Chapter 104 Misunderstanding
Sloane's POV
I explained incoherently, my voice choked with tears and a sense of hurt I hadn't even noticed myself.
Jared listened in silence, his deep eyes dark and unreadable in the night.
After a long while, he let out a barely audible sigh—a sigh filled with helplessness, heartache, and a lingering heaviness.
He said nothing, just bent down and scooped me up in his arms.
My body suddenly suspended in air, I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck.
He carried me, walking back with steady steps. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Harrison's figure still standing below the small hill in the distance, like a silent statue, quietly watching us leave.
Back in that cramped rest room, Jared gently placed me on the cot. He crouched down, carefully examining my ankle and knee, his expression as focused as if he were handling a priceless treasure.
"Does anything hurt?" He looked up, the gloom and anger in his eyes already faded, replaced only by deep fear and self-blame.
I shook my head. Looking at the clear bloodshot in his eyes and the stubble on his chin, something soft inside me was hit hard. This man had, after all, turned back for me.
All the hurt and sadness caused by him were replaced by heartache in this moment.
I cupped his handsome face and, under his startled gaze, leaned in on my own, pressing my lips against his cool ones.
His body stiffened for a moment, but soon, two familiar flames ignited in those deep eyes.
He almost immediately took control, holding the back of my head and deepening the kiss.
But the kiss was brief.
Just when I thought he would, like before, use a forceful and possessive kiss to release all his anxiety and need to claim me, he only touched my lips lightly before pulling away abruptly.
"I'm tired," he said, avoiding my eyes, his voice low and hoarse with a deliberate weariness.
I froze.
He was still angry.
Angry that I'd hidden last night's terrifying moment from him, angry that I hadn't turned to him first for help, and even more angry that I... had gotten involved with Harrison.
A complicated feeling rose in my heart. I didn't want our barely mended relationship to return to square one because of these suspicions.
I stubbornly cupped his face again, not letting him escape, wanting to continue that unfinished kiss.
But he suddenly grabbed my hands and pulled me entirely into his arms without a word, holding me tight, not letting me make any more moves.
His rejecting posture left me feeling lost, and the hurt in my heart surged up again. I asked in a muffled voice, "Why won't you kiss me?"
The room fell silent, only our breathing intertwined.
After a long while, I heard his low voice, tinged with probing and danger, slowly speak near my ear.
"Then you tell me," he asked back, "why do you have to kiss?"
I was left speechless by his question.
Why did I have to kiss?
I just wanted to comfort him, to tell him I wasn't angry about his earlier suspicions, to let him know how happy I was that he came back.
But these complicated and tender thoughts couldn't come out as words under his scrutinizing and dangerous questioning.
My hesitation clearly became another kind of admission in his eyes.
The flame that had just ignited in his eyes instantly died out, replaced by deep hurt and self-mockery.
He let go of my hands, sat up straight, creating some distance between us. His voice was so low it seemed like he was talking to me and to himself at the same time: "So in your heart, I'm just a crazy person who only knows how to solve problems with his body? You're using a kiss to shut me up, to stop me from being unreasonable, is that it?"
His words were like a thin needle, hitting the softest spot in my heart.
I looked at him—this man who was decisive in business and commanded absolute authority in his family—now his eyes were filled with hurt and sadness over an unfinished kiss, like a large dog misunderstood by its owner, even his imposing presence completely gone.
The hurt I felt from being misunderstood was instantly washed away by a strange emotion called heartache.
I suddenly thought he looked a bit cute like this.
Ripples spread in my heart. I couldn't care about explanations anymore and threw myself into his solid chest, wrapping my arms tightly around his strong waist.
His body stiffened, but he didn't push me away.
"That's not what I meant." I pressed my cheek against his warm chest, explaining in a muffled voice. "I just... don't want you to work so hard."
I could feel his arms around me tighten.
"You flew here, then flew back, and now you've turned around and come back again. The company still has so much going on..." I looked up at the clear bloodshot in his eyes and the stubble on his chin, reaching up to touch his tired features, my voice full of heartache. "I don't want you running back and forth like this. It's too exhausting."
He looked at me silently, emotions churning in those deep eyes, complex and hard to read.
After a long while, he sighed softly, pulled me back into his arms, rested his chin on top of my head, his voice hoarse: "I'm afraid that once I leave, you'll be coveted by other men."
There was meaning behind his words. My heart stirred, but I pretended not to understand, lifting my head from his embrace and looking up at him with a smile: "Who?"
Jared's gaze moved away from my face, his lips pressed tight, saying nothing.
I knew he suspected Harrison.
My heart sank. I put away my smile, cupped his face, made him look into my eyes, my tone more serious than ever: "Jared, I have nothing with Harrison. If he hadn't happened to show up last night, I..."
"You don't understand anything," he suddenly interrupted, his bottomless eyes churning with currents I couldn't read.
He didn't give me a chance to ask more questions, just pulled me tighter into his arms, the force so strong it was like he wanted to meld me into his bones, as if only this way could he confirm my existence, could his anxious heart find a moment of peace.
I leaned against him, listening to his steady, strong heartbeat, his clean, pleasant scent filling my nose.
Looking at the exhaustion and worry that couldn't be dissolved from his features, a thought suddenly emerged from my heart.
Once this thought appeared, I couldn't suppress it anymore.
"Jared," I looked up at his eyes and said seriously, "I'll apply to the hospital to send another medical team to replace my work. Once they arrive, I'll go back with you."