The Assistant(46)

“You’re afraid of the lightning?” he questioned, as I felt his head turn back to face me. I didn’t reply – too ashamed at the fact that he had figured out my phobia, and not trusting my voice to be strong enough to lie.



One of his hands uncurled themselves from my wrist and I felt his warm fingers slip under my chin as they guided my face back to meet his concerned expression.



“You can tell me,” he said, voice dropping down to a deep murmur. “I’m not going to judge you.”



More thunder rumbled outside. I gulped and looked straight into his hazel eyes before I felt my head nod a fraction as my reply. Surprise flashed in his features as he stared down at me for a few moments. I could practically feel the laughter that was about to erupt from his system, and I waited for the shame to sink into my skin even deeper than it already had.



Except, no laughter came.



Adrian bent down and kissed my forehead, before I felt the entire warmth of his body leave mine in a fraction of a second. Disappointment and longing flooded through my veins – and the fear and shame I was feeling was temporarily forgotten. I looked down at his shirt in embarrassment, not wanting to see his reaction to the newly discovered information he found about me – and was surprised once again when I heard the zip of curtains echo throughout the large room, as it suddenly turned pitch black. I heard shuffling before a small bedside lamp flickered on, illuminating Adrian’s handsome face in the darkness of the room.



“Is this good for you?” he asked, the concerned expression never leaving his features.



I stared back at him in surprise for a few moments, blinking as my mind temporarily blanked from answering his question. Why wasn’t he laughing at me or making fun of me?



Realising that he was still waiting for a reply, I nodded meekly, flushing again from his concern and my lack of response. “I… Thank you,” I mumbled as he re-entered the bed. He instantly pulled me into his torso once again, wrapping his arms around my body in a protective manner.



“You should have told me,” he murmured into my hair as he stroked my back in a soothing motion. My body began to heat up in embarrassment again as I suddenly felt conscious of every inch of my body pressed against his.



We stayed silent for a while in the same position – he continued to stroke my back as the sound of the pouring rain and rumbling thunder became muffled from my face being pressed into the crook of his neck – blocking out any lightning that I would’ve been able to witness.



After a while, he pulled away slightly and looked down at me with a small smirk.



“I know you’re uncomfortable,” he stated as his gaze travelled down to the royal blue boxers I was wearing, before he looked back up to my chest area, where I was still wearing the strapless bra.



I felt every pore on my face pulse as the heat spread through them, and I looked away from his knowing gaze. He pulled away from me completely, and the same longing feeling returned to my body as it instantly turned cold due to his withdrawal.



“Take them off,” he commanded in a firm tone, leaving no room for argument.



I looked at him cautiously for a while, before sighing and nodding. There was no point trying to argue with him. “Turn around,” I mumbled, still blushing in embarrassment and self-consciousness.



“Why? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” he pointed out, “Plus, we’re sleeping in the same bed.”



I glared in his direction and crossed my arms over my chest, making him chuckle. “Okay, okay. I’ll turn around.” His grudging tone made me smile a little as he turned away from my body.



I quickly shrugged off the boxers and pulled off the bra while watching Adrian’s back with caution, afraid he was going to turn around any minute. I dropped the pieces of clothing on the floor and got back into bed. Adrian instantly turned around and pulled me into him once he felt the mattress dip from my presence, and smirked down at me.



“Better?” he asked, as I watched the green in his hazel eyes begin to take over the brown.



I scowled up at him playfully. “Stop enjoying this so much.” His fingers brushed along the side of my thigh.



He chuckled before he pressed me closer into his body, and my eyes widened in shock as I felt a familiar, hard thing press at my lower stomach. “Too late.” He smirked, making my expression turn to one of horror.



“Adrian! It’s been, like, 30 seconds!” I hissed, mortified.



He chuckled again before kissing the tip of my nose. “That doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about it previously.”