Married 24 Times 37 Two Different Aches

"Are you alright?"

"...It hurts," I muttered. I held a hand to my forehead, struggling to focus my eyes. Where did this terrible pain come from?

Julian placed a large hand on my back and moved it in soothing circles. I tried to focus on his gentle touch. This gentleness of his was at once foreign and yet something I had dreamed of so often in previous lives that it seemed familiar. My tensed muscles began to relax, but the pain in my head did not fade.

"Let's stop for now."

Before I could muster up the energy to protest, Julian was suddenly scooping me into his arms. He swept my legs up and cradled me against his chest.

My mind immediately flashed back to last night when he had held me against his bare skin like this. Now we were both fully clothed, but that didn't stop the blush that exploded onto my face. The headache that had so suddenly attacked me felt much less severe.

"Julian!" I tried to sound angry, but the embarra.s.sment made my voice higher than normal. Julian looked down at me and laughed.

"Alice?" He attempted to parrot the pitch of my voice and failed miserably. His voice was far too deep.

"Put me down," I said, unable to hold back a giggle. The pain had begun to fade the moment Julian had pulled me into his arms.

"Absolutely not. You need rest." Julian held me tighter and walked back into the bedroom -- our bedroom. When we reached the bed he gently set me down to rest, but rather than walk around to his side of the bed, he covered my body with his.

I felt my cheeks flame. "...What are you doing?"

"Making you rest." Even as Julian's weight held me down and his chest pressed against mine, he didn't change his expression. He was close enough that if I leaned up only a little, our lips would be touching.

I tried to mimic his casual tone, but inside I was exploding with embarra.s.sment. "I meant on top of me."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"...No?" I could feel my brain overheating from the blood rus.h.i.+ng to my cheeks. How was this man so infuriatingly calm?

"I'm pressing you down."

...Of course he was. This man would be the death of me. My heart was beating too fast. This was too much!

"How am I supposed to rest when you're pressing me down?" I asked, ignoring my heart pounding nearly out of my chest.

"I'm doing this so you will rest."

"...What?" I stared hard into Julian's eyes, trying to find a crack in his expression, but there was none. This man was being completely serious. He couldn't be entirely obvious to the pounding of my heart, right? He must be teasing me.

"You won't rest unless I make you," he replied without missing a beat.

"I… I can't rest like this."

"Why not?"

"...Do I really need to say it?" I mumbled.

A mischievous smirk spread across his face. Though I say it was mischievous, with my current situation, it seemed more evil than anything else.

"Yes," he said without a hint of apology in his voice. This shameless man! He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

Fine! I'll give him a taste of his own medicine!

Without giving him a moment to realize what I was doing, I quickly leaned up and pressed my lips firmly against his. I dropped back against the pillows and was stunned to see Julian's face becoming faintly red.

Julian… blus.h.i.+ng?

It was faint, but I definitely saw it!

Though I had been trying to make him embarra.s.sed, I didn't think it would work. At least, not that well. I stared at his face, burning this adorable image into my brain. Julian immediately covered his face with a hand.

"I didn't expect that…" he muttered.

It was my turn to grin mischievously.

"I can tease you too, it seems."

Julian stared at me with a bit of surprise and laughed. "Yes, it seems you can." Julian let his hand drop back to beside my head.

I waited a moment, but when Julian still didn't move anymore, I cleared my throat slightly. "...Are you going to let me rest?"

"Rest all you want."

"I told you-" My cheeks became red again, having to explain this a second time.

"But your headache is gone?" Julian interrupted me. He raised his eyebrows with an innocent smile, but I knew it was all an act. This man was purposefully teasing me and would probably tease me to my death.

But he was also right. My headache was gone.

I nodded begrudgingly. "Yes…"

"Good." Julian leaned down and pressed a light kiss to my forehead.

After he pulled away I held a hand over my forehead and glared at him, my face bursting into another blush. This amount of affection so suddenly was going to kill me! I was going to turn completely red forever if this kept up. I was so unused to romance, my heart would stop!

"Stop teasing me!"

"No." An immediate response!

Well, I hadn't expected him to say yes.

"You…!"

"I have to make up for all those lives I didn't give you the love you deserve," Julian said without even batting an eye.

This level of sweetness was going to give me a toothache. Before I could come up with a good retort, he leaned down and I felt the softness of his full lips against mine. I really was going to explode. I know I had just kissed him, but that was a small, fleeting peck on the lips. Now Julian was kissing me with a slow determination. His lips moved against mine and I felt his tongue asking for permission to enter my mouth. I opened under his soundless asking and melted beneath him.

This man was going to kill me in the best way possible.