Chapter 13 Chapter 7 (i)
Jigo
"Hey...”
I could feel the tender smile on my face.
It had been several minutes since I claimed the woman by my side, but she still remained wrapped in my embrace. She hadn’t pushed me away. She didn’t regret it.
Not yet.
I hoped, not ever.
The beating of our hearts had calmed down. The sweat on our skin had dried. I moved slightly, but her arms tightened around me. My smile deepened.
I hadn’t made a mistake.
Making love to Fae was spectacular. She was so perfect. I held back because she was drunk, but as soon as she was sober enough and focused on me...
For the first time, she saw what she should have seen long ago.
Me.
That I was in front of her. That I was beside her.
That I was completely present. Always.
And I was so relieved when she asked me to help her forget.
She responded to my kisses and embraced me as tightly as I held her. As I was holding her still. She matched my own heat with her own. She moaned and screamed, laughed and gasped, groaned and cried in a passionate response that I couldn’t doubt.
And in the end... she accepted every thrust with her whole heart. Our bodies danced to the beats of passion in a way I had never experienced with any other woman before.
I didn’t even want to think about any other woman before her. I doubted I could remember any names right now. It’s just become her, all about her. Finally!
My breath caught as I remembered the feeling of reaching the peak with her beneath me. Then she let go of all her reservations and soared free with me. Every sound and gasp she made filled my body, fulfilling the deepest desires within me.
She was extraordinary.
But I didn’t know what she was thinking now.
She still clung to me. Somehow, she was pushing away my remaining doubts.
She moaned when I moved. I caressed her bare back. Her body arched towards me. I held her tighter in my embrace.
She didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she pressed tighter to me, wriggling a little, as if she wanted to slide beneath my skin.
Unable to resist, I gently pulled her chin toward me, then kissed her exposed lips. She responded to the kiss, clinging to my lips with her soft ones. Eagerly.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Nuh-uuhhh...” she moaned, her lips still chasing after mine before stopping.
“Huh?” I insisted on knowing.
“Sleepy...” she replied in a small voice. And I couldn’t help my smile. She sounded so cute.
“Is it okay if I stay with you... to sleep beside you?”
Her arms tightened around me. She struggled to open her heavy eyelids to look at me. “It’s your bed, Jigo.”
“You might not want to sleep with another body in the bed. I can sleep in the—”
“Don’t leave me. You’re comfy,” she mumbled, her eyes already closed again.
My heart swelled. Even with her messy hair and washed-out makeup, Fae was still beautiful. She had that almost heart-shaped face, an intelligent forehead, fine eyebrows, and thick, black eyelashes. Her nose was straight and her lips naturally red. Fae’s fair complexion made her features stand out. She had curious, seeking, big dark eyes that could melt the heart of anyone who looked into them. Above all, she had a very expressive face. Even from a distance, her eyes and lips were easy to see. They defined her face so perfectly, as if they were drawn by a very good artist especially for this.
I knew this intimately because I’d always watched her from afar. I saw her when her forehead was furrowed, when her lips were smiling, whether they were open or closed. Every time she lifted her chin, I felt a pull in my heart and lower abdomen, a desire to kiss those lips. I wanted my lips to pass over her chin and jaw, down to...
I took a deep breath. God, I had such memories of wanting her from afar. Because that was the only time I could look at her like that. I couldn’t do it when she was near. She would notice.
And Carl would, too.
Her eyes were closed now, her long black lashes resting on her smooth skin. Her cheeks were still flushed from our lovemaking.
I smiled again. I couldn’t stop. So beautiful and adorably cute.
If only she wasn’t obsessed with Carl...
Don’t go there, buddy.
But still, I went. What else could I lose? Carl was already married to someone else. It still shocked me, the way the last three days went. But Carl made his bed, and he would soon find out what kind of a bed it was he had carelessly claimed.
You should have told him. Should have warned him, should have told him the truth about his wife.
I ignored the stab of guilt I felt. The important thing was that Fae was free now. He never gave any indication he saw her like I could see her. He kept on pretending like he hadn’t noticed how she specially liked him. That he was hurting her. How many times had it stressed me to see her disappointment at each and every chance Carl had been insensitive to her? He could have faced it and told her there was nothing she could get from him. Nothing like that. That she must move on and start dating other guys. He didn’t.
But the greatest betrayal and insult was marrying her close friend. That was the greatest insensitivity. I couldn’t believe it when I first heard two weeks ago. I waited for him to change his mind. But that wedding happened today.
He deserved her, was all I wanted to think about. He was my best friend, but he didn’t deserve this wonderful, beautiful woman in my bed.
She didn’t move when I carefully let go of our embrace. Her breathing was deep and regular. She had fallen asleep. She settled on my blankets and pillows like she belonged. I watched for a moment, enthralled, but I needed to use the bathroom. I got up to leave the bed for a moment.
The lamp was still on, providing a soft light to the bed and I couldn’t resist looking back. I wanted to watch her while we were entwined, every emotion and expression on her face as I pleasured her. And I realized I wanted to watch her as she slept. If she knew what was going on inside my head, she would freak out.
That’s when I saw the bloodstain on her thigh as I stood there by the bed, next to the lamp.
I was stunned for a moment...
I was away for more than two years when I had to attend graduate school in a business college abroad. She had been to law school, living independently by then—in a coed campus. It wasn’t unreasonable for her to explore, given that Carl hadn’t changed his treatment of her. I didn’t realize she was…
But I was wrong.
I should have known. Fae was fervently loyal. There was no way she would give herself to another man if there was a chance at being with Carl.