Silent Storm [ManxMan]

Chapter 17 ~ Trust issues

"Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school intelligence and make it a soul?"

- John Keats

[River's POV]

I hoped he drowned.

Seriously, I hoped he drowned in that shower and stopped confusing me with these fucking emotions.

I was sitting at the kitchen table and I had finally managed to calm down and get my racing heart under control. Yeah, I admit that I had been affected by his previous move and I could still feel the taste of him lingering on my lips.

Gaahh.

I brought the apple juice to my lips and emptied the whole glass in an attempt to flush the flavor away. Yes, it was apple juice... God only knows how some people could drink orange juice. That shit was just awful.

I groaned when yet another picture of Midas pressing me up against the wall flashed through my mind. Ahh, I hated him. That stupid, arrogant jerk obviously thought that he could do exactly what he wanted!

No, I didn't want to think of the fact that I was usually just the same.

I huffed and rose from my seat to put away the dirty dishes. He had made me breakfast but his actions had left me in a poor mood anyway. I had thought about sharing my breakfast with him but there was zero chance of that happening now.

I left the kitchen, grumbling under my breath and I immediately made a beeline for the couch. I flopped down with a deep sigh and stretched myself out like a cat.

"I need to get this tension out of my body before I go insane..." I mumbled under my breath.

"I could help you out, you know..." Midas deep voice floated over my senses like a chilly breeze, causing shivers to run down my spine. I made sure to frown as I let my eyes settle on him but I immediately tensed as I took in the sight before me.

Midas was standing a foot away from where I was lying on the couch, wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist. Water drops could still be seen, shimmering in his damp hair and I watched as a few of them travelled down his bare torso and over his well-defined muscles towards the towel further down.

I took a deep breath through my nose as I willed my body not to react to the remarkable man standing nearly on arm's length. I would not let him affect me.

"No thanks, I'm not going to fight an injured man." I answered in a somewhat steady voice and I watched Midas smirk at me. What? Had I said something funny?

"You know, princess, there are a lot of different ways to get relieved of some boiled up tension. Fighting is simply one of them... I prefer a much more primal way." He answered and his smirk only grew as my frown deepened.

"Perv." I finally muttered under my breath as I rose from the couch. I knew he was talking about sex... I wasn't that stupid.

Midas chuckled lightly as I brushed past him on my way to the bedroom and I fought the urge to strangle him.

"There, there River, no need for you to get so worked up. He's simply teasing you, that's all." I thought as I felt his eyes burn into the back of my retreating form.

I entered the bedroom and my gaze immediately fell on the king-sized bed. Midas had folded his blood-stained clothes and put them at the foot of the bed and I stared at them for a while. He was so lucky that the blood seemed to have dried because if he had bloodied my covers I would have had him killed.