ULTIMATUM

chapter thirty seven

BAYLYN

I woke up to a body beside me, his back facing me.
When had he come back? Nonetheless,  I was relieved to see he was alive. He looked like he had been hurt though seeing his hand was bandaged up.

What had happened to him,and why was his injury affecting me instead?

He stirred in his sleep, so I pretended to be asleep thinking he had woken up. When there was no further movement or sound other than his gentle breaths, I opened up one eye to find him now facing me. He looked so peaceful as he slept and for a moment I was tempted to touch his beautiful face but decided against it.

His face was so beautiful you would never guess him to be the big bad wolf that he was, his curls fell gracefully onto his face covering a bit of his eyes,  his pink luscious lips parted a bit as he breathed.

"Stop being a creep wife, you are almost drooling....."  His voice almost brought me tumbling down and off the bed.

The f! Had he caught me staring or did I just imagine it?

As though to confirm my suspicion, he opened his eyes looking directly at me .it was almost like a stance I couldn't break from. I kept looking at him as his gaze peered into my soul.

I didn't know what to say, and yet I still said the first thing that came to my head, atleast I had regained my composure.

"When did you return? I didn't hear you come in?"

He straightened trying to get up, but I stopped him.

"Stay down, you are hurt, how did u get injured?"

He looked surprised,  and yet he stayed down, his eyes meeting mine once again.

"You know, the funny thing about this wife, is the fact that you are worried about the person you hate," He said, taking a good look at me before he continued. " see, that makes no sense. And to answer your question,  I came back last night, when you were fast asleep."

It was true, what he said. And yet I didn't have any proper explanation to what he had just said. Did I hate him though?

"Humanity is a virtue. We may not like each other but that doesn't mean I will rejoice in your pain." I said, my voice shaky.

"And what gave you that idea that I don't like you, wife?"

I looked up at him, almost laughing at his words.
Did he like me?

"You hurt me at every chance that you get. See, that is not something that people that like each other do."

As I said so, I saw something shift in his eyes but it was gone just as fast as if it hadn't been there.

"Oh well...." He said, leaving at that.

"So how did you get hurt?"

"Rectifying the situation.  You should see the other guy."

I knew better than to ask what he meant.

"Do you need me to help you with  dressing the wound? It will get infected if u leave it like that." I said as I looked at the badly dressed wound.
He looked at me thoughtfully for a second not certain of what to say and before he could say anything,  I stalked to the bathroom to find the medicine box which I found and brought back to the room.

I removed the bandages and winced when I saw how deep the wound was, his pain oddly affecting me and yet as I looked up at him, he was smiling.

I cleaned it up, wincing at the sting of the antiseptic as though It was administered to me.

"This needs to be stitched up," I said as I quickly found the equipment I would have to use.

I stitched his wound up, grateful for my aunt's forced lessons on basic skills.

You need these skills in life.  Her voice echoed through my mind.
I finished  dressing the wound up and stood to return the box only to be held back as he lightly pulled me back to the bed. His thumb caressed my cheek,  cleaning up tears I hadn't realised were there.

"Hey, don't cry, wife. I am ok...." His voice was gentle as he spoke but instead of calming me down, it only made me break down more into messy sobs.

"Come here," He said, pulling me into his arms, and somehow found my self straddling him. He ran his hands through my hair as my tears fell uncontrollably soaking his shirt .

"Hey, look at me. Look at me wife, Am ok." He held my head forcing my eyes to meet him.

"But.... but the wound..."

I finally met his eyes, and they held someone different,  something I had never seen before and yet I didn't know what it was.

"Hey, I am fine. OK?" His fingers grazed my skin, gentle caresses that ignited fire within me, a fire only he could ignite. He leaned in, closer until our lips met, a kiss, light and gentle. It was different,  not like the hungry one we had shared before. This one held something deeper, it held assurance if I dare say.

It made me feel safe.