Third Person Point Of View

Arlan cuffed the mohagony links of his sharp, velvet suit in the mirror that morning. It was atypical of him to dress so formally, but today an important negotiation was taking place. After spritzing cologne, he adjusted his tie and smoothed his obsidian ringlets out of his face. His sharp jade eyes met his own , curling up an eyebrow as he arrogantly looked at his reflection in the mirror. Angling his jaw and smoothing his beard, he approved of his criminally handsome appearance.

Briefly catching a glance of movement in the mirror behind him, he dismissed it, placing his chunky, gold rings on. Then, once he noticed more movement, he looked back in the mirror, seeing his vixen minx sitting up in bed. He registered that Aurora was awake and felt perplexed since it was well before school time.

"Why are you up so early?" He turned to face her and cocked a dark eyebrow up daringly.

Aurora whimpered, her blue eyes bloodshot. Arlan's face dropped as he rushed over to her. Her normally strawberry-flushed lips were blue, and her soft cheeks were white as porcelain. He cupped her forehead with his hand.

"Fuck," He hissed.

It was seething with heat against his palm as she coughed, her plump lips were cold and quivering. Her doe eyes brimmed with tears.

Arlan penned a quick text to Nate to get a thermometer, then moved the covers off Aurora so she'd be more comfortable. His ring-covered hand softly rubbed her bare, velvety thigh, her milky skin was so unusually warm. Arlan's heart rate sped up. How could this have happened? What would she have been exposed to?

A knock on the door broke him from his paranoid thoughts and he sprung up, running to the door. Arlan leaned in and whispered anxiously:

"Nathaniel, how the fuck did this happen? Who has Aurora been around?!"

Nate flinched at the bombarding questions, his chocolate eyes widening.

"I-I don't know who she hangs out with, I know she mentioned a...Hayley or something?"

"Has she been around anyone threatening, suspicious? Has she been doing anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not that I know of?-I don't know!" Nate whispered in defense.

Arlan's eyes slit with anger.

"Great, Nate. Makes me feel like maybe Dominic should've taken your place a long time ago."

Nate's face softened as his eyes dimmed with hurt, feeling slighted. Arlan ripped the thermometer from his hand, closed the door and sat back down.

"Open your mouth, baby," Arlan coaxed Aurora and gently tucked the thermometer under her tongue as she weakly closed her pale lips around it.

The thermometer immediately started beeping incessantly and Aurora whimpered fearfully. Arlan pulled it out and looked at it, his brows drawing together, before he joltied up from bed. He felt deeply concerned, she was 102 degrees.

"I'm taking off from work," He shimmied his suit jacket off and hung it up.

Aurora whimpered and broke into tears.

"What's wrong with me?" Her little mousy voice asked, full of fear.

"Shhhh, shhh come here," Arlan crawled back onto the foot of the bed and Aurora slowly brought herself to cuddle against his chest, seeking comfort.

Normally, he'd be anything but a source of comfort, but Aurora was terrified of her conditions.

Arlan brought Aurora's lamb to her and she cuddled into her beloved stuffed animal. With her face buried into his chest and the soft lamb in her arms, she felt slightly more at ease. His rough fingers soothingly caressed the crown of her hair in a rhythmic, gentle motion.

Then, his hand on her hair suddenly tightened in his grip as he groaned.

"I know why you're sick," Her body tensed anxiously and Arlan adjusted her off of him as he sat up.

Aurora crawled away from him and towards the end of the bed, blinking at him, feeling nervous at the intensity of his glare.

"You swam in the creek."

Her blueberry eyes fell from his.

"I knew you smelt like saltwater, and now you're sick," He spat in disgust and anger, shaking his head. "Jeez, Aurora, what are you thinking? It's the dead of fucking Fall!"

It dawned on Aurora that that probably was the reason. It was mid Fall and surely not appropriate weather to swim in an icy cold lake. In hindsight, she shouldn't have done it, let alone made the reckless decision to swim for so long that she didn't have time to shower before Arlan got home. She left the evidence herself, no one else to blame.

Yet, this didn't feel like a normal fever to her, and she wasn't too keen on the lake being the cause of this. Sure, her foolish actions definitely warranted a cold, but Aurora felt extraordinarily disorientated. Her vision was extra blurry, her mind tangled in clouds of fog, almost as if she was drugged.

"Please don't punish me," Aurora weakly mumbled, tears leaking over the side of her face. Aurora's trembling body started rocking back and forth. Arlan was chillingly silent.

"Arlan?"

"I won't," he gruffed quietly. "Not while you're sick. But I'm fucking angry." He stood from the bed, opening his phone. "I've gotta call work," He muttered.

Aurora tucked her knees to her chin and buried her head in them, closing her stinging eyes and clutching the lamb. Despite the lights being off, her sensitive eyes burned and hurt to keep open. She was overwhelmingly confused and scared. Was it really just the lake that made her sick?

"Boss! Big day, you ready?" Dominic asked, answering Arlan's call after the first ring.

"I can't make it, Dominic, Aurora's sick," Arlan sighed dejectedly, shaking his head and running his hands through his black curls. "I'm calling out today."

"What?!" His right-hand man asked incredulously. "Arlan, this is a huge day, millions of dollars are at stake. This could easily put us as the top mafia in the nation. You're our leader, we need you."

"I've prepared you all just fine without me. And there's nothing to worry about, the money is as good as ours. Lay everything we have to offer on the table," Arlan balanced the phone on his shoulder with his chin while he unbuttoned his shirt. He snuck a glance at Aurora to see her still trembling before looking away.

"Boss, this is scary territory. If we lay all our money out and don't win, we could lose everything. There's always competition, they may choose to work with another mafia that isn't us."

"The only ever real competition that stood in our way was Silvercrest, and they've been quiet for weeks. It's clear they're no longer a threat. Santiago's dead, we've got nothing to worry about. Lay all our money on the table, I'm confident in this decision. I'm not coming in." Arlan promptly hung up.

"Come on, love, you need a shower. The steam will be good for you," Arlan told Aurora, placing his phone on his desk and sauntering towards her.

He gingerly picked up her trembling little body and brought her to his chest, her arms weakly tangling around his neck as they walked towards the large bathroom. Her head rolled over her shoulder, feeling five times as heavy as normal as she whined. She wanted to lay down but had no energy to fight him. When he carefully set her bare feet on the cold tiled floor, she expected him to leave; Instead, Arlan tore his shirt off and pulled his work pants down, making her face flush and her gasp, pivoting around. Aurora made a muffled whimper and covered her eyes.

"What are you doing? Where is Elise?"

"I want to take care of you, Aurora."

A soft sob broke from her lips when she heard his belt clamber to the floor and soon she felt his hands grip her waist, his body behind her now. He turned her body around where her head was just under his chest and he stood before her in his black, silk boxers. Ignoring his obvious hard on pressing against her hip, she felt a finger under her chin guiding her face upwards. Slowly, her eyes met his, brimming with salty tears.

"I'm your boyfriend."

Aurora's ears turned red with embarrassment, a horrified expression crossed her face and shook her head at him, her eyes making it clear she didn't want to.

"Please," She whispered, averting his burning gaze with her eyes downcast. She was too tired to put up her usual feisty fight.

"Aurora, this is just a shower. My eyes will only meet your eyes the entire time," his jade eyes shone with sincerity as they looked at her meek, blueberry ones.

"Get out," Aurora weakly pleaded, looking down, shimmying from his grip.

"Take the shirt off," Arlan said impatiently. He wasn't a patient man and his frustration was starting to peak.

With the small might she had, she pushed at his shoulders, enough that his feet stumbled slightly. His patient face now grew into a menacing look, and she immediately regretted her decisions but before she could blink, his tattooed hand was choking her neck and he pushed her against the wall. She gasped, coughing and fighting for breath. His words seethed with acidic anger as he yelled directly into her ear:

"Don't ever fucking push me again! If you weren't sick, I'd spank you across my knee to my sickest fantasy. Take the clothes off or I'll get a knife and cut through them myself. And maybe I'll still spank you, too."

Whimpering hoarsely, Aurora nodded profusely. He squeezed one final time and dropped her neck, backing away. She inhaled sharply, needing air, before shakily sliding her arms inside the T-shirt and raising it over her head from the inside, leaving herself bra-less for the first time in front of him. She quickly folded an arm over her chest to cover up. Arlan sighed exasperatedly and brought her to him, with her, of course, squirming to try and get away.

But when his cold hands met the heated skin of the curve of her back, Aurora whimpered in relief and stilled. Her senses were thrilled have to a cold surface against her heated skin. She buried her head into his broad and tattooed chest, dropping her arms from her chest to wrap them around his torso. She was embarrassed that he was relieving her symptoms but couldn't deny how good it felt. Her brain was too tired and too sick to care that she was this bare against him. He continously caressed her bare back with his cold fingers, mixing in a soothing motion of lightly trailing his nails, as well. She sighed in relief.

"That's right baby....good girl...that probably feels better," he cooed delicately in a murmur in her soft ear, kissing it gently.

Once again, Arlan exemplified how his temperaments ran hot and cold in a matter of seconds-violent and abusive to nurturing and careful in a matter of moments.

He released her to turn the water on and the room quickly filled with steam, fogging the mirrors. Aurora's mind felt so hazy with fever that she didn't even acknowledge him getting naked. She could barely see, anyway, her eyes exhausted and blurry.

His rough hand took her soft one and led her into the large shower, closing the glass door as he stood under the shower head. Having trouble standing, Aurora sat herself on the edge of the bathtub and curled up against it.

Through the steam of the shower and the haze of her blurry vision, she watched Arlan in a fever dream as he rolled soap and hot water over his tattooed muscles. She noticed on his shoulder that the bandage from a few days ago was gone, revealing a new tattoo in cursive: Jake. She didn't know who that was or who it was for. Looking down, she noticed the small angel wing tattoos on his feet he mentioned on her birthday night, for his mother. He turned his back to her, his broad shoulders flexing as soapy water ran down his inked skin. Her eyes followed the various number, animal, and scary figure- tattoos on his back.Some were of scary men screaming, others were of criminals holding weapons. She did not like it.

After what seemed like a while, Aurora began to feel cold. Arlan was taking his unnecessarily long time and she knew it, to punish her. Her knees were throbbing in the cold and she could barely take it. Just when she thought he was done, he'd shampoo more, run his fingers through his hair, or just relax under the water. It was cruel. Tears of frustration pricked her eyes.

Finally his hands found her bare hips and he lifted her up steadily, switching them so she was under the water. His hand smacked her bare ass, but she did not care, her brain was just happy to not be cold. A whimper broke from her lips in relief as the steamed water poured over her face and massaged her limbs.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she sighed in exhaustion. Lightly kissing her shoulder repeatedly, he held her tighter.

"I love you," He murmured.

She didn't even know what to say back. Here they were, drenched in water and naked.

She had never been in such a vulnerable natural state in front of him: being naked. He picked up a shampoo bottle and Aurora tensed.

"Aurora, relax," Arlan insisted at her skittishness. "This is all about trust. Just close your eyes."

She hesitantly let her eyes fall close and when his hands met her scalp, she shuddered. He gingerly kneaded a sweet, raspberry shampoo in her scalp and she let out a hum unconsciously. Aurora felt his breath on her bare neck as he laughed softly.

"I knew you'd enjoy it," his whisper fanned across her tender ear as she felt chills reign down her spine.

He tilt her shoulders back and gently took hold of her chin to skim his lips gently across hers, giving a brief kiss. Gently guiding her shoulders forward, he ran a hovering hand gently over her back and started to condition her hair.

"Alright," Arlan said, turning the shower knob off and starting to lead her out.

"N-no," Her eyes widened, feet staying planted. "Close your eyes."

Though they had just been naked around each other, Aurora felt more exposed outside of the shower. Arlan nodded gently, stepping out, retrieving a fluffy royal blue towel and attempting to wrap Aurora in its warmth. She tugged it securely around herself as it wasn't properly wrapped since his eyes were closed. He popped open his eyes, kissed her forehead and led her into the connecting bedroom. Her eyes fluttered as her head hung low, pressure forming in her forehead with exhaustion. He gave her his shirt to change into, closing his eyes while she changed and slipped it over her, kissing her forehead.

"Let's get you into bed. I've got some work to do so I'll be at my desk over here."

She crawled in, sinking into the doughy mattress and luxurious pillow that encased her small head.

"Sleep now, angel," he murmured, softly smoothing her hair in a comforting, rhythmic manner that lulled her out of consciousness.Aurora fell into a soothing nap that her body very much needed.

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"Why do you draw smiling lions all the time?"

Aurora slowly roused out of sleep and froze, eyeing Arlan oddly in confusion. She then saw he was holding her sketchbook, leaning against the drawers across from the bed. She gasped softly. Silly sketches of smiling lions scribbled in orange, red and black adorned the pages. Aurora gripped the covers. She had not wanted him to see that; she had sketched them whenever she thought of Beck, her friendly lion.

"I rummaged through while you were sleeping," he clarified, holding it up. "All these lions, smiling lions...what does that mean?"

"Nothing," Aurora quickly sputtered.

"Nothing?" He repeated incredulously, quickly flipping through several pages. "There's pages and pages of this stuff, Aurora. Just...smiling lions."

"It's for my animal studies class," She sputtered the lie.

"And why are they having you sketch it over and over?"

"For an exam."

"And when is it?"

"Don't worry about it," Aurora snapped.

Arlan's jaw locked as his brows raised high. Aurora quickly regretted herself. His veins protruded from his hands as they gripped the sketchbook. She swallowed dryly, hoping those hands wouldn't spank her like he threatened earlier.

"Oh yeah? Don't worry about it?" He threw the book across the room and she yelped and flinched.

"Don't worry about it? That's what you have to say after I took off work to take care of you and am paying for your college tuition? Maybe I should just spank that bratty ass of yours right now."

"No, I'm sorry," Aurora whimpered, gripping the bed and shaking her head.

Arlan couldn't come out of his steam-clouded head of anger. She was too weak, it'd be cruel to spank her. In fact, it really would be too cruel to give her any punishment at all today. He'd have to wait until she was back to health.

But she needed something. Some sort of punishment. She had left the room and gone in the creek without telling him. She had drunk all of his alcohol and disobeyed him on her birthday. And now, she had snapped at him after he had given up a very crucial work day to care for her. When was the disrespect and brattiness going to end?!

He peered down to his arm, eyeing his tattoos. Black ink in various shapes and imageries covered his skin, and a lightbulb idea clicked into his head. He peered back at Aurora, her skin so innocent, blank, pure. A smirk etched on his face.