Dandelion Lover

As my eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, I could sense a firm presence behind me emanating heat, enveloping my own body in a comfortable embrace. When I moved my hands, I noticed they were locked in a strong grip. Still half-asleep I tried to turn to look at my captor when my sore muscles made me wince in pain.

"Shh, be good and sleep some more." I heard a raspy voice command me lovingly. It did not take long for me to remember what happened before. I could feel my cheeks burning and all I wanted was to hide under the blanket but I couldn't evade from his grip.

He sighed, keeping his hold on me, he slowly turned my whole body to face him.

"Good morning Kat," he whispered and pulled me closer to him.

"Morning… " I managed to reply but my head was still spinning from all that happened. While I was lost in my thoughts I suddenly heard him chuckling.

"I guess it's already way past morning, looks quite late into the night."

"Ah, yes..."

"Are you okay? Are you hungry? Or do you want something to drink?" He looked at me with a worried look in his eyes.

"Ugh, I'm fine… just a bit… sore." I replied and at the same time, my cheeks became redder than a ripe tomato.

"Do you have a fever? You're awfully red." I could notice a teasing tone in his question.

"That's all your fault isn't it?"

"Is it now? I wonder who was the one that was so eager?" He chuckled as he moved his hands to encircle my waist.

"Not sure, it was probably a mad woman, you should go to the police before she tries it again. " I replied sarcastically.

"No need, she can do it anytime she wants, I won't ever mind." He winked while pulling me closer to him, our skin burning as it touched. I then realized I was still n.a.k.e.d underneath the flimsy cover. I almost jumped out of the bed trying to find something to wear.

"I need to change. We need to get back to the hospital."

"Are you sure you want to get back to the hospital like this?" He asked while looking me up and down.

"Umm, what do you mean?" I asked confused as to why he was smiling like a kid opening his Christmas presents.

He slowly got off the bed, letting the sheets fall of his n.a.k.e.d body, before reaching for his shirt and passing it over my messy hair.

"Hmm, my shirt seems to be perfect for your size." He mumbled while leading me towards the hallway hugging me at the waist, resting his chin on the top of my head. When we reached the full-length mirror I gasped at seeing my skin darkened in several key spots.

"You… what did you do?" I asked in a panic.

"They're just hickeys," he replied nonchalantly.

"I know that, but why would you do that when I still have to go back to the hospital." I was starting to become annoyed the more I looked at them. It will be hard to cover them without making it look suspicious.

He looked at me and smiled like I was a kid throwing a tantrum.

"I couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?"

"What do you mean?" Before he answered he straightened himself and I could see my own marks on him.

"After all the fun we had, you left me such lovely memories, I just had to reciprocate. Just call it my own little revenge."

He let out a deep laugh as he saw me blushing and speechless.

"Well, I quite like to see you like this. We should do this again soon." He continued to laugh and hugged my waist again before pulling me closer to him and turning my head to meet his lips.

As soon as I felt his scent envelop me I forgot why I was even upset. I felt safe and relaxed in his embrace, something I have never experienced, at least not to such a degree. As I responded to his kisses I could notice he was getting more greedy in his actions, but before we got too far, he broke our kiss and cold air swept the empty space between us.

"You must be hungry, let's get something to eat before we head back. Want to order something?" He asked while looking over my shoulders, avoiding my gaze. I had this feeling of leaving unfinished business but I knew he meant well. We really did need to return and visit my grandmother.

"No, it's fine, I'll make us something, you can go take a shower while I do that," I answered while turning to the kitchen. Before I passed the door his hand grabbed my shoulder and his lips captured mine for a quick taste.

"You should take a shower first, I'll make the coffee. I'm afraid if I see you in this shirt for long we won't be able to back outside anytime soon."

I felt shy at the innuendo but I obeyed.

"Okay, I'll be quick then," I mumbled as I turned towards the bathroom.

"Sure thing Kitty."

"Kitty?" I stumbled and reached the door frame as I heard him calling me that. But he did not seem to hear me.

"The french press is in the first cupboard along with the coffee," I yelled from the bathroom.

"Got it." His melodic voice came back.

My shower was as short as it was painful. As much as I wanted to soak to let the pain dissipate from my muscles, I didn't want to keep him waiting. Doing a last check in the mirror I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and hurried back to the kitchen.

Just as I entered I could sense the refreshing smell of the freshly made coffee with a hint of vanilla mixing in.

"Just in time." He came to me and handed me a cup of steaming coffee, milk swirling and lightening the dark color of the coffee. He had already made himself decent but was still n.a.k.e.d from the waist up.

"Smells so good."

"Mmm, this scent mixing together always reminds me of you, so I learned how to make it myself." He mentioned it so like it was nothing but for me, it meant more than what he might have thought.

"If you like it so much you just need to tell me and I'll make it for you."

"I'm fine doing the coffee myself as long as you join me to drink it. That way it will taste even better."

"I will."

This kind of simple promise was all I wanted. No matter what would happen in the future, I knew that as long as we had this kind of happiness and contentment by being together, we will be alright.

We snuggled together on the balcony as we sipped our coffee, enjoying each other's presence while complete silence surrounded us. The sound of our breath, the warmth of our touch, and the beating of our hearts were all we needed to feel content.

Just as the first rays of the sun reached us, our peace was interrupted by a weird animal-like growl. It didn't take us long to figure out that we were both starving.

"I'll make us breakfast, are you okay with an omelet?" I asked once I had enough willpower to leave his side.

"Anything is okay with me Kitty." He smiled and my ears twitched.

"Why are you calling me like that?" I asked while preparing the ingredients.

"Like what?" He smiled sneakily, watching me move around.

"Kitty."

"Oh, why do you think?" I didn't like where this was going, he wanted to tease me, but I was too curious to resist.

"Did you hear someone call me that?" I asked warily.

"Nope."

"Then why?" I asked again.

Just when I turned to him to see why he was not answering, I saw him confidently coming towards me with a mischievous grin over his lips. Trapping me with his body near the kitchen table, he moved one of my arms to his back.

"Because only naughty kittens will claw too hard when playing." He replied and my face fell when I felt thin marks over his shoulder blades. I moved from his lock and turned to face his back. I touched his red skin and felt him tremble.

"Does it hurt?" I asked, worried about the slight inflammation.

"Depends what you're referring to." He snickered and turned to look at me suggestively.

"Get your head out of the gutter, I'm serious." I was actually scared of what I have done, and he didn't even react while I was scratching his skin.

"It's fine really, it doesn't even hurt."

"Liar, you clearly flinched just then."

"Believe me Kitty, that was not why I flinched." He wrapped his fingers in one of my hair strands and thoughtlessly played with it.

"I might seem unaffected but I'm doing all I can to resist dragging you back to bed right at this moment. So you better not tempt me anymore." He cleared his throat before changing the subject.

"I'm going to have a COLD shower to wake me up, I hope breakfast will be ready by then." And he headed to the bathroom before I could even say anything.

Not long after I finished serving the breakfast he appeared by my side looking at the dishes that laid on the table.

"Look great, is it ready."

"Yeah, but before we eat come here." I pulled him to the living room where I prepared the first aid kit.

"You sure are prepared."

"What can I say, I'm clumsy so I should at least be prepared." I shrugged.

"Indeed you are." He laughed at my sincere response. "That's one of the many pieces which makes you who your puzzle complete."

"I could deal without it though. I'm pretty unique as it is."

"That's true. One of a kind." He admitted and smiled sweetly at me.

"You're such a sweet talker." I protested trying to keep myself from blushing.

"Only with you." I almost choked listening to his response.

"Enough, you're done, let's eat." I needed to change the direction of the conversation.

"Thank you, Kitty." He whispered as he kissed the back of my hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was going so deep."

"You can sharpen your claws anytime on me, just make sure to prepare some of your yummy coffee for when I wake up." He winked before pulling me back to the kitchen.

I felt defeated but at the same time I liked his teasing, it felt like just an average day, and it made me forget about all the problems I have encountered lately.

"Once we're done, let's go visit your grandma and bring her some nice desserts." He mentioned this as it was something normal for us to do together. There was no chance I was going to let him escape his promise now.

"Maybe get something sweet for us as well," I added while enjoying the fresh fluffy omelet before me.

"I already have you, there's enough sweetness for me to last me a lifetime." He whispered looking at me without even blinking.

"All these sweets are going to make you fat." I jokingly complained.

"No matter, we can just do some more high-intensity exercises and then we can have as many sweets as we want."

I could never win over him. His charm was intoxicating and it was just what I needed to keep myself going.