CHAPTER 28. Take care of me

**— VITA.**

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Derek has been in hospital for five days now, and every day, he gets even more impatient and difficult to deal with. His mood is really unstable; sometimes, he’s in deep silence, staring out of the window, and doesn’t say a word... but at other times, he seems really intent on getting under my skin, provoking me, and even being a real asshole. Even so, I came here every day to be his Omega servant, just as he wanted.

Hopefully, that’s coming to an end...

Just a few more days, and I can get back to my routine away from this man.

“Well, if you need anything, you can call me,” I say after tucking the blanket over his legs, drawing his eyes from the window, and making him stop watching the sunset.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Derek asks, his voice angry.

“It’s getting late, Derek. I also need to rest. I need a bath and a good sleep...” — After all, you’ve been making my life a living hell these last few days, making me fulfill your every whim, a new way of torturing me.

“You really like baths, hum?”

I force a smile, trying to ignore him.

“Well, that’s too bad… you haven’t finished your work yet.” Derek says with a wicked smile that makes me shudder. “There’s still something you need to do.”

“I’ve done everything you asked... What else is there to do?” I cross my arms, impatient.

“You need to rub my back; I’m all sweaty… I’m also in need of a shower.”

I gasp in surprise at his sudden words, and my reaction amuses him because Derek laughs low and hoarsely, tilting his head slowly. “Why this reaction? You’ve seen my body so many times; it’s not like you’re a virgin like your sister.”

My heart aches and squeezes, and I’d like to say that I’m no longer a virgin because I gave myself body, soul, and heart to him, but what I got in return was nothing but disappointment. And now, I have to be treated like a slave that he has no respect for.

“Well, then you should get your fiancée to give you a bath, not someone impure like me.” I retort with a bitter mouth and turn sharply to leave, but Derek grabs my arm and pulls me, grunting in pain and startling me, making me touch him on the spur of the moment. “Derek! You can’t move like that!”

“You dare disobey my orders?” He says firmly, without loosening his grip on my arm, still with his pained expression. “I’m ordering you to rub my back, so what are you waiting for?”

“What are you? A spoiled child?” I retort again, but withered, soft-eyed, hating even more the power this man has over me. Really, I’d like to be able to deny him... to turn my back and leave him completely alone... But my heart won’t let me; this supernatural force keeps pulling me towards him, even though holding him hurts like thorns.

“I’m sweaty, Vita... Aren’t you worried about my wound? What if it gets infected because it wasn’t looked after properly?” Derek says with a smug smile that completely shatters my conviction. “You said you’d take care of me, didn’t you? I could die if my wound gets infected.”

I take a deep breath, overcome by his abandoned puppy expression, unable to deny his order.

So I just nod, saying in a low voice, strangled by a tight throat, “All right, I will do it.”

Derek smiles and retracts his hand slowly, moistening his lips and smiling.

I sigh again and grab a bowl of warm water and some clean bandages, as he can’t wet the wound yet. However, when I approach him again, I feel like prey before his predatory eyes, making my heart skip a beat.

Still, I gather my courage and sink the white towel into the warm water, feeling a tickle in my hand and an even odd chill lower belly. I spy the way Derek stands with his back to me, so big and wide and muscular…

I swallow hard the knot that’s forming in my throat, trying to focus on the huge bandage around his chest and abdomen instead of how much his body has grown these years.

With my hands still wet, I touch his shoulder, slowly loosening the bandages, revealing his tanned skin and the muscles of his back so defined that it makes me hold the air in my lungs.

Suddenly, I don’t feel like I can ignore it anymore. Touching Derek and being so close like that makes me shy, and I hesitate because it’s really hard to ignore the fact that I’m being attracted to his body.

“What’s taking so long?” His voice sounds a little huskier and lower than I’d like and sends shivers through my body. His muscles also seem tense, but he doesn’t show me his face.

“Sorry, I’ll be quicker…”

By now, the sun is almost hidden on the horizon, behind buildings, and the sky is slowly being taken over by the night, by the stars and the moon that grace us. The warm tones of the sunset illuminate us, and this somehow makes me even more anxious and disconcerted... Even so, I remove the entire bandage, revealing the still reddened stitches.

And that really cuts my heart.

“You got hurt because of me,” I murmur, touching around the wound, taking care not to cause any pain. “Why did you get in the way? You shouldn’t have done that.”

Derek is silent for a few moments, then just says, “Just do as you’re told, Vita.”

I purse my lips, with tears in my eyes, but I obey, taking the wet towel and wringing it out until all the water has drained away.

Finally, I start running it over Derek’s back as carefully as I can, wiping every inch of his back, his lower back, his tense shoulders, and even his neck and nape. Derek even tilts his head to the side, showing me his strong neck with a bulging vein that pulses and attracts my eyes, and I slide my fingertip over it, feeling it throb under my touch. That brings a strange tickle in my lower belly again, and I monster my lips, gasping.

I pull my hands away from him to wet the towel again and notice that Derek’s body stiffens from the lack of my touch. I peek out of the corner of my eye in complete silence, dipping my hands in the warm water, and grab another piece of gauze to wipe directly on the wound. And as I approach once more, Derek holds his breath.

“Maybe it hurts a bit, okay?” I murmur, but he doesn’t say a word. So I just run the gauze gently over the stitches, afraid of hurting him in some way or causing any pain, but Derek doesn’t even blink, doesn’t grumble, doesn’t even move...

However, when it’s over, and I pull away once more, he stirs restlessly.

“Well, it’s ready-”

“Do you always leave things by halves?” His voice makes me look back over my shoulder, and I notice that he’s now facing me — his abdomen completely on display, showing me all the muscles and veins popping out of the thin skin. “You’re not finished yet.”

I look down at my hands dipped in the warm water, holding the towel, and take a deep breath.

“You told me to clean your back,” I say, averting my eyes.

“Do your job properly.”

I squeeze the tower out once more, leaving it a little wetter, and approach Derek again. I stop in front of the bed, fitting my body between his legs, and become very aware that our faces are at the same height right now and that the distance between our bodies is extremely short and dangerous.

I run the wet tower slowly over his shoulders, sliding it over his trapezius muscles, so defined, and I remember that he really wasn’t that strong when I dug my nails into it. And remembering that makes my chest tighten.

He’s so different, and not just physically... It saddens me at the same time as it gives me a different kind of tickle.

Derek’s eyes are on my face; I can feel it even though my gaze is on my hand, which slides down his chest and abs until it stops at his navel. I swallow hard, my breath becoming shorter and harsher because I’m too close, too close to something I shouldn’t be.

I run my hands up again, rubbing all over his abs once more, and a few drops of water run down his eight packs, a temptation I can’t resist, and I watch it get lost in his waistband.

Derek sighs, and I find myself sighing too, retracting my hand and trying to look away from the big bulge in his pants...

However, just as I’m taking a step back, looking for a safe distance, some pure air I can breathe without Derek’s intense pheromones, he grabs my arm again and pulls me in, making my chest bump against his.

“Derek...”

“Shhh.” His other hand reaches for my hair, tangling it tightly. “Don’t say a word.”

I open my lips to answer him, but no sound escapes between them because Derek seals our mouths, his tongue already sliding to find mine.