King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Ten
Adrik
“Fine. But I don’t have to like it,” she said as she crossed her arms underneath her breasts. Her pouty lips making me use every ounce of self-control to not lean in and kiss them. Instead, I laughed and kissed her forehead. She leaned into me, and I heard her breath catch ever so slightly. She took my hand into both of hers. Her cool hands made me feel a warmth in my body that I hadn’t experienced before.
“Thank you,” she said. She looked into my eyes, and I could tell that she was still very scared but trying to be strong in the moment. Ugh, I would rip this city apart to find that piece of sh**t that dared to hurt her.
“Of course, solnishko. You should get some rest again.”
“Yeah, so about that, I’m gonna forego the whole nightmare thing for a while. I won’t be able to sleep again for a
while.”
“Then, come. We will put some arnica on your purple neck,” I said as I grabbed her hand, pulling her out of bed to follow me to the kitchen. I was secretly very happy that I would have a few more minutes alone with her.

“Oh…wait…” she said as she gently resisted against me. I turned back to her and noticed that she was wearing an oversize t-shirt. And only an oversize t-shirt, My eyes trailed down her body, drinking in her porcelain skin. I caught myself starting to think about her long legs wrapped around me when I saw her pulling at the bottom of the t-shirt, trying to cover herself more. Seeing the embarrassment on her face, I kissed her forehead once more and said, “apologies. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
I didn’t have to wait long until she appeared in the kitchen, this time wearing a pair of leggings under her oversize shirt. As she walked in, she was pulling her long, curly hair into a ponytail. It just didn’t matter what she did, I found her absolutely stunning. The fact that she was so comfortable with me, in her home, while she just woke up and had zero makeup on, and seemingly didn’t care that she was in her pajamas was a new phenomenon for me. The women I had been with in the past were the type to look like they were about to go to a dinner party at any moment. A few of them even slept in full makeup. When I was younger, I thought it was attractive, but as I had gotten older, I found it more repulsive than anything. Beauty comes from within. When you spend so much time trying to make the outside look pretty, it’s usually because the inside is u*ly. This woman standing in front of me with zero makeup on, in her pajamas, with barely contained hair, a purple neck, and bruises on her arms was more beautiful than any woman I had
ever seen.
She caught me staring at her and grinned slightly. “Hi.”
Just her little smile made my whole world brighter. I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed her hips and lifted her onto the counter in front of me. I adored the way she squealed and grabbed onto my arms to steady herself. Her laughter was infectious, and I found myself drunk on the sound. I stepped to the side to grab the arnica cream I picked up on the way over. She crisscrossed her legs so I could stand directly in front of her. I struggled to get the box open. She grabbed it from my hands and stabbed it with one of her thumb nails, opening it easily. She handed it back to me, with a very proud look on her face. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.
“See? What would I do without you?”
Her grin widened and a small chuckle escaped her lips. I opened the tube of cream, squeezing out a small amount on my index finger. I reached up with my other hand and tilted her head back to give me full access to the now very colorful bruise on her neck. I touched the cream to her neck and noticed her flinch.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s okay. It was cold. It surprised me.”
I squeezed more cream onto my finger but warmed it between my index finger and thumb before applying it to her neck this time. Once I was done with her neck, I lifted the sleeve of her shirt and applied it to the bruises up and down her arms. I hated seeing any marks on her milky whi*te skin, but at least I felt like I could help make them better.
I was finishing up with the smaller bruises around her wrists as she leaned back and uncrossed her legs, dangling one leg on either side of me. My breath hitched and I hoped she didn’t notice. I kept my gaze on what I was doing, but I could feel her looking at me intently. Once I was done, I took both of her hands in mine and kissed the back of each
one.
In a very quiet, almost whisper, I heard her