The Beast

Chapter 27

The steaming hot water of the shower poured down on me as I stood in the shower, too lost in the memories of what had transpired to do much else.

I reminisced in the way the rain had poured down around us as I stood gazing into the beautiful eyes of Xavier, his mesmerizing silver eyes gazing at me with so much intensity, seeming to be a whirlpool of emotion that I had lost myself into, but I was too far gone to return. I reminisced in the way his warm breath had felt as it kissed past my cold cheeks, the way Xavier's arms held me close to his warm body, pressing my petite cold form into his large broad warm one, the way the heat of his hands had felt when they rested on my back, gently, yet firmly something sure, that seemed to be the way Xavier was, so gentle yet so sure as if everything he did was carefully aligned, everything he did a surprise to me but seemed awaited to him.

A blush coloured my warm cheeks as I realized I had been standing under the shower for twenty minutes now thinking about our closeness. I had kissed a man despite our lack of acquaintance, we didn't know each other very well and I had kissed him, I was staying in his home, what would this man think of me? What would anyone think of me?

I stepped out of the shower wrapping my towel tightly around me, my hair only towel dried, I quickly changed into a loose pair of light grey sweats, accompanying it with a large comfy white shirt that unfortunately after a few washes now only came to the top of my sweats. I tugged a brush through my hair leaving it slightly damp, I walked out the delicious aroma of tomato sauce wafting into my senses awakening my appetite.

I padded into the kitchen quietly seeing Xavier in a dark shirt now, his hair looking tousled and slightly damp. He turned to look at me, his grey eyes framed with those thick lashes leaving a lasting impression and holding me frozen under their gaze, he made his way to me slowly, and I stumbled back, trying to maintain the distance between us. This was my fault I had allowed such closeness when we were barely acquainted, who knew what he thought of me now, he stalked up to me stopping so that our chests nearly touched. I brought my hands up, attempting to push him back, my cheeks reddening as he reached behind me, grabbing a fancy bottle of olive oil. He wasn't trying to feel me up, he simply wanted the olive oil.

His eyes were sincere as he set it down beside him, taking my hands from his chest he held them in his own, warming them up within his large rough grasp. He guided me to the table, pulling a chair out for me, he waited until I had melted into the chair before turning away to o back to whatever was on the stove. When he was so close to me embarrassingly enough my body felt like jelly as though my bones had simply disappeared.

My cheeks were a bright red as I watched him cook, I had assumed horribly wrongly, he had acted like nothing but a true gentleman. 

Having nothing better to do I watched him cook closely, hoping to pick up a few pointers for when I was back on my own. He moved with a precision that didn't seem fitting for a businessman, not one move was wasted, he was sharp and quick. Perhaps that was why people found him so intimidating, perhaps that was why I did. He didn't seem human, he never stumbled never showed weakness, it was very intimidating, and the fact that he was so large didn't exactly help his case. My cheeks reddened further as I remembered the way his white dress shirt had become nearly absolutely translucent in the rain, revealing his tan smooth skin, the broad muscles of his chest, the defined ones of his stomach, all so clearly visible due to his soaked white shirt. How my hands had pressed against his warm firm chest feeling his rapidly beating heart under my palm, as the embarrassment had caught up with me and I had struggled to create space between us, but Xavier wasn't having any of it, a simple shake of his head, and one look from those mesmerizing eyes had stopped all my attempts, my hands resting on his chest as his arms coiled tighter around my waist bringing me even closer to him. We were so close it seemed our hearts had begun to beat in sync.

Having been lost in my thoughts I didn't even notice Xavier was done cooking until he was right in front of me, serving me a giant helping of the spaghetti he had prepared. The tangy smell of the tomato sauce awakening my taste buds in anticipation making me realize how hungry I was.

He took his seat across from me, not even touching his fork. I felt his intense gaze on me as I picked my own fork up, twirling the spaghetti around it. My hands trembled visibly as I brought it up to my mouth almost letting out a groan in delight as the flavour of the tomato, herbs and spices mixed with the fresh noodles hit my tastebuds. I looked up at him, all embarrassment forgotten, unable to contain my smile I beamed at him brightly, only now seeing the anticipation, the worry in his eyes that now cleared at my smile. His eyes melting to the soft content silver I had just begun to see.

He stared at me for a moment longer as I ate, but I was too preoccupied to meet his gaze before he began eating. I wondered why he hadn't become a chef, his cooking was delicious, he could make a fortune off this food. But from what I had seen what he currently did already made him a fortune, the Night Industries were very successful, as our professor had so passionately told us. Even going as far as to put a question about revenue on the most recent test using Night Industries.

"I've wanted to ask you something for a while now. I hope you won't mind how intrusive it is." Xavier said suddenly breaking the comfortable silence we had been eating in. I rushed to chew and swallow the spaghetti I had in my mouth, probably looking like a chipmunk with my cheeks so full of food as I nodded at him encouragingly. 

"Why did you choose to work at the cafe? I mean most students have part-time jobs that relate to their field of study, I can't help but wonder why you don't have the same. There are many placements I could think of in this town that offer paid internships you would qualify for." He explained. Clearly the man had not encountered Sophie and Jay if he thought a question like this was intrusive. Jay had asked me if I had ever done anything illegal the first time I met him, and that was probably one of the least intrusive things he asked that day.

"My parents love this town, they've always lived in a city due to their jobs, so we would come here for vacations. That cafe had been my favourite place in the world as a child. It had both my favourite things, books and chocolate chip cookies. So during the winter break before I had to finalize my choice of university, when Maggie and Cyrus heard I was considering the university here and offered me a job in the case that I did actually move here, I said yes immediately. I still love that cafe." I answered. 

"There is something peaceful about that cafe, that is undeniably true." Xavier admitted. I offered him a small smile, pouring myself a glass of water and drinking it to get rid of that weird feeling at the back of my throat. 

"If you ever want to get you feet wet in the business industry do let me know. Night Industries offers a great paid internship and I could get you in, we could even work around your hours at the cafe." He offered kindly.

I opened my mouth to thank him for his generous offer but to my extreme embarrassment, before I could get even a word out, my nose scrunched up and my eyes shut, in my odd pre-sneezing face before I let out a series of sneezes. My eyes stayed shut, too embarrassed to look at him, he was probable reevaluating his kind words, and maybe even his decision to let me live here. Did he even ever sneeze? Come to think of it I'd never seen him do anything that-that human.

I felt a hand on my arm, and I turned to look at him shocked did he not find me repulsive, I had even covered my mouth with my hands, not my elbow. He turned me towards him grasping my forearms lightly, his hand came up to rest on my forehead, and a frown came upon his face, his eyes filled with concern.

"Love, you have a cold." He said, and I nodded, I easily got sick. I expected him to walk back and start eating but his eyes grew frantic as he got up, rushing about cabinets, as I stared at him in confusion it was just a cold. He walked out of the room speaking on the phone in a hushed tone.

He walked back into the room, his eyes a darker grey, filled with worry, and he leaned down in front of me, gently grasping my hands in his own. His other hand coming up to cup my jaw, his rough large thumb rubbing against my cold cheek, making a blush spread upon it. For a moment he simply stares at me in worry, his eyes sad, perhaps he was going to tell me I had to leave, maybe he didn't like sick people in his house, it was perfectly understandable I had sneezed into my hand, and then he finally speaks. His words had my face forming into an ugly grimace involuntarily as I stared at him, dread filling me.
"There's no clinic open, maybe we should take you to the hospital." He says and my eyes widen, as realization dawns upon me, Xavier Night was secretly a mother hen.