Free Web NovelChapter 218: Chapter Two Hundred And Seventeen
Camilla finished spreading the ointment. She turned around to pick up a clean, long strip of white cotton from the table to wrap the injury.
As she turned back, she noticed his intense gaze.
She stopped moving. She held the white cotton strip in her hands.
"Is there something on my face?" Camilla spoke, breaking the quiet silence of the room.
Damon’s intense stare broke. He snapped out of his deep trance.
He blinked his eyes rapidly, looking slightly confused.
"Wh... what?" Damon stammered. His deep voice was rough and shaking slightly. He was completely caught off guard.
Camilla continued to hold the white bandage. She looked at him with a very calm expression.
"You have been staring at me for a minute," Camilla spoke smoothly, stating the obvious fact as she stood in front of him. "So I figured maybe there’s something on my face. Do I have dirt on my nose?"
Damon felt a sudden rush of heat in his cheeks. He realized he had been staring like a foolish boy.
He quickly shook his head from side to side.
"No," Damon said softly.
But his body moved before his logical mind could stop it.
Damon slowly raised his large right hand from his lap. He reached up toward her face.
Camilla froze. She watched his large hand coming closer. She did not step back. She did not push him away. She simply waited to see what he would do.
Damon gently pressed the tip of his rough thumb against her bottom lip.
He touched her. Her lips were soft, warm, and partly open.
Camilla had applied a red lip tint earlier that morning for her business trip to the city.
Damon gently rubbed his thumb against her bottom lip, deliberately smudging the soft red lip tint slightly across her skin.
He kept his thumb resting against her lip. He looked deeply into her eyes.
"This color," Damon said softly, his voice dropping into a dark, deep intimate whisper. "Looks beautiful on you."
Camilla stood perfectly still. Her heart gave a sudden, hard thump against her ribs. She was shocked by his bold action and his romantic words.
She looked at him. She saw the dark, burning heat in his brown eyes. She felt the rough skin of his thumb pressing against her mouth.
Then, Damon realized what he had just done. He realized he had crossed the line.
He quickly retreated his hand. He pulled his arm back and dropped his hand heavily onto his lap, hiding it. He looked down at the floorboards, suddenly looking very tense.
Camilla slowly recovered from her shock. She blinked her eyes. She put her calm, practical mask back on.
"Is that so?" Camilla spoke smoothly. Her voice was flat and carried a very small, dangerous edge.
She did not like being distracted. She did not like feeling flustered. She wanted to finish her job and go to sleep. She decided to punish him slightly for touching her face without warning.
She wrapped the clean white cotton strip around his broad shoulder, covering the green ointment completely. She pulled the ends of the cotton strip together to tie the knot.
She pulled the knot tight.
She tied it very, very tight.
"Aargh!" Damon shouted out loud.
The sudden, intense pressure on his raw skin was very painful. He retreated his left arm quickly, his jaw clenching in shock.
Camilla did not apologize. She simply loosened the knot just a little bit, releasing the terrible pressure.
"There," Camilla said firmly. Her voice was full of finality. She patted the finished white bandage lightly.
Damon sat in his chair, rubbing his opposite arm. He looked up at her. He knew exactly what she had just done. He knew that she tied it tightly on purpose to punish him for touching her lips. But looking at her calm face, he found that he did not care at all. He actually liked her feisty, stubborn attitude.
Camilla was not done yet. She pointed her finger at his handsome face.
"Sit still," Camilla ordered strictly.
She picked up a small piece of clean cotton. She dipped it into the warm water. She leaned forward and carefully tended to the fresh, red scratch on his cheekbone, the one he had caused when he threw himself off his horse in the courtyard earlier that night.
She wiped the dried blood away gently.
"You will stay at home for now," Camilla commanded him. Her voice sounded exactly like a strict doctor giving orders to a foolish patient.
She tossed the dirty cotton onto the wooden table.
"Don’t go to the camp tomorrow," Camilla instructed clearly, looking right into his eyes as she applied the ointment on his skin. "So that you won’t strain the muscle and make it bleed again. You need to rest."
She paused for a moment, then spoke " And smile a little. Your grumpiness makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes."
Damon looked up at her. He listened to her strict command. He loved hearing her tell him what to do. It meant she was taking charge of his well-being. It meant she was playing the role of his caring wife perfectly.
Damon nodded his head slowly. He gave up all of his military authority. After all, at home, she is the one in charge.
"Whatever you say, my lady," Damon replied softly, his voice full of obedience and deep respect.
Camilla let out a long, tired sigh. Her work was finally finished.
She stepped away from the wooden chair. She created a large space between them.
She raised her hands to the shoulders of her thin white cotton chemise. She grabbed the soft fabric.
With a smooth, continuous motion, Camilla pulled the chemise over her head.
She removed her chemise completely. The thin white fabric fell loosely from her hands. It hit the floorboards with a very soft sound, dropping into a small white pile near her bare feet.
She stood completely bare before him in the center of the dimly lit bedroom.
She did not cover herself. She did not act shy. She simply turned her body, presenting her smooth back to him as she walked toward her wardrobe to find a proper nightgown.
"The maids will be here soon," Camilla said casually, her voice completely normal over her shoulder. "To clean the clean the table and bring your dinner."
Damon forgot how to breathe.
His eyes widened. He stared at her bare, pale back. He looked at the graceful curve of her spine and the soft skin of her waist.
A sudden explosive rush of burning heat flooded straight down into his stomach. His heart hammered wildly.
Seeing his wife standing naked right in front of him caused an immediate physical reaction.
Damon could feel himself getting hard instantly.
The sudden, intense physical arousal pressed tightly against the thick, restrictive fabric of his dark military trousers.
"Sss," Damon hissed sharply in pain. frёeωebɳovel.com
He clenched his teeth tightly together. The sudden erection was painful against the heavy cloth. He shifted his hips awkwardly on the chair, trying to find a comfortable position, but it was completely useless. The heat in his body was overwhelming.
Camilla did not turn around to look at his suffering. She opened her wardrobe, pulled out a soft blue silk robe, and wrapped it quickly around her body, tying the belt tightly around her waist.
She walked across the room without looking at him.
She entered the attached washroom to take her bath, closing the door firmly behind her.
Damon was left alone in the warm, dimly lit bedroom.
He slowly pushed himself up from the wooden chair. He stood up, his body feeling heavy and incredibly hot. He walked over to the large bed.
He laid down flat on his back on the soft mattress. He ignored the slight sting in his bandaged shoulder.
He stared straight up at the ceiling. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to control his racing heart and calm his burning body.
He thought about the past hour. He thought about how she had cleaned his wounds. He thought about how she had ordered him to stay home. He thought about how she had stood bare in front of him without fear.
A very slow determined smile spread across Damon’s face.
Damon thought to himself, his internal voice filled with hope.
"I haven’t lost," Damon declared silently in his mind.
He tightened his large right hand into a strong, powerful fist resting on the white sheets.
"I still have a chance to win her over," Damon’s thoughts raced with determination. "Whatever Winston can give her," Damon promised himself fiercely, his eyes burning with a competitive fire in the dark room. "I can do better. I will be better. I will win her heart completely."
