Chapter 18 Chapter 9(ii)
Fae
Today didn’t end there.
I gave in to Jigo again and I let myself go. I felt free in his arms as he was careful and gentle, thorough and sweet, rough and loud. And I loved every moment with him… cuddling, cavorting, or just simply talking. I felt more alive than ever before in his arms.
Though I felt almost tired, I was also so contented I could cry. The warmth of his embrace was exactly what I needed, comforting and caring—irreplaceable. I was enchanted by the sound of his soft laughter as we whispered about trivial things in bed for half the day.
For a moment, I lost myself in my thoughts. I didn’t realize I had fallen silent except when he interrupted me with a question.
“Hey... where did you go?” his voice asked softly.
I caressed his chest. “Today could have been different. Not like this. My god... I can’t even believe this is happening to us...” I laughed again, shyly and softly. Then I looked at him, feeling deeply grateful that it was almost overwhelming. But in a good way now. “Jigo... thank you so much.”
He kissed my forehead. “It’s my pleasure, babe.”
I looked into his smiling face and couldn’t help but ask. “Why? You know... I wasn’t your type. I bet you didn’t even think this could happen to us, too...”
His smile deepened. “Who said... that you aren’t my type?”
I couldn’t help but grin. So he liked me? There was doubt in the beginning, but after all that I had experienced in his bed, in his arms… the way he made me feel since last night… I was beginning to suspect he really had been looking out for me yesterday for my sake and not because he was compelled by others. Jigo and I in bed, making love, and not just once. And not just drunk sex... sober sex. Playful sex. And after-sex care. And lots and lots of after-sex kisses and hugs. And hand-holding, fingers clasped, palms touching. And skin-to-naked-skin rubs.
Everything I had ever dreamed of in an intimate relationship, and some more I hadn’t even thought a man could do for a woman except in romance tropes, was here with him. he’d done it with me. How had I not suspected that he actually liked me? Unless I had the lowest self-esteem—which I really wasn’t like.
Information overload—too fast. I tried thinking back for clues, but I just couldn’t seem to know where to start.
“That’s taking a while. Whatever are you thinking?” he asked, lifting my chin. “Am I in trouble?” He looked worried.
“I’m thinking that your usual type are women so different from me. Tall... catwalk models... sophisticated... high society like you and... Carl and the others. I’m petite. I’m a regular gal. I can be pretty when I try—”
He snorted. “I don’t like flirting with small women because they remind me of you. You’ve ruined other petite women for me so I go for tall.”
I playfully pinched his cheek to punish him for that. “I don’t believe you.”
“You will, soon enough,” he replied, his eyes hooded.
“I mean, I know I’m not ugly but I’m not... like them. Carl is the only reason we’d met. We might have never… I doubt you would notice me if it weren’t for him.”
“Oh Jesus, Fae... we’ve been meeting when we were kids, FYI. Your father brought you to my house whenever he needed to work with Lola Leah. You would play in the garden and I would be there, watching over you—”
“You have your toys and you were very quiet. I just thought you just happened to be there, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Yes. You would forget about me and play alone, as if you didn’t care I was there.”
“That’s not true. I thought you didn’t want to play with me.”
“That’s because I don’t play with Barbie dolls.”
“I don’t play with cars. Why didn’t you approach me if you wanted to play with me?”
“I was shy.”
“I was, too,” I replied. My eyes felt like huge saucers on my face. “You… shy? C’mon…”
He was laughing a little. “What? Can’t I not? I was a kid. And you…” He lowered his head and kissed my forehead. “You were such a pretty girl. I thought I was going to break if you reject me.”
“Oh my god, that’s impossible! I really thought you just wanted to be left alone and I was giving you a favor. Carl didn’t want to play with my dolls, too.”
“I wasn’t Carl.”
He was still smiling, but why did I have this feeling I’d just upset him? “Well… you were a boy. And I thought you didn’t want to play with a girl.”
“Ahh… so now you know…” He continued skimming his lips on the side of my neck, then he followed the direction my may left jaw to my chin, and he dropped a kiss to my lips. And he was looking down at me. “I did want to play with you even if you were a girl. If I hadn’t been so nervous, we could have been friends very early on and who knows… But now you know that I like you… and that I want to play with you more now,” he teased.
I still believed he was upset, somehow. My eyes seek his face. But he remained smiling.
“You still don’t believe me? You’re one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever encountered and now? One of the most beautiful women I know. I like you. I like that you’re petite. I’ve always imagined how it’s like when I hug you. I can probably hold everything and nothing will be wasted.”
I snorted this time, but he only hugged me tighter, proving his point, and I ended up giggling as I tried to push back with my fingers pinching his cheeks.
“And you’re wrong. If I had happened to see you for the first time somewhere and I didn’t know you, I will definitely be looking back again. I’ll be hunting for you. I’ll try to meet you. And yes, Carl might have introduced us the first time we talked to each other much later after you snubbed me in my very garden—”
I dramatically gasped. “I told you I didn’t!”
“But I instigated that. He really didn’t like his friends to know about you and he used to constantly protect you from us. But I visited him on an unexpected weekend when I knew you’d be there and looked at you so long he was forced to call you to us so we could meet.”
I watched and listened and just… stared.