008

WINNIE

My eyes flew open. Something in the air thickened. I was no longer the only one in the room.

I wasn't really a light sleeper but being in prison for years had done a lot to sharpen my senses. I could sense when I was about to be in danger. Hence I had a way of avoiding tricky situations and I had a way of protecting Trisha as well. Here, not so much. I was helpless. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

The weight of the bed pressed under someone's weight and I could tell it was Roman. I knew what he smelt like now. It was strange but it was true. I wondered why the hell he was back so early. It was barely morning and didn't he say that he was going to spend the night with someone else.

I should feel disappointed but at the same time. I felt relieved. I couldn't really describe it. It was a really confusing feeling.

“I know you're awake” his voice sounded slurred slightly. I stopped myself from flinching at the last minute. I wondered if it was advisable to keep on pretending like I was asleep.

“Turn around” he said again. The tone of his voice was hard and it made my blood turn cold. He was certain that I wasn't asleep. He knew. Reluctantly, after a long minute of hesitation, I finally mustered the courage to turn around.

The room was dimly lit but I could see him as clear as days. He was still in his clothes. His shirt was unbuttoned and opened wide. I could see his tattooed uncovered, his torso was muscled and the hunger came from nowhere to run my hands across every inch of that torso.

Explore. Are you bonkers? You were just on about how you didn't want him to touch you hours ago. Where the hell is this coming from?

My eyes met his and our gaze met and held. My throat suddenly became dry.

“Help me take it off,” he said. I knew he was talking about his shirt. I was almost tempted to tell him to take it off himself but the last thing that I wanted to do was trigger or provoke him.

“Of course” I muttered under my breath as I shifted closer.

I closed my eyes and sighed trying to regain whatever composure that I had left. I shifted closer to him. I didn't want to be closer to him than necessary. Take it off his shirt. Go back to sleep. Nothing about this is difficult. Don't think about how beautiful he is. Don't think about how you want to run your fingers across his skin.

I was halfway through removing his shirt when I felt his arms wrap around my waist making the proximity between us disappear. My breath got caught in my throat and for a moment, I was almost positive that I stopped breathing. Every inch of my skin ignited with heat.

I wondered if this was from years of being in prison without physical touch. There was no way I could possibly be in the right state of mind to be feeling this way. This was ridiculous.

“What are you doing?” I muttered. I hated how shaky my voice sounded.

“I told you to help me take my shirt off,” he said. His voice was deep and heavy and held some sort of strange appeal.

“And I was on it,” I snapped.

“How is it possible for you to take off my shirt from a distance?” he raised an eyebrow at me in question.

“Don't tell me you have nothing to say now. You weren't afraid to run your mouth some hours ago” he said. His voice dripped with icy mockery. It awoke the irritation that I had felt for him earlier.

“If you think I'm afraid of you. I'm not. I'm not a puppet. Don't go off thinking you can order me around” I snapped at him.

I almost regretted it instantly because the rational decision was to remain silent. The plan was to placate him until I could figure out a way to escape but unfortunately it wasn't going very well because he succeeded in getting under my nerves every minute.

“You run your mouth and yet you're afraid to touch me” he growled as he yanked me further, sending me crashing against his torso.

Unable to help myself, I muttered profanities. He chuckled. It was obvious that he found my frustration amusing. I placed my hands against his chest to regain some sort of balance.

I was conscious about the weight of his hands against my back. I almost yelped in surprise when he tugged me closer to him. He sent the both of us crashing down against the pillows. His arms were tightly banded around and my heart threatened to burst out of my body in frenzy.

I couldn't make sense of what was happening. I only knew that it would be completely useless to struggle with him. I could smell the alcohol on him and yet the warmth of his hand against my skin was so comforting. I shivered lightly as his fingers idly traced circles on my exposed shoulders. I wondered what the hell he was doing.

I prayed that he wasn't going to touch me or at least, make an attempt to. Although a sick part of me was curious. I should be attempting to make a run for the hills. Do something. Yet I remained here. With his arms banded around me. I could feel his warm breath against my skin.

“I couldn't touch her,” he muttered. His voice coming out in nothing but a thick slur. I wanted to ask him what it was that he was talking about but I tried to convince myself that I didn't want to find out. A few moments later the silence was accompanied by his light snore.

I attempted to move away from him and create some sort of distance but it was impossible with the way his hands banded around my waist. There was no point struggling

I hated that I was aware of the warmth coming from his body. It made me too conscious but at the same time, I wasn't entirely revolted. Slowly I was beginning to drift into sleep.

The next time that I awoke. It was morning. I yawned. I couldn't remember the last time that I slept in a comfortable bed. Something was odd. I frowned. It was then that I remembered that I wasn't alone. I turned around even though it was almost impossible.

I stared at Roman’s sleeping face in awe. It was ridiculous but I couldn't seem to push aside the interest that I felt. He looked so.. different. If I thought he was a gorgeous man then, I didn't exactly know how to describe him now. He looked almost…unrecognizable.

The hard edge disappeared from his face giving him an entirely different look altogether. I lifted my hand in an attempt to trace my finger across his face. I paused midway. What the hell was I even doing?

“If you're going to keep staring at me like some kind of creep. You should at least ask for permission first” he said.

I was taken aback by the sudden sound of his voice. He was awake. His eyes were still closed but he could sense that I had been looking at him. He was right. I was starting to feel like some kind of creep.

“It's also very creepy to squeeze the air out of me. I mean I can barely move” I retorted back. It was then that he opened his eyes. His gaze traveled down to the grip that he had on my waist.

He blinked in surprise before he quickly masked his face into an impassive expression. He moved away and the warmth that I had felt, disappeared alongside him. Snap out of it.

“Forget that this ever happened” he said as he adjusted into a sitting position.

“Nothing happened,” I said. I sounded like I was trying to convince myself instead of him. He was silent for a lengthy moment before he finally got off the bed. The air in the room was thick with tension and I couldn't do anything about it. It couldn't be helped.

He headed towards the door and paused as he turned to stare at me coldly. His eyes brimmed with intense irritation that caught me off guard.

“Be down for breakfast on time” he said coldly. I was about to give a response before I heard the loud slam of the door. I got down from the bed almost immediately, trying to make sense of what happened. I didn't know what to make of last night. I didn't even know why I spent too much time thinking about it.

I heard a knock on the door. It was probably the maid. I headed towards the door and opened it. I froze. Roman's brother towered over me as he smirked icily at the doorway.