FORBIDDEN (#1)

Chapter 17

It was hot. Insanely hot. I let out a whimper and stretched out an arm to yank the sheets off my body, but my hand hit skin instead. I froze. I was in bed with someone. Where was I? I sat up quickly and immediately regretted it. My head was spinning, and I fell back into the pillow with a huff.

            "Water?"

            I jumped at Roman's voice and slowly turned my head to find him lying next to me, blue eyes bright against the darkness. There was a small light shining from the other side of the room, giving the room a soft glow enough to see his face, but it was still dim enough not to register when sleeping. I swallowed and nodded quickly, wanting my throat to get relief quickly. It was so dry, I didn't even want to try to speak before getting relief. Roman turned and reached over to the stand next to him and turned back around with a glass of water. I grabbed it and quickly drank until my throat was a little better. I gave him the glass back and slid back down under the sheets, staring at him as I tried to figure out how I got in this bed.

            "Am I in your bed?" I asked in a hushed tone. My heart was beating quickly from being in such close proximity to Roman. I could feel all of his body heat radiating off of him and I knew he wasn't wearing a shirt based on his bare shoulders.

            "Yes. Is that a problem?" he asked, voice just as low as mine. His eyes searched my face for my reaction. I finally remembered how I got in his bed. I was waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing and wanted to sleep for a little bit.

            "No, it's fine. I was just a little thrown off. Why am I still at your house?" I asked, confused. I remembered I was supposed to go home, not stay here overnight. Roman propped his arm up, resting his head in his hand. My eyes drifted to his curled bicep and his exposed bare chest before quickly looking back at his face. He looked tired but awake at the same time. The corners of his mouth quirked up.

            "You didn't want to leave." His eyes were now filled with humor and my brows bunched.

            "Really? What did I do?" I pressed my lips together, hoping I didn't make a fool out of myself.

            "I was done with the work I had to do, so I looked for you and finally found you in my room. On my sheets. In my shirt." He raised a brow and I let out a short laugh at his expression.

            "I was tired," I mumbled, and he chuckled.  

            "I figured. I woke you up and tried to get you out of the bed, but you tried to smack me and told me to leave you alone."

            I groaned, rolling to my back, and placed an arm over my face. "What else?"

            The bed shifted and I peeked from under my arm to see him on his back as well now, hands tucked behind his head.

            "That made me smile and I could see that you were exhausted, so I said goodnight and went to go sleep in another room, but you stopped me and said the bed is big enough for the two of us. So, I went to sleep." He shrugged, staring up at the ceiling and I dropped my arm, turning on my side, facing him.

            "That's it? I didn't do anything else?" That was mild compared to what I imagined. His eyes were closed now, and he nodded.

            "Other than pressing your cold feet on my legs here and there, you were knocked out." A grin grew on his face and he opened his eyes, which were sparkling with humor and I huffed out a laugh. We were both silent for a few seconds, until I swallowed. I blew my breath on my hand before bringing my hand to my face and I sniffed. I made a face.