Chapter 38 Punish Me Now
The window was covered with frost, and in the hazy view, Natalie saw the fireworks rising and blooming. And then, the sparks blended out and filtered into the darkness.
She squatted in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and seemingly concentrated on playing with Fourteen, but she was absent-minded and kept recalling how she kissed Luke.
She acted on impulse and did not think about the consequences, so she ran away immediately.
Hearing his approaching footsteps, Natalie had butterflies in her stomach. She put her hand on Fourteen's head and was too nervous to move.
Suddenly, her arm was grabbed, and Luke pulled her up with ease. When he leaned forward, she subconsciously stepped back, so her back leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, and she could feel the coolness through her coat.
But being stared at by him made her feel hot.
Luke's other hand pressed against the window behind her ear and encircled her into his arms, so she pushed his chest in a panic with her fingers.
"Why did you kiss me?" He asked in a hoarse voice.
Natalie avoided his eyes and hesitantly said, "You asked me to... reward you."
Luke pinched her face lightly and stared at her with his dark eyes, saying, "Why did you kiss me? Think about it carefully before you reply."
"Because I wanted to reward you..." Natalie lowered her voice.
Luke couldn't do anything about her, so he laughed after two seconds of silence, "It is me that was kissed. Why are you blushing?"
Natalie pursed her lips, "I feel hot."
Luke didn't expose her lie but smiled. Suddenly, he lowered his head, so Natalie turned her face aside hastily, and then, his hot breath was blown into her ear.
"What are you doing?" Her ears burned, and her heart was racing, so she couldn't help moving aside to keep a distance from him.
He asked, "You are allowed to kiss me, but I am not allowed to kiss you?"
Natalie stared at him silently.
He still did not let her go after a long silence, so she could only say, "Luke..."
"Yes?"
She reached out to push him and whispered, "Let me go."
"No."
"The window is cold..."
Luke let out a low laugh and whispered into her ear, "Aren't you feeling hot?"
She was speechless
The heating in the house was on, but even if it were not on, the atmosphere between them would have also raised their body temperatures. After all, Natalie's palms were sweating now.
Tonight was a bit dangerous because she might lose control of herself. She did not know whether it was good or bad. She was not afraid he would assault her but was afraid that she would suddenly lose her head.
Being irrational was terrible.
Natalie didn't try to argue with him but looked at him pitifully and said in a soft voice, "I'm cold..."
When she acted like a child, talked to him in such a soft voice, and looked at him with puppy eyes, it was hard for him to say no even though he knew she was pretending, so he let her go in the end.
As soon as he loosened his grip, Natalie bent down and broke out of his arms. And then, she ran to the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV. New Year's Eve Gala had already started, and a singer was performing.
Natalie couldn't calm down, but she pretend to be composed and asked, "Luke, do you want to watch this program?"
That was the first time that someone asked Luke whether he wanted to watch New Year's Eve Gala. In the past, he either socialized with those shrewd old people at the family banquet or stayed in the army on New Year's Eve.
This was the first time he could watch a TV show with a girl without thinking about any other things.
It felt good.
Before Natalie had moved in, the coffee table in the living room had been empty except for some cigarette cases he occasionally left there. But since she moved in, there were many snacks. 
She put a pillow on her lap and picked up a bag of potato chips. Although she had just had dinner, she kept eating snacks while watching TV. When the show was interesting, she laughed happily.
Luke thought the show was very boring, but when he saw her be deeply absorbed and laugh, the boring show suddenly became interesting.
He sat beside her and stared at her while she was watching TV.
This New Year's Eve was perfect.
Natalie also thought this was her happiest New Year's Eve.
Suddenly, she thought of something and she asked, "Luke, let's post the festival decorations up!"
Luke looked at her with a smile and said okay.
Natalie moved a small stool over, and Luke stood on it and pasted the decorations on the door.
It was normal for people to decorate their homes during holidays, but once the decorations were posted on Luke's door, it looked weird.
Luke looked at her with a half-smile.
Looking at the exaggerating decorations on the door, Natalie explained embarrassingly that the decorations were bought by Mia when they were shopping for dog clothes, so she didn't know what they were like in advance.
"You didn't tell me you will come back. Otherwise, I would have carefully chosen some decorations." She suddenly began to blame him rascally. When she raised her fair-skinned face in the dim light, the pink diamonds on her earrings swayed, and the fireworks were sparkling behind her.
Fourteen obediently squatted at her feet in the red vest she had bought. Since his dog had been raised by her, it had lost its majesty and became cute and funny.
Festival was meaningless to Luke, but at that moment, he couldn't help wanting to spend every New Year's Eve with her in the future.
His dark eyes were full of tenderness, and he looked down at her and said, "You can buy the decorations you like next year."
But his voice was muffled by the sound of fireworks.
Natalie didn't hear it clearly, so she tilted her head suspiciously and asked loudly, "What did you say?"
Fireworks were set off in all directions in a row.
Luke laughed, approached her, and raised his voice, saying, "I said you are stupid."
As soon as he finished speaking, she slammed him in the chest. Her eyes were full of annoyance, and in the light of fireworks, he could only see his face in them.
He showed a charming smile, held her cold hand, led her into the house, and told her he would hang out with her tomorrow.
Luke could not understand why he liked to ask for trouble now. He always teased her, and when she got annoyed, he would coax her patiently.
This year, they said Happy New Year to each other before anyone else.
However, Luke did not sleep well at night. Fireworks and firecrackers were prohibited in the center area of ​​Athana, but Alcomara was different. The sound of firecrackers resounded from the night to the morning.
Luke had no choice but to get up early. The air in the morning was cold and moist. He leaned on the balcony rail and began to smoke.
After a while, the door of the balcony next door was pushed open.
Hearing the sound, Luke looked back and saw Natalie come out with a blanket around her shoulders. Her lips were pale, and she looked ill.
Natalie was slightly surprised to see him. She walked to the glass rail and said, "Why did you get up so early? Was it too noisy last night?"
Her voice sounded weak, so Luke sensed something was wrong and asked, "Are you ill?"
Natalie stammered embarrassedly, "I'm not ill."
Luke put out the cigarette, walked over, and checked the temperature of her forehead with the back of his hand. It was normal, so he asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable? Don't endure it alone. I'll take you to the hospital."
When he was about to go back to the room to change clothes, Natalie covered her stomach with one hand and hurriedly stretched out the other hand to grab him, saying, "No, no, Luke..."
She didn't have much energy, so she release her grip soon.
"I'm on my period, so I feel a little uncomfortable. It doesn't matter," Natalie said weakly, "There's no need to go to the hospital."
Luke frowned, "But you don't even have the strength to speak now."
It was painful, but she did not think she had to go to the hospital. Natalie decided to endure the pain because she did not want to take pain-killing drugs which had side effects.
But Luke didn't know how much about girls' menstrual period, so he took out his phone, intending to call Charlie over, but Natalie stopped him in time.
"I'll be fine after having a rest," she sighed lightly.
Luke couldn't do anything to help, so he stroked her pale face and said, "Then why did you come outside?"
Hearing this, she became dejected and said in disappointment, "It's New Year's Day, and I want to hang out with you."
Luke was amused to hear that.
She still wanted to go out when she felt so uncomfortable
In the end, they spent New Year's Day at home. Luke hired a nutritionist to take care of her diet. Every meal was made according to the best ratio of vitamins, proteins, and other critical nutrients.
Natalie refused at first, thinking he was making a fuss. It was just her period, but he had hired a nutritionist as if she were a fragile patient.
Luke teased, "It's because I am chasing you."
When they watched a movie together in the living room, Natalie felt hurt after sitting still for a long time. As soon as she frowned in pain, Luke hugged her and let her rest her head on his lap. And then he pulled over a blanket to cover her.
In the past, Natalie endured the pain alone when she had her period. Once a person tasted the feeling of being cared for, she or he would become fragile.
When she pillowed on his lap, he reached into the blanket and put his warm palm on her belly.
And then, he stroked her belly to comfort her without any flirtation.
Natalie had never been taken care of so carefully before. When she got the tenderness from Luke, she secretly wanted to own it forever as if she was possessed by a lustful devil.
But soon, she realized she was too greedy.
To hide this thought, she insincerely blamed him for making a fuss.
Luke chuckled, leaned on the back of the sofa lazily, toyed with a lock of her long hair, and said casually, "This is my way of chasing girls. Dr. Moore, can you agree to be my girlfriend now?"
Sometimes, men's and women's ways of thinking were different. Luke just wanted to express that he was making great efforts to chase her, but Natalie heard something else in his words.
"How many girls have you ever chased?" Natalie tilted her head and looked at him questioningly.
Luke was stunned and then asked with a smile, "Do you think I am a playboy?"
Natalie replied without hesitation, "Yes, I do."
He shrugged his shoulders with laughter and continued fiddling with her hair with his fingers, saying, "You won't believe me even if I deny it, right?"
Natalie nodded, rubbed her head against his lap, and changed to a more comfortable position.
She lay on her side, facing the TV.
He liked her ears very much, so he carefully pulled her hair behind her ear, lowered his head, and whispered into her ear in a hoarse and drawling voice, "Then you'd better punish me now. You can do whatever you want to me."
The breath he sprayed on her pinna was hot. Natalie was resting her head on his lap, so she could not hide, and her ears began to burn.
Natalie's heart skipped a beat because his breath was tickling her heart. She dated Forrest before, but compared to Luke, she was too inexperienced.
He looked sexy when he was flirting and looked adorable when he was gentle.
Before meeting him, Natalie had never thought she would be unable to resist a man's charm.
-
They stayed at home like this for five days until Natalie's period ended.
Today Natalie was wakened up by a phone call from Sherman who happily said that Mr. Scott was dismissed and that she would be able to go back to work soon.
Natalie was stunned to hear this. She abruptly sat up, immediately sobered up, and said in a hoarse voice, "Really?"
Sherman confirmed it was true.
After the pleasant surprise, Natalie asked, "Why was Mr. Scott dismissed?"
"I heard that he is suspected of violating the laws when promoting Bretton Pharmaceutical's products in the hospital. When he was investigated some time ago, this matter was a trending topic on Facebook. Nata, it is Mr. Scott that suspended you. You and Luke... Mr. Scott was afraid you would hinder his cooperation with Bretton Pharmaceutical. Now that he was dismissed, you will be able to come back soon."
Natalie knew that someone in the hospital was illegally promoting Bretton Pharmaceutical's products, but she did not expect it to be related to Mr. Scott. Luke said he would deal with this matter. Had he exposed it on the internet?
After talking on the phone with Sherman, Natalie got up in a hurry, and she bumped into Luke as soon as she got out of the bedroom.
Today, her face looked rosy, there was a smile on her lips. She was much more energetic than a few days ago. Luke put his hands in his trouser pockets, grinned, and walked over, saying, "Do you feel better today? You look energetic."
Natalie ignored his teasing, grabbed his wrist, and shook it excitedly, exclaiming, "Luke, I can go back to work in the hospital soon!"
She looked very excited as if she won a lottery.
Luke looked at her for a moment as if he couldn't understand why she was so happy, and then, he said with a smile, "I told you that you can go back a long time ago, right?"
"But I had to go with bodyguards back then."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly realized that something was wrong, so she asked, "Do I still have to go to the hospital with bodyguards?"
She raised her head slightly, and her eyes looked charming.
Luke was amused by her words, and then, he promised he would not interfere with her work. Later, he said solemnly, "I have to go back to Athana two days later."
Natalie's joy of reinstatement was like a piece of glass. When the stone was smashed over, it broke into pieces.
Natalie's smile froze on her face.
Was she caught off guard? Not really. She had a hunch that he wouldn't stay in Alcomara for long. After all, he came back to accompany her on the spur of the moment, and he must have a lot of things to deal with in Athana.
Natalie was upset because her period came at the wrong time, and she didn't know when he would come to Alcomara next time.
After only a few seconds of silence, Natalie smiled, "Then we both will become busy soon."
She seemed as if nothing were on her mind, but the fleeting negative emotion was caught by Luke's eyes.
Sometimes, Luke wondered how she could be so sensible and considerate. Although she occasionally lost her temper about some unimportant things, she didn't hinder any serious business out of selfishness.
For example, she didn't ask any questions now.
Therefore, Luke took the initiative to explain the situation to her, saying, "That family agreed to go to court, but there is a conflict in the company about this matter, so I have to go back to deal with it in person."
"How did you make them agree?" Natalie was surprised to hear that. She had tried her best to persuade them but failed, and they had even poured a bucket of water on her.
The process was a bit complicated, so Luke said he would tell her about it in the future.
Natalie nodded.
She felt satisfied because he took the initiative to explain.
On the day Luke left, Natalie returned to the hospital to work.
He drove her to the hospital before going to the airport.
The car stopped at the entrance of Alcomara No.2 Hospital. Natalie didn't feel happy about her reinstatement, and her heart was filled with sorrow because of Luke's departure.
"Luke," Natalie unbuckled the seat belt and said softly, "Thank you for accompanying me during the holiday."
When Luke looked at her face, he found he didn't want to go back to Athana to face the old guys at all.
"You won't date other guys when I am away, right?" Luke fiddled with her earlobe flirtatiously.
Natalie thought for a while and deliberately said, "I'm not sure."
Luke snorted, crooked his index finger, and said, "Come here."
Natalie felt suspicious, but now she was reluctant to part with him, so she leaned over without thinking much about it. Suddenly, Luke lowered his head and bit her ear.
He did not bite her hard, but she was taken aback, so she immediately pushed him away. Her ear started to go numb after the warm micro-current passed through it.
Natalie covered her left ear and glared at him, but her heart was racing. She snapped, "Luke!"
Luke showed a triumphant smile on his lips and said in a very gentle tone, "I hope you can hold the grudge. Otherwise, you may forget me after I leave."
He raised his hand and stroked her head, saying, "I will apologize to you when I come back."