Tempted By My Ex's Brother-in-Law (Aria and Grayson) novel Chapter 216

Chapter 216

Aria’s POV

I should have left the second he opened the door.

Instead, I stood there staring at the bandage in his hand and the ugly wound across his shoulder, and all the anger I had spent the whole day feeding suddenly found a new direction.

He blinked once, like he hadn’t expected to see me there.

“… What are you doing here?”

His voice was lower than usual. A little rough. Maybe from pain.

I should have said I knocked on the wrong door. Because I really got no reason to stand outside of his room in the middle of the night.

But inside I said, “Move aside. Let me in.”

One of Grayson’s brows lifted. “You want to come into my room? That sounds like an invitation.”

“Don’t overthink it. And you better step aside before you bleed to death.”

“If that’s the same treatment you give all candidates, you can go now

I glared at him. But he kept his hand on the door and has no intention to move. His huge figure was like a tower over- shadowing me. Even while he’s injured, he still looked so intimidating and powerful.

After a long moment of tensed silence, I finally gave in. “I didn’t check on any other candidates. You are the only one. Happy?”

That finally got a quiet laugh out of him. He stepped aside without another word, and I walked in before I could think too hard about what I was doing.

The guest chamber was large, but the lamps were turned low, leaving most of it in amber shadows. His black coat was thrown over a chair. His boots had been kicked off carelessly near the bed. A basin of water sat on the table beside a folded towel and a half-open medicine chest, and from the way everything was laid out, it was obvious he had been trying to patch himself up before I knocked.

I turned back toward him and held out my hand.

“Give me the bandage.”

“You learnt how to be a healer while you were here?”

“I didn’t. So do you want me to leave or not?”

His gaze lingered on my face for a second, as if he was trying to read something there. Then he handed me the bandage.

I pointed to the chair by the table. “Sit.”

He obeyed, still watching me with that infuriating calm he always wore when he was enjoying himself. I pulled the chair around so I could face him properly, then reached for the damp cloth beside the basin.

Now that he was sitting under the lamplight, I could see how bad it really was.

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“The tratage?” he remanded me

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“You’re very tense,” he said hoarsely. “Relax. You know I won’t sue you even if you fuck it up.”

“You can’t really sue me. I’m LADY Aria now.” I said, trying to keep my hand steady.

“You are shaking. Aria. Is it because you are touching me?”

I immediately pulled my hand away.

“God you are so full of yourself,” I snapped.

He laughed. “I’m just joking.”

I took in a deep breath and dipped the cloth back into the basin and said, as coldly as I could manage, “Try acting like an adult.”

He let out a low laugh. “That was me acting restrained.”

My face burned harder.

God I hate him. He might be the only person in this world who could sit there bleeding and still find a way to make me feel flustered.

And I hated that my body remembered him so quickly.

I hated that he noticed.

I moved to the cut along his ribs next. It wasn’t as deep as the shoulder wound, but it had bled enough to stain half his shirt. I had to pull the torn fabric aside to see it properly.

He was built unfairly, that was the real problem. His body was all hard lines and controlled strength and insanely beautiful. Even battered and bruised, he still looked powerful and solid. He could still easily destroy me if he wanted.

Every time I reached across him, I could feel that control under my fingertips. Like he was holding himself back from some terrible urges.

Fuck. I thought.

I should have called one of his soldiers in. Or a healer. Or literally anyone else.

This was getting out of control.

“Are you done there?” he asked. His voice was getting huskier, almost rough

“A-Almost…hold still.”

Instead I stayed.

I told myself it’s not because I cared about him or anything. It’s because he had fought half dead in my arena. I was doing this merely as a thank you.

When I picked up the fresh bandage, I stepped between his knees to wrap it properly around his shoulder and chest.

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