They were both big on me, but they felt nice, so I continued and put on Darcy’s trousers and t-shirt. I had to tie the track suit bottoms tight with the string so they wouldn’t fall down, and I also had to roll them up a few times because they were pretty long. The T-shirt was my favourite item of clothing. It was like a tent on me, but a warm, cuddly tent that smelled fucking amazing.
I inhaled deeply and groaned out loud.
Darcy. Smelled. Awesome.
I looked down at his T-shirt, and when I realised how creepy I was being I put my hands on my face and mentally chided myself.
I was turning into some sort of Darcy fangirl, and the worst part was . . . I liked it.
I possibly liked . . . Darcy . . . a tiny bit.
I think.
I had one thing to say to that tiny thought: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?
“I’m so screwed,” I muttered to myself.
I walked mutely out of Darcy’s bedroom and headed down to the kitchen.
Darcy was over at Einstein’s cage finishing eating a tin of beans. I glanced at him, but when he turned in my direction I focused on washing my hands in the sink and not anything, or anyone, else.
“You look good in . . . clothes,” Darcy commented as he put the now-empty tin in the bin.
I raised my eyebrow and looked at him. “I was in clothes before these . . . They were just wet.”
Darcy gave me a ‘get real’ look. “That dress and blazer didn’t cover much; what you’re wearing now are proper clothes.”
I inwardly smiled.
“Yeah, well . . . whatever.”
Darcy chuckled. “Is it killing you to wear clothes that belong to me?”
No, and that’s why I was annoyed.
“They’ll do,” was all I said.
I didn’t want to lie, because I was tired of lying, so not directly answering his question was my only option.
“What time is it?” I asked.
Darcy looked to the wall behind Einstein and said, “Half eleven.”
I widened my eyes. “At night?”
Darcy nodded. “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow.”
I frowned. “I don’t want to miss Christmas.”
Darcy tilted his head as he looked at me. “We won’t; our mothers will come up here and dig us out with their bare hands before they’d let us miss a Christmas.”
I laughed and shook my head.
I wouldn’t put it past either of our mothers to do something so drastic.
“So . . .” Darcy said.
I wanted to smile, because he was rocking back and forth on his heels as he looked at me.
“So what?” I asked.
Darcy shrugged. “So . . . it’s late. Bedtime.”
“You’re putting me to bed?” I asked, teasing.
He shrugged. “Depends. If you walk into my bedroom freely then no, but if you run from me then yes.”
My stomach flipped, my heart pounded against my chest, and I could feel a pulse between my thighs. The pulse frightened me most, because I’d never gotten that sensation for Darcy . . . until now.
“I’m, uh, good with the storage room,” I said, and tried to walk by him.
Darcy clucked his tongue at me and caught me around the waist with his arms when I tried to pass him by. He pulled me back to him until my back was flush against his front. I could feel the heat of his body on mine.
Christ.
Why was I reacting to him like this?
This was Darcy.
The same Darcy who drove me absolutely mad.
The same Darcy who was my enemy, and had been for fifteen years.
The same Darcy who had chosen another girl over me – his ex–best friend.
The same Darcy who hated me as much as I hated him.
My body, and now my mind, seemed to not care about any of that, because I liked his closeness, and his touch.
I fucking liked Darcy holding me this close to him.
What the hell do I do now? Admit myself to an asylum?
“No more sleeping in the storage room, little woman. You’re sleeping next to me in my bed tonight. You don’t have to be scared; I’ll even let you build a pillow fort between us so you don’t have to look at me.”
I giggled.
Yeah, I bloody giggled.
“Was that a giggle I heard?” Darcy teased.
I tried to smother my laughter as I said, “No.”
Darcy brought his mouth down to my ear and said, “Are you coming willingly or not?”
Because I wanted to see what he would do, I said, “Not.”
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice,” Darcy said then, his voice raspy.
What was he— “Omigod!” I screeched as Darcy turned me to face him, then proceeded to bend, grip me behind the knees with his hands, and pull. I was flipped over Darcy’s shoulder and hung there as he straightened himself up.
“Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to bed we go,” Darcy sang as he marched out of the kitchen.
He turned slightly as he left the room and my head hit the kitchen door.
“Ow!”
Darcy winced. “My bad.”
I cracked up as I hung over his shoulder. I smacked his arse a few times just to show some sign of protest, even though I was loving every second of his caveman act.
I yelped when I was suddenly flung back over Darcy’s shoulders. But instead of hitting a hard surface I fell onto a soft mattress. I was still laughing as Darcy jumped onto the bed beside me. I sat up and shoved him. He looked at me and chuckled. I was smiling as I found myself looking into his eyes, then to his mouth.
I caught the moment Darcy saw what I was doing, and I noticed his sharp intake of breath. I swallowed nervously and cleared my throat.
“Thanks . . . I don’t agree with your method, but I appreciate your wanting me to have somewhere comfortable to sleep,” I said, then turned and crawled up the bed and got under the covers, facing away from Darcy.
“No problem,” Darcy said, then lingered for a moment before he moved and got under the covers also.
There was silence until he said, “Goodnight, Neala Girl.”
My heart thudded in my chest and my stomach burst into butterflies.
“Goodnight, Darcy.”
I closed my eyes and prayed sleep would come easily – even though my mind was screaming that something had definitely changed between Darcy and me, and I wanted to think about it. Surprisingly, I fell into a deep and relaxed slumber.
Which was utterly destroyed the next morning.
I woke up before I opened my eyes.
I didn’t want to, because I was warm, comfortable, and completely content with the pillow I was hugging so tightly to my body. I snuggled into it and had just started to doze off again when movement under me interrupted my snooze.
What was that?
I groaned out loud and it caused whatever was under me to tense.
Since when can pillows tense? Since when can they do anything?
I became aware of everything in that moment as my mind fully awoke.
Oh, no.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered as I opened my eyes and came face to face with a light pink nipple.
It was practically pressed into my eye socket.
I slowly reached up and pressed my hands against the chest around the nipple, carefully peeling my face away. I swallowed as I looked down and found my leg cocked over Darcy’s body. I was so far into Darcy’s space that I was practically straddling him.
I widened my eyes as a sharp pulse between my thighs caught me by surprise.
I was getting turned on?
By almost lying on Darcy’s hard body?
I was fucking losing it.
I tried to retract my leg as slowly as I could, but when a slight moan rumbled up Darcy’s throat, I froze. I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed perfectly still until I was sure he hadn’t woken up. I looked back down and slowly began to pull my leg away once again, but
the moment it moved over his pelvis and slid over what can only be described as a speed bump, I felt tingles burst free all over my body.
Darcy had an erection . . . and my leg was currently resting on top of it.
Oh. My. God.
I wanted to clench my thighs together when the pulse between said thighs got a little too intense for me to deal with calmly, but I couldn’t. I was mortified that I was having this sort of reaction to Darcy and he was doing nothing but sleeping.
I felt like a major pervert.
I quickly moved my leg away from Darcy’s groin area, but the movement made my leg grind over the erection, and Darcy must have felt it, because he moved. My heart jumped as I took a peek up at him.
His eyes were closed, but he had a small grin on his face.
Oh, Jesus.
I gasped. “You’re awake!”
Darcy opened his eyes and laughed. “I’m sorry; you trying to get off on me undetected was too entertaining to interrupt.”
I was so embarrassed.
“I was trying to get off you, not get off on you.”
He smirked. “My mistake.”