In His Arms

Chapter 20

Dark blue bedsheets hug me from the back, a heavy comforter rests on my shoulders as I sleep on my side, my hands folded neatly under my head. My hair is spread out like a fan across a pillow as the cool delicious-smelling air of a man's bedroom caresses the exposed skin of my arm like silk while I slowly open my eyes to the light of the day.

"So, you're awake?" A cold taunting voice inquires huskily next to me causing me to lift my head slightly off the pillow to see who's speaking and before I know it, I'm more wide awake than a cup of tea can ever make me. "Good morning, Janette."

My heart pounds in my ears as his cold grey eyes assess me, as I try to make sense of where I am and how I got here. To sum it up simply, I'm in Alexander Holt's bedroom, in his bed, with him and if I want to make this situation sound even worse to myself, I am not wearing what I wore to dinner last night.

I'm wearing only an oversized black T-shirt and my pair of black panties from the night before.

"Mr Holt..." I breathe my eyes not wanting to believe that he's next to me and that I'm so scantily dressed. "What...How..."

"I'll leave you to get dressed," He cuts me off, leaving the bed.

My eyes follow his retreating as he walks casually towards a door to what I presume is his bathroom, his dark grey sweatpants hang dangerously on his waist, and the muscle of his back flexes mesmerisingly with every step he takes until he disappears into the bathroom.

Scrambling to get out of bed, I run to my bedroom with my cheeks flaming red. My back rests momentarily against the back of the door before I push off it to jump into the shower.

The thought of how I ended up in one of his shirts is haunting and it refuses to leave my mind as I shower. Did he change me himself or did someone else do it? Did he see the scars? Did he do anything to me while I was sleeping? How did I sleep through all this? I'm usually a very light sleeper, in fact, how did I even let my guard down enough to sleep while he was driving? When did I even fall asleep after the kiss in the car? How could I?

The steaming hot water cascades onto me like the worries floating through my mind, it hurts a little but it's not a bad kind of pain, it's more of a soothing spiking kind of pain. Weird description I know but I don't know how else to explain that my body is relaxing and my mind is panicking.

Switching off the water as the last of my soap flows down and off of my body, I wrap my towel around my body as I leave the hot confines of the shower cubicle. I told myself to keep calm and think about things rationally, he might not have even undressed me.  It started to register that after the kiss and his statement, I said nothing and resumed looking out the window of the car.

"Do you always mumble in your sleep or have you just started doing it recently?" Alexander asks, casually sitting on my bed causing me to retract behind the bathroom door which I just opened.

"Wha-What?" I stutter as I use the door as a barrier between him and me, my eyes darting around in an attempt to avoid eye contact with him. "Mr Hol-Alexander...Don't you have to go to work?"

"I do, Janette," He replies, eyeing me amusedly as I hide behind the door. "I own my company so it gives me the privilege of arriving late."

Biting the inside of my cheek at his words, I press my lips together tightly as I try to remember what I spoke of last night in my sleep, and I end up drawing a blank. Where the heck is my inner incubus and freaking subconscious when I need them?! This would be a great time to show up guys!

"No...I don't think I mumble in my sleep..." I hesitate, darting my eyes briefly to the left as if I'm in deep thought before meeting his grey eyes head-on to show the sincerity of my next words. "If I do, I'm sorry if I kept you up."