Page 14 of Cruel King
“Oh, God. Did I break it?”
He softly touches it a few times before looking up at me. Shaking his head, he says, “I don’t think so. Just a deep bruise. We’ll put some ice on it, and you’ll be okay. You’ll just have to stay off it today, at least.”
I stare down at him in utter confusion. “Stay off it? You mean right here?”
Matthias nods like of course the answer is yes. “Yeah. Eleanor will bring you that soup and some hot tea. That way you won’t make it worse.”
Still unsure what he means or who replaced the cruel son of a bitch he’s always been with this person, I ask, “Will you be here too?”
That makes him smile, and I swear it’s like his face lights up, making him even more gorgeous than usual. “It is my room, so yes, I’ll be here.”
“With me,” I say, needing to make that clear since none of this is making sense.
He shrugs before nodding. “Yes.”
“The person you just recently told to go because she wasn’t wanted here.”
Matthias winces like my description of what he said to me not an hour ago right down the hall bothers him. “I think if you stay off it today you might find it’s not too bad. I know ice is the last thing you’re going to want on you after what happened outside, so we’ll wait for that until you’re all warmed up again.”
I don’t understand anything that’s happening, but I can’t disagree with wanting to stay warm inside the house. That he is being so nice right now makes me wonder, but I think this might fall under the category of not looking a gift horse in the mouth, so I swallow all the other questions I have and just watch as he stands up again and smiles.
“Okay, legs up on the bed.”
As I lean against the mattress to steady myself, I feel something under the covers. Once my feet are up and Matthias carefully positions a couple pillows under my left foot so it’s raised, I root around under the blanket and sheet to find a magazine.
I pull it out to look at it and read the title in big letters. PLAYBOY. Glancing up at him, I say, “So it’s going to be us hanging out here and your nudie magazine?”
His cheeks turn a slight pink color like he’s blushing, and I swear I’ve never seen anyone look so uncomfortable. Enjoying that after all he’s said to me today, I begin to thumb through the pages. Lots of beautiful women with enormous butts and huge boobs. Typical man.
Looking up from a picture of a blond woman with the teeny-tiniest waist and giant hips, I see him staring at me. “You definitely have a type. That’s for sure.”
He gives me an odd look, like he doesn’t understand what I mean, so I spin the magazine around to show him the image. “A type. Big boobs. Tiny waist. Bubble butt.”
Matthias grimaces and shakes his head like the blond woman disgusts him, which I know can’t be true since she’s gorgeous, even if she is misshapen. “Those are just the women they choose. Not my decision.”
“Why do you have a magazine anyway? It’s the twenty-first century. You can find naked women and more all over the Internet.”
A sly smile lifts the corners of his beautiful mouth. “You’d know a lot about that?”
I roll my eyes at his attempt to shame me. “I don’t live in a cave, Matthias. Everyone knows about that.”
He doesn’t respond but points his finger at my pants. “They need to come off.”
“What?”
I understand the words coming out of his mouth. I just don’t understand how I’m going to remove my pants with him standing right there.
“You’re going to make my bed all waterlogged. You need to take your pants off.”
Staring up at him in horror, I shake my head. Nope. I can’t take my clothes off with him standing right here in front of me.
“What? Now you’re suddenly shy? A minute ago, you were looking at a naked woman and grilling me about my type.”
I swallow hard, still unwilling to do as he insists. “I wasn’t grilling, and it’s not shyness. I just don’t feel comfortable undressing in front of you.”
He smiles and exhales a heavy sigh. “Fine. I’ll turn around since I need those pants off so my bed doesn’t turn into a lake from your soaked clothes.”
Just then, Eleanor knocks at the door and Matthias yells, “Come in!”