Drug Lord

Chapter XXIII

"Can I please sleep in another room if you're going to be in here?" I ask as I follow him through his bedroom door.

"No." He returns sharply, as if he doesn't even consider the question. Standing next to his dresser now, he begins unbuttoning his shirt. I blush and lower my eyes, then walk to his bed and grab two large pillows.

"I'll sleep on the floor," I tell him quietly.

I don't have to look up to know that he's turned in my direction. But I do, and to my surprise, I find that his chest is exposed now. Four buttons have been unclasped.

"No, you will not." He stalks to the other dresser, which I suppose is mine now, and pulls out a white pair of shorts and a large tee shirt. He tosses them to me, and I instinctively drop the pillows to catch them. 

"Put your night clothes on, and get into bed. I'm not asking."

I stay quiet. I want to refuse, but I'm honestly afraid of the consequence at this point. I can practically still feel the impact of his hand on my butt, and I can only imagine what other punishments his mind could conjure up if the wrong button were to be pushed. 

With this in mind, I walk to the bathroom to change. I take my sweet time in here, in an attempt to prolong the inevitable: sleeping with the devil. Would he notice if I just slept in the bath tub? 

I wash my face with steaming hot water, for at least five minutes - to the point that it is a bright red. I take another five minutes brushing my teeth, then take my time lathering a thin layer of lotion onto my skin. Not sure how to prolong it any further with genuine tasks, I play with my hair in the mirror. Once I'm bored, I try to see just how horribly I can distort my face. 

I'm looking pretty disgusting when I hear his deep voice on the other side of the door. Naturally, I jump, and my face returns to normal. He doesn't yell by any means. In fact, if it were anyone else using that tone, it may sound calm. 

When Ever Kingsley uses it, it's almost violent. 

"What are you doing?" his words travel through the door. 

After taking a deep breath, I muster up the courage to face him, and swing the door wide open. 

He towers above me, hand placed on the frame. 

"Girl things," I say, ducking down and swiftly moving under his arm, through the doorway. 

"Is that so? You were in there for over twenty minutes. Seems like you're trying to avoid going to bed with me." 

I ignore him, navigate across the room, and jump onto the large bed. I begin to tuck myself in awkwardly, thinking of how he will be beside of me any moment now. 

"Ori," I hear him say, his voice close. He has moved away from the bathroom now, hovering at the end of the bed. I can't help but take notice that his shirt has been completely removed. 

Oh, Jesus Christ. What is this? How is it fair that such a horrible monster gets to look like such a god? 

His chest is broad, hard. His arms are the same: large and muscular, but not to the point where I want to puke, like I do when I see a huge gym rat. No, they are.. perfect. He is naturally built like this. There's a trail of hair leading down to- 

"Hello?" 

My eyes dart to his and my body jerks from shock. I quickly look back down. What am I doing? 

"Did you hear me?" He asks this in annoyance, but I would bet my life that his face bares a smirk. 

"W-what did you say?" I return in embarrassment, but I force myself to recover quickly from the wave of shame. Instead, I just grow irritated. Irritated at the fact that I'm not only here to begin with, but that I have to sleep with him. Irritated at my eyeballs for betraying me into thinking, even if only for a moment, that he was hot. 

"I said, is that what you were doing? Attempting to postpone going to bed?"

"No," I snap. "I told you, I was doing girl things. Tampons." 

"Tampons?" he repeats in confusion. "What? Are you on your period? Do you need tampons?"

"No!" I quickly bring my body, as well as my face, under the blankets. I am radiating heat. Why did I even say that. 

An eternity must pass as I lay here in expectancy. I know that any minute, his body will be lying next to my own. 

Right on cue, I feel the blanket shuffle and the mattress succumb to his weight. The click of the lamp sounds next to him, and I know that we are now in darkness. 

I swallow nervously and turn on my side, facing away from him. 

Thirty or so minutes have gone by now, and to my surprise, he hasn't even attempted to inch near me. Not a single word has been spoken. My body finally begins to relax a bit, and I actually feel a little sleepy. My thoughts start to crumble into incoherence. My eyelids flicker slower and slower. 

Suddenly, Ever's low, tired voice replaces the silence. 

"Why were you so afraid to sleep with me?"  

My body jumps at the unexpected sound of his words. 

"Why do you think?" I ask in sleepy vexation.

"Not for obvious reasons, like you want me to think. No, I believe that you're.... Have you ever slept with a man, Ori?" 

I want to be surprised that he asked me such a question, but I can't bring myself to be. This isn't out of character for him. 

"Oh my God, can you not?" I groan loudly and recover my face with the comforter. 

Strangely enough, he doesn't push any further. In fact, silence supersedes the room once more. Grateful isn't a strong enough word. 

Again, half an hour passes by before I grow tired. This time however, no voice interrupts the heavy flickering of my eyelids. This time, my body and mind give into exhaustion. I fall asleep subconsciously focusing on the sound of the deep, sleeping intakes of breath beside me.