Chapter 72
I cautiously made my way out of my room and silently shut the door behind me. I followed Derrick's powerful aroma to the kitchen, whereupon I halted dead in my tracks and lost consciousness.
With his back to me, Derrick stood in the center of the kitchen, his shirtless body swaying to the soothing sounds of piano music that filled the room.
The noises from him and the sizzling pancake batter blended as he worked over the cooker. I observed the delicate, sensual movements of his hips as they moved in time with the music and his work; they were so gentle that I wished he was dancing with me instead.
He turned to face me when I let out a loud breath, remembering that I had to breathe. My heavy gaze sloped down his back, memorizing the way his muscles moved. The moment he saw my straying stare, his back straightened, and my cheeks flushed from the sheer satisfaction on his face.
As he moved toward me, my body became trapped in the doorway of the room, like a deer caught in headlights, and my heart began to race. I felt the room heat up as he drew nearer to me, watching as his muscles worked beneath his skin.
His lips curled into a grin, as if he was enjoying every aspect of my frazzled expression. When he got to me, my body shook with anxiety, but he leaned in and took my twitching hand from my side and put it in his mouth.
I had to remind myself to breathe again as his soft lips brushed repeated kisses on the inside of my palm.
"Good morning. How are you feeling today?" His speech, the feel of his hands, and the way he was staring at me were all hypnotizing me.
The mate bond tugged and tightened with a terrifying force.
I gave a stupid "good," releasing my hand from his hold and stepping around him.
As I made my way to the kitchen sink, I could feel him scowl at my lackadaisical demeanor, but that didn't stop him.
As I noticed him returning to the stove out of the corner of my eye, the aroma of the pancakes counter balanced the sounds of my empty stomach. He flipped through the remaining batter and turned to face me, noting it. I could no longer tell what my body craved more as my eyes devoured the pancakes and the way his arms' muscles clenched and unclenched from the strain of flipping them.
"You must be hungry." He turned off the heat beneath the pan and turned to face me, muttering primarily to himself.
As I breathed him in, he walked to my side, opened the tap, and washed over the punnets of fruits. I was so close to him, I could have put my arms around his waist and dragged him in my direction, but he moved too fast, back toward the counter, picking up a knife and slicing into the enormous strawberries.
I stepped toward him without thinking as I saw the juice staining his fingertips. The mood in the room was shifting once again, growing hotter, and his hands were hypnotizing my entire body. As I listened to her, my logic was flying out the window, and my wolf was scratching at me.
Right now, she wasn't interested in the food, but she was going to take what she wanted.
I curled my hand around his wrist and brought his hand to my mouth, not sure what he expected. He turned to offer me a strawberry when I got to his side. With a slight groan, I bit through the ripe fruit and withdrew the green, leafy half from his fingers, all the while maintaining eye contact. I could feel him getting tense as I lapped at the rest of his fingers, slurping the juice off his skin, his possessive growl resonating throughout the tiled room.
He was at my whole disposal as I delighted in the passionate way he was staring at me, but he finally drew me to his chest, scooped me up, and firmly placed me down on the counter. He moved to take his spot between my knees, his hands encircling my thighs as he did so.
"Are you taunting me on purpose?" His tone was inquisitive and quiet. "I'm not sure that you'd like it when my wolf comes out to play." The mist started lifting from my head just as his eyes were getting darker.
It was a strong, intrusive sensation that sent shivers down my spine. I wanted him to touch every inch of me.
I was collapsing and flailing into him as he grabbed me close.
Subsequently, my stomach growled violently, and the light reappeared in his eyes, our desire temporarily overshadowed by his urge to take care of me.
He placed a punnet full of blueberries in my hands and then looked at me. Now that I was confined to him, his eyes swept over my entire body, reaching my shoulder to tug my top aside so he could see my exposed skin. There was a bruise there that his fingers sadly brushed over, but yesterday there had been teeth marks.
"Your foot, does it feel better?" I nodded in response to his question as he moved slightly away from me. Then, his hands wrapped around my body once more, lifting me up and carrying me across the kitchen.
I let out a small cry and clumsily held on to him while he shifted me to a stool at the far end of the breakfast bar. He gathered all the food he had been making and set it in front of us after seating me, then he took the stool next to me.
As we sat side by side, our shoulders touched, and I took a breath as I watched him load our plates. He took a handful of berries and wrapped them over five pancakes for me. He made himself the same pancakes, but this time he poured an absurd quantity of syrup over them.
He pushed the bottle of syrup towards me, and I couldn't help but chuckle. As I watched him, the tension in my body released.
"What's so funny?" He grinned and turned to face me, enjoying the noises I was making.