Insufferable Proximity 2 (6 page)

“Open up,” he instructed as he held the pill between his fingers. She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. He laid the pill on her tongue, and she promptly swallowed. He then held the bottle of water to her lips as she drank.

“Thank you.”

“How do you feel now?” he asked again, hoping the dim light helped.

“My head is pounding, and my cheek feels as if it’s cracked; even my eye hurts.” She leaned against him.

He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed the top of her forehead. “I want you to lay back down and rest until your soup gets here.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat.” He eased her down on the bed and gently covered her with the blanket. He smoothed the hair back from her face as she closed her eyes. “I’m going to check on the food—“

“Don’t leave!” she sat up abruptly, causing a sharp pain to dart through her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Don’t jump up like that again,” he stalked over to her. “I told you—no abrupt movements. You need to lie back down; I’m not going anywhere,” He held her hands between his and kissed them. “I’m not leaving you under any circumstances.”

He helped her lie back down before grabbing his cell phone and calling Sybille.

“She’s up. All right.”

After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. He opened it and let Sybille and her sister Coco in.

“How is she?” Sybille asked.

“Her head is hurting.”

“Oh, my poor child.” Sybille was on the verge of tears. She ran over to the bed and looked down at Heaven. “How are you feeling today, dearest?”

“Terrible,” Heaven replied in a low whisper.

“My poor baby,” Sybille cried as Coco walked towards them.

“Even my cheek hurts now; I didn’t even feel it last night,” Heaven said in a raspy tone.

“You do have a slight bruise there, Toots,” Coco said as she looked at the mark on Heaven’s cheek.

“That son of a bitch! I could just kill him over and over for what he’s done to you, my darling daughter,” Sybille snapped. She wasn’t being dramatic—she was shaking with rage.

Julian nodded in agreement; he liked the idea of being able to kill Gavin repeatedly. Once would never be enough.

“It’s all right, Mom,” Heaven tried to reassure her. She had never seen her mother so angry.

“Damn him! I am just so angry!” she growled the last word—shocking everyone around her.

“He’ll get his, but right now, Sevigne needs to rest,” Coco reminded her sister. It was a matter of seconds before Sybille worked herself up.

“I know,” Sybille bent to kiss Heaven’s head. “I love you, get some rest.”

“I love you, too,” Heaven whispered.

“We’ll come back up to visit you later, Toots.” Coco kissed her forehead.

“Bring ice cream,” she murmured as her eyes closed a little.

“I will,” Coco replied, before taking her sister’s hand and heading towards the door.

“Good idea; we can bring her some fresh iced tea with mint, too. It will go great with vanilla ice cream.” Sybille’s eyes began to pool with tears.

“I’ll even help you make it.” Coco grinned, and Sybille’s frown jerked up into a smile.

“We’ll come back and check on her soon.” Sybille continued to smile as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of her,” Julian assured her.

“I know you will.” Sybille smiled sincerely, obviously relieved with Julian’s confidence. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I’ll eat later after she’s asleep.”

“You need to keep yourself healthy, too,” Sybille reminded him before leaving.

Julian closed the door once they were gone and then wheeled the cart over towards Heaven. He prepared her food and then stood next to the bed.

“Your soup is ready.” He smoothed a loose tendril back from her face. He slid his arms underneath her and carefully sat her up, grabbing an extra pillow and propping it behind her back. He sat on the edge of the bed facing her, before he grabbed the bowl of soup. “Your mother told me to tell you that she made it from scratch.”

“It smells delicious,” she said her voice still groggy. “What kind is it?”

“Chicken noodle soup.”

“Where’s the chicken?” she asked as she looked at the broth. “Where are the noodles?”

“I don’t want you chewing with a head injury.” He was so serious that Heaven decided it was pointless to try to convince him that he was going overboard.

“So I’m reduced to chicken-flavored water?”

“Just for a couple of days.” He filled the spoon and then lifted it to her lips.

“I can do it.” She tried to take the spoon, but he stopped her.

“No strenuous activity.”

“Lifting a spoon is strenuous activity?” If her head weren’t pounding, she would have smiled.

“Yes.”

“Let me guess, chewing is also on the strenuous activity list.”

“Yes, it is. Just sit back and relax.” He held the spoonful back to her mouth, and she promptly accepted it.

She swallowed the soup and nodded, “It is good. Did you try it?”

“Not yet.” He refilled the spoon and put it back to her mouth.

“Have you eaten?”

“I’ll eat later.”

“You haven’t eaten anything today?” She was concerned about him.

“It’s early,” he answered as he held another spoonful to her lips.

“But—“

“No buts,” he cut her off, “I’ll eat later.”

“Yes you
will
eat later; I’m not letting you skip any more meals,” she insisted.

***

After Heaven finished eating, Julian insisted that she lie back down. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for the pain medication to kick in. Once it did, she felt enough relief to actually relax enough to sleep.

Julian sat beside her and watched her sleep for what seemed like hours. She was so beautiful to him, he wanted to kiss every inch of her face. He felt his erection begin to stir, and he forced himself to walk away from the bed.

He was getting ready to take a shower when there was a knock at the door.

“
This is from Ms. Sybille Deville,” his housekeeper said as she handed him a plate.

“Thank you,” he said before dismissing her.

He set the platter down and grinned. Sybille had made him a triple cheeseburger with hand cut steak fries. Just like Heaven, Sybille too was worried about him eating. Since Heaven was resting, he took the opportunity to sit down and eat.

When he was done, he called down to thank Sybille. He also called his cousins to see how everything was going. When he was done talking to them, he called down to the kitchen to have another “chew free” meal created for Heaven.

He had no more than hung up the phone when Heaven woke up. He closed the distance between them and sat next to her.

“How do you feel?” were the first words out of Julian’s mouth. He slid his hand across her cheek.

“My head doesn’t hurt as bad,” she whispered as she tried to sit up.

“No, lie back down.”

“I need to take a bath; I’m all sweaty,” she frowned; she wouldn’t mention that she could still feel Gavin’s grimy hands on her. She could still smell the acrid odor of the cheap cologne on Gavin’s shirt. But most of all, she could still smell a trace of chloroform. Once you inhaled chloroform, you would never forget that smell.

“All right…come on.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bathroom.

“Good thing you work out so much, otherwise the constant carrying might be too much for you.”

He sat her down on the settee and attempted to stand up. Heaven would not let go; instead, she pulled him back down to her. Julian sat next to her as she pulled him closer. With her arms around his neck, she laced her fingers together and pulled his head down to hers.

Slowly, Heaven pressed her lips against his. She loved the feel of his full masculine lips pressed firmly against hers, and pressed even harder, enjoying the cushiony sensation. The softness that pushed back was delicious, and she slipped her tongue into his mouth. She kissed him slowly, exploring his mouth as if she’d never kissed him before. She twirled the hair at the base of his neck as she wrapped her legs around him; slid her other hand down his neck and ran her fingers against his wide chest. She slipped her fingers into his shirt so she could feel his skin; trailed her hand across his pectoral muscles and then down his stomach as she continued their sensual kiss.

Heaven felt her blood igniting as she continued to touch him. She wanted him inside of her more than she wanted to breathe right now as she knew that he alone could take the remnants of Gavin’s touch away.

Julian, on the other hand, was desperately trying to reduce his rabid mind and erection. He knew that he needed to stop the kiss now before it was too late; he would never forgive himself if he ravished her while she was injured.

Slow it down, man! Stop now! Stop!
his mind screamed.

With regret, he stopped kissing her and pulled back a little. She tried to pull him back to continue the kiss, but he wouldn’t allow it.

“This is strenuous activity as well,” he told her.

“Kissing?” she raised her brows high.

“Yes.”

“But all I want to do right now is kiss you. For the rest of the night and all of the morning, I only want to kiss you.”

“I know…I want to kiss you just as badly, but we have to wait.”

“I don’t want to wait,” she pouted.

It took every ounce of his control to hold back. He didn’t want to deny her any more than he wanted to deny himself, but he loved her more than that.

“It’s just a week or two.”

“A week or two? I have to wait a week for a kiss?”

“Yes. You’ll be better soon, and when you are, I promise to kiss you until neither one of us can breathe.”

“Do you promise?” she felt desperate.

“I promise. Now let’s get this bath started. Don’t move.”

“I won’t,” she answered as she watched him walk over to start the water. “Superhot water and extra bubbles.”

“I know,” he grinned as he poured in a liberal amount of fresh linen-scented bubbles. When he was done, he walked back over to her, kneeled down and began to help her undress.

“This whole thing with Gavin has gotten me thinking.”

“That’s always dangerous,” he joked.

“It made me realize how valuable life really is and how quickly it can be taken away. It also taught me about true hatred. For so many years, I thought that I hated you, but when compared to my hatred for Gavin—our hatred seems more like a twisted game of foreplay.” She sat naked on the settee.

“Because it was.” He picked her up and carried her over to the bathtub.

“We wasted a lot of time hating each other,” she whispered sadly after he lowered her into the water.

“We did, but that’s over now.”

“I can’t imagine hating you now. It’s almost as if that hate never existed. It’s like a fairy tale; something I’ve read and remember clearly, but seems too far-fetched to be real. It’s like I never lived through it.”

“I feel the same.” He washed her back with the big sponge.

“Maybe a very small part of me liked you, but I didn’t know it. It sounds ludicrous, but anything is possible I guess. I knew nothing about those types of feelings; I didn’t know anything about love. I knew the concept, but I’d never actually seen it. Neither my mother nor my aunt had ever been in love. They never had boyfriends, and they never brought men to the house. The only men who came to the brothel were there to pay for sex—not love. I’ve seen my fair share of broken hearts and declarations of love from the girls who worked there. I’ve seen women coming to the brothel for protection against the abusive love of their lives. I’ve seen a woman whose husband had beaten her so badly that her right eye had ruptured from the trauma. I watched that same woman prostitute herself for months before returning to her husband because she loved him. I’ve seen women beating down the doors because the husbands they love preferred the brothel to their marriage bed. I’ve seen pregnancies aborted, starved children, and women in conditions so deplorable that their humanity was in question. I’ve seen women being used like play toys, being viciously fucked, beaten, seduced, manipulated and paid for—but I had never seen a woman being loved.”

“And now?”

“Now? Now, I feel it; now I know
exactly
what love is.” She sat up and slid her wet hand up his thigh as she spoke, “I have you to thank for that.”

“That’s strenuous activity, Heaven,” he said as he willed his cock not to react.

“Fine.”

To his relief, she let go of his cock, but his relief was cut short when she leaned back and put her breasts on full display.

He’d been trying to avoid eye contact with those nipples for almost an hour, but now he was looking at them straight on. He was suddenly overwhelmed with lust. His cock began to harden at rapid speed, and his hands began to shake. He took a deep breath and tried to think about something horrific and vile.