Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Grace

I wiped the blood away from Daniel’s hand with a cotton swab and placed the stained swab into a disposable plastic bag along with ten other swabs. There had been two large chunks stuck to his hand and another three smaller ones and right now, I was making a temporary bandage so Daniel doesn’t bleed out while his personal Physician arrives.

“Grace, I think you should go over to your friends’ place right now. She’s hurt; she’ll need you there.” Daniel said for the nth time. We were back in Daniel’s living room, me sitting on the coffee table while Daniel sat on the couch so I could clean up his hand properly.

“Daniel, shut up and let me bandage you!” I snapped at him, but my hands shook; my vision hazy with unshed tears. He’d lost a lot of blood and it wasn’t stopping. He needed to get stitches and fast. Where on Earth is his doctor?

“Grace.” Daniel placed his hand on top of mine. “It’s okay if you’re worried about your friend. I’ll be fine, I swear. I can take care of myself.” He lifted up my chin so I could look into his eyes. “And Doctor Truscott will be here shortly, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

Unable to control my feelings anymore, I thrust my free hand into Daniel’s hair and pulled him in for a hard and long kiss. This time, I didn’t let him take over the kiss. This time, I bit his lips, a bit too hard so he would open his mouth and as soon as he did, I thrust my tongue into his to fight for dominance. Daniel must have felt the urgency in my kiss because he let me win without much resistance. I then licked my tongue over his lower lip, where I’d bitten him, to wipe away the sensual hurt. I let my free hand travel up his arm and over his shoulders so I could pull him even closer to me.

When we finally pulled away, both of us were breathing heavily and our lips were kiss swollen. Daniel’s lower lip however, bore a slight red mark that indicated the place I’d bitten him. I ran the pad of my thumb over that mark and felt Daniel’s hands on my cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen. “I can’t.”

“Grace?” His eyes were suddenly serious; the hunger I’d seen in them just a second ago was now gone.

“I never thought I’d pick someone else over my best friends,” I told him and placed my fingers over his lips when he would’ve spoken. “They’d always been my first priority. Not just because we’ve been friends for so long, but because they became my friends during a very difficult phase of my life. Yet here I am, sitting next to you even when they need me the most.”

I shook my head when Daniel went to remove my hand from his lips. “I’m from a very conservative Catholic family. My parents had kept me sheltered for the whole of my life. They hate the idea of sex before marriage, they’ll probably disown me if they ever find out about us…and yet…I’m here, with you. Do you want to know why?”

My eyes never left Daniel’s bottomless blue ones. They were so beautiful that sometimes it hurt to look at them. And since I was sitting so close to him, I could see the emotions that flashed in his eyes. Hunger, confusion, relief and now determination. He nodded his head in answer to my question, since my hands were still in front of his lips.

I removed my hand from his lips and moved it to his nape, twisting my fingers in his silky black hair. “Because you’ve become my first priority now.” I breathed, pressing my forehead to his and closing my eyes, since I won’t be able to look at them anymore. “I don’t know why or how or when…I wish I could but…you just grew on me, in this few days that I’ve known you. You said that you’ve only been in three serious relationships in your life, but for me, this is my first real relationship. And I know I’ll probably regret saying this but I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

I took a deep breath, eyes still closed as I pressed my forehead to his. There, I’ve said it, let it all out. I could still remember the sight of Daniel when the security had dragged Connor away. The glass shards poking out of his skin and the blood, so much blood, dripping on to the carpet below. I’d felt a scream get stuck in my throat; for an instant, my mind had kept on reminding me over and over that Connor in all his drunkenness could’ve easily struck his head. And then Daniel…NO! I gasped out a breath; I could’ve lost Daniel. I knew his job wasn’t easy, he owned a bar and a restaurant and incidents can happen anywhere, but how could I tell my heart not to worry about the man whom I now considered mine.

But before I could see what was in his eyes, what his response would be to my confession, there was a knock on the door and Daniel’s bodyguard, Zach, informed us that the doctor had arrived.

I let go of Daniel and got up from my seat before going over to the door and letting the doctor in. Zach stood outside the door along with the security who had thrown Connor out, Mark; I’d learned his name later on. I nodded my head at them to come inside the room since they both had worried looks on their faces, but they shook their head and pointed towards the doctor, telling me that they’d wait until he was done. I went back inside after closing the door, but I didn’t lock it.

Doctor Truscott looked to be in his late 40’s to early 50’s with salt and pepper hair cut closer to his scalp and wrinkles around his mouth and at the corner of his eyes. He was also quite efficient in his work and from what I could tell; the men were friends rather than being Doctor and patient. Dr. Truscott checked his hand thoroughly and confirmed that Daniel would need four stitches in total, although there were no major damages. His skin might scar since the cut had been pretty deep, but other than that there won’t be any lasting damages. I felt myself finally relax and breathed a sigh of relief as Dr. Truscott took out his needle and sew the gaping wounds on Daniel’s hand and then bandaged it afresh after disinfecting and cleaning the rest of the cuts.

Daniel then introduced me to Dr. Truscott as his girlfriend and we shook hands and I thanked him for helping Daniel out. I saw him to the door and right after the doctor left, men started pouring into the room one by one, all of them wearing the club’s security uniform. They headed straight for Daniel, their head hung and eyes solemn.

“What’s with the sour faces?” Daniel raised his eyebrows and stood up from his seat to face the moping squad.

“We failed to protect you today,” Zach was the one who spoke first and I realized then that he was the superior in this place, which is why everyone looked up to him. “We can’t express just how sorry we are for that. We’ll accept any punishment you would give us.” He bowed his head and following his motion, so did everyone else.

“There’s no need to bow you heads,” Daniel moved to stand in front of Zach and the others. “Whatever happened today wasn’t your fault and it’s not like these things haven’t happened before. I run a damn night club, its part of the deal.”

Daniel placed his hands on Zach and Mike’s shoulders and shook them slightly. “So stop moping and get back to work. The night’s still young and there are plenty of other things to worry about. Get back to work.”

Zach and the others looked positively less grim as they went back to their posts and I was once again left alone in the room with Daniel. But this time there weren’t any comfortable silences. The air was heavy with my confession and I was afraid I might have spoken too soon.

“I’ll go visit Ty and Ken,” I told him quickly, unable to bear the silence any longer and scared that the answer he will have for me might break my heart.

“Grace, wait.” Daniel caught my hand and turned me to face him before I could make an escape.

I went to complain but I wasn’t able to say anything because Daniel’s mouth was on mine and his hands a possessive hold on my nape as he tasted me with his tongue. This kiss was different to any other time he’d kissed me before. It was more aggressive, rough and filled with passion. Daniel tugged on my ponytail to bend my head back, abruptly breaking the kiss to leave a wet trail down my throat and the valley between my breasts. He released his hold on my nape and let that hand wander down my body to boldly cup me between the legs. I gasped in surprise, bending my head further back and providing him with better access to the column of my throat. There was a time when I would’ve blushed at such a bold contact, been embarrassed by it. But Daniel had taught me that intimacy between lovers was normal and rather than being embarrassed by it, I should enjoy each and every instant.

But the moment didn’t last long because Daniel purposely pulled away from me with a groan and distanced himself from me by moving back to the kitchen area, leaving me unsatisfied and panting. “Go.” It was a mix between a growl and a groan. “Your friends need you tonight.”

“Daniel-“

“Go!” He whispered harshly. “I won’t be able to let you go tonight if you stay here a second longer.”

I knew I should stay; because Daniel needed me too, just like I needed to feel him with me tonight. But I’d already stayed with him long enough and I was dying to know if Tatiana was okay. So I went to the door and left the room, leaving Daniel to cool off after tonight’s incident.

But one this I was certain of tonight; whether or not Daniel felt the same way about me, he hadn’t rejected me yet. Then why did that last kiss we shared felt like a goodbye?