Chapter 208: Always you
Although they did not look as scary as they did on her skin, they were still prominent.
Daisy rubbed the tip of her nose, "I will."
"Just kidding, princess. I would want these to stay forever."
"You like these?" Daisy looked up at him, "Have you always had a preference for hickeys?"
Daisy did not have plenty of experience in that department but she knew that people had different preferences that they liked to try.
"Always had?" His eyes darkened, "Daisy, do you still not get it?"
Hearing him call her name so solemnly, Daisy frowned.
Ryle sighed and reached out to smoothen her the frown between her brows, "With you, I prefer everything. Without you, there is nothing that I need."
’Thump’ ’Thump’ ’Thump’
Just a few simple words yet her heart started misbehaving.
’Daisy, Daisy, you are too deep into this, aren’t you?’
"We both know my past and how many women I have been with..."
"It doesn’t bother me in the slightest," she looked at her reflection in his eyes.
"But it has bothered me for a long time," he sighed, "I have no control over my past and more so, I hate how you know it better than me, all my not-so-glorious deeds. But at the same time, I am glad that you have already seen the worst in me and stayed. Now, there is nothing that I can do to chase you away."
Daisy lowered her gaze, "Overconfident."
Ryle cupped her face, "I just want you to know that my past has nothing to do with our present. Once you entered my life, it’s you. And it will always be you."
Daisy did not say anything but that did not help his words from being rooted in her heart.
Later, she wanted to chase him away but the man was unnecessarily fussy around her. He even helped her shower.
She assumed he had some ’other’ intentions in staying with her in the bathroom because occasionally he would give her ’those’ eyes that would make her feel warm all over.
But somehow, he stuck to his determination and helped her shower sincerely. From helped her, she meant he did not let her shower by herself. Every inch of her body was delicately tended to inside the bathtub and then he even washed her hair.
There have been very few instances where she saw Ryle fretting over things. Today was one such time. Looking at her long hair, he seemed rather bewildered and careful at first as if he did not know where to start and at the same time he was worried that he would hurt her.
Daisy told him that he did not need to wash her hair. She could do it herself.
But the man was persistent.
’’Teach me,’’ he said.
Daisy rolled her eyes. He was asking her to teach as if this was some sort of witchcraft, ’’There is nothing to teach. You just do it like you know.’’
Initially, she was hesitant and a little bit shy despite the night before. But perhaps, it was his sincerity in helping her, or the warm water that was soothing her nerves or his occasional shoulder massages that seem to calm her down, Daisy was no longer as hesitant.
She closed her eyes and relished in the comfortable feeling of the warm water and his occasional touches.
Feeling the water splashing out of the bathtub, she opened her eyes and watched as he got inside the bathtub.
Ryle held her hands and slowly turned her around in the water such that she was sitting in between his legs.
Daisy instinctively wanted to lean back into his arms but he held her shoulders.
’’Hmm?" she looked at him.
’’I won’t be able to focus if you...’’ he did not finish his words.
And she did not need him to finish them to understand what he was talking about.
He was fully naked, just like her so if she leaned back into his arms, then she would certainly feel something against her body.
’’Don’t distract me,’’ Ryle poked her cheeks when he saw her trying to stifle her laughter. What was so funny anyway? No one knew how to wash a girl’s hair since birth. People only learn with time. He did not believe he would be this bad when he washed her hair for the second, third and all the times after.
Looking at his solemn face, Daisy did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Had she known his thoughts, she would have been more speechless.
This man certainly had his own kind of worries.
Still, she patiently propped her chin on her palm with her elbow positioned on the edge of the bathtub and let him do as he wished.
Ryle poured a lot of shampoo in his hands, lathering them as he did so before he started working on her hair.
Surprisingly, his rough fingers were extraordinarily gentle on her hair. So gentle that she felt like someone was stroking her and lulling her to sleep.
Even she herself had never been this gentle while washing her hair.
She could not help but notice how all the products in the bathroom were exactly the ones that she used, ’’Did you predict I would come here?" she arched her neck to meet his gaze.
Looking at her curious eyes, Ryle could not help but lean over to place a soft kiss over one of them, ’’I knew I would bring you over. Why should I predict?"
He fisted her hair firmly, but not enough to hurt her.
Daisy wordlessly fell back into his arms, letting him do as he wished with her hair.
’’Hey, are you distracting me?"
’’Whatever you think?" she closed her eyes.
Just as Ryle was about to say something, he stiffened, feeling her arms wrapping around his waist. Her face snuggled even closer to his chest as she rubbed it on his skin.
’’You feel so comfortable.’’
The woman seemed to have dozed off as she spoke.
Ryle was still sitting frozen as he looked at the woman who somewhat resembled a koala as she clung to him.
After a while, he gradually came back to his senses, smiled helplessly and started washing her hair.
