Only You - Lord of the Manor book 1

Chapter 33

'Rise and shine, baby.' His nose is touching mine as I open my eyes.

I give my brain a few moments to kick into gear and my eyes time to adjust to the light. When my focus eventually clears, I find he's looking down at me with bright green, twinkling eyes. I, on the other hand, want to sleep some more. It's Saturday, and not even my need to rip a strip off of him will get me out of this bed any time soon.

I push him away, rolling over. 'I'm not talking to you.' I grumble, snuggling back down into my pillow. He gives my backside a swift slap before flipping me back over and pinning my arms down. 'That hurt!' I scowl at him. The corners of his lush lips are twitching, but I'm in no mood for roguish Harry this morning. Why is he so happy? Oh, yes. I know damn well why. He's shredded the taboo shorts and he's got me before eight o'clock.

I'm swathed from head to toe in him as he gazes down at me, running his eyes all over my face. I should bring my knee up and catch him where it counts!

'Now, today can go one of two ways,' he informs me. 'You can stop being unreasonable and we'll have a lovely day together. Or, you can continue being a defiant little minx, and I'll be forced to handcuff you to the bed and dig you in the tickle spot until you lose consciousness. What's it to be, baby?'

Me? Unreasonable? My jaw falls open as he watches me with interest. Does he seriously think I won't challenge him on that little proposal?

I lift my head so I'm right up close to his stubbled, irritatingly stunning face. 'Fuck...off.' I say, slowly and clearly. He recoils, his eyes widening at my brashness. I'm pretty ashamed of myself too. But he brings out the worst in me with his unreasonable ways.

'Watch your fucking mouth!'

'No! What the hell are you doing having doormen advise you of my movements?' That little memory has just landed in my waking brain. But if I'm right, and he's arranged for bouncers to monitor me, then I'll boil over.

'Louis, all I want to do is make sure you're safe.' He drops his head down, starting to chew his lip. 'I worry, that's all.'

He worries? He's known me for less than a month, and he's getting all protective and possessive? He tramples everywhere, derails me, cuts up my clothes and prohibits me from drinking.

UNREASONABLE! 'I'm twenty six years old, Harry.'

He returns his eyes to mine. They're dark again. 'Why did you wear those shorts?'

'To piss you off,' I answer honestly, wriggling a little in complete vain. I'm not going anywhere.

'But you thought you weren't going to see me.' His brow furrows. Does he think I was wearing them for someone else?

'It's principle,' I mutter. I wanted the upper hand, even if he didn't know it. 'You owe me a pair of shorts.'

He smiles, nearly blinding me. 'We'll put it on our list of things to do today.'

What list would that be? Right now, I want to go back to sleep. Or, he could wake me up another way. I squirm underneath him, his eyebrows jumping up in surprise.

'What's all that about?' he asks, blatantly trying to hide a grin.

Okay, now I know exactly what his game is. He's going to deny me, just like he did last night and just like he did before I went out. That's going to be his punishment for me defying him. He's cute. It's the worst thing he could do.

'You don't need to keep me safe.' I gripe, worming my way free from under him. He can set the gauntlet all he likes.

'That's how much I care about you.' he calls to my back, as I leave him lying on the bed.