Innocent Temptation

Chapter Nine: Your Uncle is mean

"Maybe ask your uncle, hmm?”

Cara nodded. “He never say no to me.”

Aira knew that. She had seen Mac with Aira, and even though that giant was constantly rude to Aira, she knew he was like a protective and mama bear for Cara. “Wait, here, okay. I brought something for you.” Aira left her side and went upstairs to get the black sling bag with kitten ears that she had bought while coming back from the animal shelter as it had been cute and reminded her of Cara, no wonder the girl wanted a kitten.

She was making her way downstairs when Ceaser got it in his head to get that plastic bag in which the handbag was. He raced toward her and stood on the third step on his hind legs. “Ceaser, down. Ceaser!” Aira tried to move past him but he now had his front legs on her shoulders and she was trying very hard to maintain her balance.

“Ceaser, come back! Ceaser! Ceaser!” She heard Cara yell but the dog wasn’t listening as he barked and tried to jump higher to get to the bag as he thought it was some kind of game.

And then, he decided to tug her by the hem of her dress which took her by surprise. Already on the edge of the stair, her ankle twisted and she slipped, losing her balance completely.

She heard Cara scream, heard the slam of the door like someone broke it but she was busy trying to not think how hard it’d hurt to fall down face first on the wooden floor from the fourth stair.

But instead of a hard wood floor, she fell into warm arms and a strong, wide chest. With her heart beating fast, she almost felt like she was hearing double heartbeats. Then she realised, it wasn’t her imagination but another racing heartbeat was of the person holding her.

She looked up and, she shouldn’t be surprised, she found Mac standing there looking down at her with a concerned expression. And then he opened his mouth and ruined it. “Have you lost your damn mind? You couldn’t have let that go? Or, it was more important that the bones in your fûcking body!”

Ceaser continued to bark and she realized, she was still holding that bag. Mac glared at her and then shifted his glare on the dog. “Shut it, Ceaser. Out.” The dog let out a whimper and made his way out, obviously listening to this giant brute unlike the way he didn’t listen to her.

“You can put me down if you are done yelling at me,” She said, looking away from him.

He inhaled deeply and said, “That dog is twice your size, Aira, you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“Understood. Now, put me down.”

Mac did put her down, but as she stood up on her own and took the first step forward, she almost fell down again as her ankle pained her too much in that moment. Mac grabbed her arm and then without a word, he once again picked her up in his arms and walked to the sofa where he laid her down.

When she started to move, he said, “Don’t move.” Turning to his niece, he gave her a task, “Watch her that she doesn’t move.”

Cara, looking scared of the incident, nodded silently. And when Mac was no longer in close vicinity, she approached Aira and said, “Uncle is mad at you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“He is.” Cara came closer as if parting with a secret. “You almost fell and can get hurt. So that’s why he is angry.”

Aira smiled at her wrong grammar. “Then, he should be nice to me. Your uncle is mean.”

Cara shook her head, a disapproving expression taking over her face. She explained, “Once, I picked up a hot pan and burned my fingers. Uncle shouted at me. I cried.”

“Aww, my baby. Told you, your uncle is mean.”

“No, listen. But grandma said, that he shouted because he was scared that I got hurt. Maybe he was scare you got hurt.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. He was scared for you because he loves you. But, he was yelling at me for nothing.”

“I telling you, he cares for you and loves you that's why he shouted at you too.” Looking behind her, Cara said, “Uncle is here, let's ask him.”

“No!” Aira yelled.

Mac said, “What is it?”

Cara totally ignored her as she turned to her uncle. “You yelled at auntie Aira because you care for her and love her, right, uncle?” Cara asked, her expression hopeful. “Just the way you love me and you scared that I will get hurt so you yell at me.”

Mac remained silent and Aira felt her face turning red with embarrassment. She noticed he had brought that brown packet her mother had left for her. He pulled out the crepe bandage and pain relief ointment from the packet as he said, “No. I yelled at her because she is old enough to take care of herself but because of being so careless she could’ve gotten hurt worse than a twisted ankle.”

Cara fell silent, looking at her uncle with a frown on her small face. Aira on the other hand felt that familiar sting that she should be immune to by now. She snatched the bandage from his hand and said, “Thanks for your unwanted help. Now, leave.”

“Let me do this,” He said, his voice low and controlled.

“No. Just leave. You don’t care about me, I get it. And I can at least manage to do this, I think.”

“Aira…”

“Let him help you, auntie Aira.”

Aira gritted her teeth as she glared at him. He waited. It took her a minute before she managed to unclench her jaw and turned to face Cara. “Alright,” She said under her breath, “Only because of her, unless I won’t even let you touch me.”

As soon as she said those words, she sucked in a breath as his warm fingers were now softly caressing her ankle. There was a long pink scar there that she didn’t like much, not because of its appearance but because of what it represented. She said, “Get it over with.” God. She hated him. Hated him so much for causing her all this pain and hurting her again and again. For breaking that promise that she had trusted him with. She doubted if he even remembered it.

Mac gave her a silent nod. Picked up the tube of ointment and pushed out some on his fingers. Aira almost closed her eyes, and had to bite down on her tongue to stop a whimper when his thick, long fingers slowly and softly rubbed the medicine on her flesh, his fingers circling around her ankle. She hadn’t realized that her ankles were this sensitive but now she felt like she was going to melt into a puddle if he didn’t stop.

“Enough.” She whispered, the word soft and almost a moan.

Mac snatched his hand away like burned, like he just realised he was touching her. He stood up abruptly, gave the bandage to her and said, “Make sure to wrap it up tightly.” He turned to look at Cara and said, “See, auntie Aira doesn’t move and rests properly. I’ll take Ceaser back home.”

.

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A. Gupta

How is it going?

Why did Aira leave for Paris, any ideas?