched her from my spot carefully climb into one of the bar stools that stood near the island table in the kitchen. There was no chef today, so breakfast hadn't been prepared early like usual if my chef had been here. Instead, I gave them the day off, leaving myself to do all of today's cooking. It's been a while since I've had to do any cooking myself so my skills might have a bit of rust eating away at it but I think I've still got it and can make a smooth comeback.

"Morning beautiful," I called out to her, alerting her of my presence in case she hadn't seen me when she came out of the room. Standing up, I slowly made my way over to the island table in the kitchen standing on the opposite side across from Angel. "Morning," She replied shyly, her cheeks growing in a pink color. Ever since she could walk and talk again, she had become more shy than she'd ever been with me and I had no Idea as to why. I was clueless when it came to her sudden switch-up, but I wouldn't allow that to keep me from treating her the way I have always been.

I was an entirely different person when I was with Angel, I was calmer and more approachable as I've been told. I didn't look like I'd kill the first person to give me a sappy look whether it be an accident or on purpose all the time. But that was only when Angel was in my presence, she was the drug that kept me calm. But that calm version of me would cease to exist if and when anything happens to her that I can't prevent from happening. My ultimate goal is to keep this woman that I haven't even known for long, just a few months safe from all evil that dared to harm her for any reason and in any way.

Currently and unfortunately for me though, that was far more difficult than said. All things are easiest said, but when it comes down to the action part it proves to be more difficult than anyone could imagine. Even for those with all the money in the world, just some things can't be protected no matter how you go about it or how many thousands you put down. It just doesn't matter, certain things have to be taken out by force rather than by a good bargain. Sometimes the good guy has to take on the bad guy's role to protect what is theirs. I was currently walking that path. As I looked on at Angel, my eyes couldn't help themselves, and as if they had a mind of their own or their own conscience they began to wander looking at every part of Angels' body that was visible above the surface of the Island. Their favorite place on her to look though seemed to be her lips, they were plump, full, and soft appearing. I wanted to kiss her lips so bad at that moment, but I held myself back for now.

*Angel*

I was in my second week of finally being able to walk and talk again. Those few weeks of having to lay in bed doing nothing were so difficult to bare that I dreaded everything bad that had happened to me so much I could have gone into my very own villain arc era, truly. The only good thing about it though that I enjoyed most was being pampered by Gray. Listen, hear me out ok they were touching every inch of my body with their strong hands, and I mean EVERY inch of my body when they bathed my incapable self. I'm still flustered about it today, but now that I'm able to care for myself I've become fairly disappointed because, well you know Gray can't bathe me anymore.

Well they can, but I'm not going to ask them or give them the satisfaction of knowing that I enjoyed it, and even if I wanted to my anxiety wouldn't allow me to. And as I was stuck bedridden, I had so many well-over-explicit sexual dreams about them and boy were they amazing. They really had me sighing in disappointment when I woke up, luckily for me I was never wet when Gray came to give me my daily bath. But now, whenever they were near me I could hardly handle being around them like I used to be able to. I've become so shy and can no longer keep up with a conversation with them without averting my attention from them.

I would always leave them with a disappointed look on their face that leaves me saddened because I can't bring myself to go back to normal for them. *Ladies, if you ever have a crush on someone I advise you not to let it get this far, don't let it become awkward like I have! Don't follow my path.* I often had nightmares about that night when I got the shit beaten out of me in place of those recurring sexual dreams I welcomed with open arms and a bright big smile carved onto my lips. Those nightmares caused me to move in my sleep more than I should have, but surprisingly it didn't delay my healing process at all. It just caused me more pain than I would have had without the recurring nightmares.

Since I've been able to walk again though, I haven't had any nightmares I assumed it was because of Grays' indescribable hold they have on me. That sense of them being able to protect me lived inside of me strongly, it was only when I wasn't with them did I feel so unsafe and alone. Not even Kyle made me feel so safe when I was with him, with Gray it was just a whole new story and feeling on its own that I didn't know how to go about describing. But what didn't make sense was that I did have nightmares and panic attacks even when Gray was often there at my side when I was bedridden. Though I won't dwell on it too much, it's often best to leave the undescribable alone unless you want the problems that come with it when you do figure it out.

Something my mom used to quote often when I was younger. "Princess?" I heard Gray's voice ring in my ears as I had lost myself in my own thoughts for a while there. Rethinking on the past events that currently haunted me and some made me feel overwhelmingly happy. I blinked blankly at them for a silent moment as I came back to my reality, "Hm? I'm ok." Gray giggled amongst themselves, giving a small shake to their head, "I didn't ask you anything cupcake, but how are you feeling?"

I blushed again realising now that they actually hadn't said anything to me question-wise. Awkwardly I giggled and looked away from them, now staring down at my own hands as I played with my fingers. "I feel much better now that I'm mostly healed up," I began with a little bit of a stammer still fiddling with my own fingers. That's when I felt Gray's hand gently make contact with my chin using their finger to lift it up just slightly. Just enough so that I would look up with my eyes and stare into their own.

"Look at me, I don't like when you look away..." I bit at my bottom lip shyly as I kept my eyes on them this time, again listening to them as if they had given me some kind of forbidden command that made me do whatever they asked of me. It was so entrancing, their voice. They were so entrancing, everything about them. from their green eyes, down to their big muscular arms that I just want to squeeze and feel on. I cleared my throat and pulled my head away from their gentle grasp, "Um... I can't wait to get this cast off next week mostly." I spoke slowly, feeling as if I'd drown if we continued to lock eyes any longer, and just as I was about to look away Gray again reached over and grabbed my chin between their index finger and thumb.

They just stared at me for a silent moment, not one word to leave their lips. "What did I say?" Gray was wearing a black tank top today that complimented the black ink of their tattoos and a pair of gym shorts that fell just below the elastic band of their boxers that had the words *Kalvin Klein* embroidered on them all the way around. I gulped silently as I just stared at them, my lips quivering and my cheeks turning a darker shade of red. "Angel, what did I say?" "To not look away from you..." I repeated, indulging in their question. "So, don't look away from me."

I nodded in their grasp before bringing one of my hands up and wrapping it around their wrist, "I'm sorry, I won't look away again Gray." Gray's jaw clenched tightly as if I had said or done something they disliked, or did I say or do something they in fact did like? It was hard to tell since their reaction was so subtle, I couldn't grasp onto the message they were sending. They then licked their lips as their eyes strayed from my eyes slowly down to my lips before they retracted their hand out of my grasp and away from my chin. Quickly, I looked away hardly being able to bare the interaction. "You just don't understand what you do to me princess," I heard Gray breathe out in a whisper as they turned away toward the oven just behind them.

"Are you hungry?"