Chapter 182 Chapter 182
He fell silent, sighing. Valerie’s lips twitched in amusement when she realized what the problem was. “You don’t like speaking about your feelings, huh? Looks like you really are shy,” she teased, cupping his red cheeks with her hands.
“Valerie. I’m not shy,” he hissed sulkily. “Demons don’t talk about this cheesy romance stuff. Can you blame me?”
“But now you did talk about it.”
“Yes, because I figured you needed to know,” he said, a hint of cockiness visible in his expression. “And I was right, you were happy when I told you.”
“It’s amazing to hear that you return my feelings,” she replied sheepishly. His shimmering blue eyes took in her soft smile.
“My feelings should have been obvious from the moment I asked you for a new bond,” he murmured, leaning in and kissing her temple. She shuddered in delight and snuggled up against him happily.
“You’re right, that was rather obvious,” she said, and then she remembered something. The sweet smell of cake still lingered in the air—they had forgotten about it completely after everything that had happened. “How about we try the cake we made together, Maxwell?” she asked.
“First of all, stop calling me that,” he replied, his pouty lips prompting her to giggle. He looked unusually adorable with his hair sticking up wildly after cuddling with her.
“But I really like this nickname. It suits you so well,” she smiled.
“I don’t think so.”
“Aww, please let me use it,” she whined.
She playfully tugged at one of his braids and leaned in to kiss him on his lips. That he wasn’t opposed to, of course. He let himself fall back on the bed and pulled her on top of him. She put her knees left and right of his torso, bowing down and locking their lips. Gently cupping his sharp jawline, she elicited a low growl from him. His hands traveled over her body, tracing its shape.
“Maxwell?” she murmured against his lips.
He groaned and rolled his eyes, ending the kiss. “Great way to ruin the mood,” he grumbled. “Stop it with the dumb name.”
“You’re fun to tease, though,” she grinned.
Against her expectation, he began to smirk devilishly, a slight red hue visible in his eyes. Entranced, she stared at him, not realizing what he was up to. “You’re even more fun to tease,” he said huskily, and abruptly flipped them over, hovering above her. She looked up at him with wide eyes, not having expected this. Again, she noticed this beautiful red hue in his iris that was as mysterious as it was entrancing.
His hand sneakily slipped below her shirt, wandering over her naked skin. The sensation was amazing and extremely distracting. She inhaled sharply, meeting his heated gaze. The pads of his fingers caressed her stomach, moved higher to her ribcage. He reached the bandage that the doctors had used to cover the wounds on her back, and when he felt the material, he stopped. Eyes clouding with worry, his brows knitted. Valerie frowned since she hadn’t expected him to stop just like that, and she was about to complain, but he spoke before she got a chance to.
“How could I forget about this?” he muttered more to himself than to her. “I think we should check up on your back. I want to know whether it’s healing properly.”
She sighed but nodded, and he moved aside so she could sit up. “Alright, fine,” she grumbled.
He chuckled upon seeing her grumpy expression, and while he went to fetch the medical kit they kept in the bathroom, she removed her shirt and put it on her lap. By the time he returned, she was playing with a strand of her black hair, twirling it around her finger. He lingered in the doorway, watching her in stunned silence. She looked pretty, delectable, wearing a lacy white bra that accentuated the shape of her chest. Her ribs and part of her stomach were covered in bandages, but those did not negate the fact that she was irresistible. As the color of his eyes changed to a hungry red, he forced himself to look away so she wouldn’t notice the desire burning within them.
Quickly, he sat behind her on the bed, gaining her attention when the mattress shifted under his weight. “Oh, you’re back,” she mumbled, throwing him a look over her shoulder. He didn’t meet her eyes, which surprised her a little.
“Mhm,” he replied absentmindedly, using scissors to cut open the bandage. His fingers slid underneath it, loosening it until it fell on the bed. He was silent for a while as he looked at her back, eyes scanning over the dark bruises marring her pale skin. They were as painful as they looked, he knew that for a fact. The scrapes and small cuts, thankfully, were healing well, but still visible. He wished humans healed faster than this since he wanted her to be fine and not in pain. He had to make sure she didn’t strain herself in any way, at least until they were gone.
“You still have many bruises,” he said in a low tone, his words nearly inaudible to her ears.
“They don’t bother me, don’t worry,” she said.
His silence spoke louder than words, telling her that he was concerned regardless of what she said. She heard him rummaging through the medical kit for a while until he found what he had been looking for. Not much later, his fingers gently dabbed ointment over her back, cool and soothing. She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes. He opened a new bandage and proceeded to wrap her stomach and back with it. She didn’t say a word throughout it, relaxing and becoming sleepy.
When he was done, he lingered behind her, his gaze drawn to her bare shoulders. He wanted to touch her so badly, the urge growing stronger until he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. His arms wrapped around her stomach from behind, pulling her closer to him. She made a noise of surprise, but immediately leaned back, snug against his body.
His body heat was comfortable as he held her in a gentle embrace. As his hands caressed her stomach, he elicited a pleased sigh from her. In her opinion, they could remain in this position all day long—she rarely felt this comfortable, this safe.