Freya ducked under the water while I pulled myself out. Towel safely wrapped around me, I left her to pout. I’d already made a bad impression on her parents; no need to make things worse by showing up late for dinner.
The pool was at the other end of the house to where my room was, and I had to get past the entrance hall again. Praying nobody was around, I rushed through hallways and past closed doors, shivering in the air-conditioned house.
Each step on the freezing tile floor made me flinch. My thoughts were on a hot shower and pulling on two pairs of socks, something I’d started doing on day two of my stay in the ice castle.
Not paying attention to anything but ways to get my body to warm up, I didn’t see the door opening in front of me and smacked into it.
I fell back with a grunt, landing hard on the ground.
“What the hell are you doing walking right in front of the doors?” Liam yelled, then threw himself down next to me, taking my face in his hands. “You’re bleeding.”
“Doors usually open inward. How would I know you guys decided to do things differently?”
The door to mine and Freya’s bedroom opened inward. As did every other door I’d ever encountered.
“We installed bookshelves along the walls of the library, and the doors wouldn’t open all the way anymore, so we had to change them.” He prodded my face, cringing every time I flinched.
Batting him away, I attempted to get up. One of his hands was holding my own, and the other arm was around my waist, practically lifting me off the floor. He ignored my attempts to get him to back off. “I’m fine. Nothing’s broken. The blood will wash off in the shower.”
He froze at the last word, and his Adam’s apple visibly moved when he swallowed.
“You need ice.” His voice had taken on a husky note that instantly sent shivers down my body. I committed the sound to memory.
“I’m fine. Honestly.” I wiped at my nose, and only a little bit of blood came away. “See, it’s hardly bleeding.”
“Let me take care of you. Please.” There was that husky voice again, his lids lowered. I could almost pretend we were about to embark on something much more scandalous than stopping a bleeding nose.
He was standing close enough for me to make out the rapid rise and fall of his chest. It would be so easy to put my hands on his hard pecs.
My fingers twitched with the need to touch him.
Clearing his throat, Liam walked us to a bathroom a few doors down. We squeezed into the small space that only held a toilet and sink. He opened the cabinet behind the mirror and revealed enough bandages, tape, and iodine to stock a pharmacy.
He closed the lid on the toilet and sat me down, my body obeying like the pathetic little sucker it was. Tilting my head forward, I noticed there was no more blood dripping off my nose.
Liam knelt in front of me, wiping my face. Every one of his light touches burned into my skin, making the room feel stifling.
When he leaned closer, his breath ghosting over my face, a needy groan escaped me before I could push it back down into the vault I reserved for my pesky feelings for Liam.
He stilled, the hand that was holding the cloth hovering over my face. “Did I hurt you? Should I call a doctor? Maybe you did break your nose.”
His phone was in his hand, eyes flitting over my face.
Putting my hand over his, I shook my head. “I’m fine. The bleeding has already stopped and it’s barely hurting.”
After studying me for a few seconds, he relented and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“Do you want a glass of water?” Liam’s question startled me, the sudden movement causing the knot on my towel to loosen enough to slip down my body.
Liam’s breathing sped up until he sounded like he was running a marathon. I sat frozen, caught in his heated stare. Neither of us moved, the silence so charged I felt abuzz with tension.
Or maybe it was being this close to him that made me feel as if I’d put my hand on an electric wire.
How did he elicit a response so absolute, so intense in its nature that I would forever feel its ghost whispering over me? He wasn’t even my type. I usually went for blond, tanned, and easygoing guys. Liam was dark in looks and nature and the furthest one would ever get from easygoing.
Yet the attraction and undeniable pull I felt whenever we were in the same room was becoming harder and harder to resist. Especially after I knew how great his kisses were.
“I should be fine now,” I said instead of responding to his question.
