Chapter 8 #2
I clenched and unclenched my fists while I watched her dry her naked body with a towel.
If I could, I would get rid of the useless towel and eat her out against the wall while she writhed in my arms, moaning my name and begging me to make her come in my mouth.
But I wouldn’t for her teasing me like that.
“What, Ethan?” she asked in her sultry, mischievous voice, teasing me with a dirty glint in her eyes. “It’s not like you haven’t seen this before.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to control myself from pouncing on her like a wild beast. God, this woman made me lose the ability to think straight.
Shaking my head, I pinned her with my gaze and gritted out, “Dinner is ready.”
I turned and left her in the bathroom. In the kitchen, I gulped down a glass of cold water.
The images of her wet naked body flashed in my mind.
If she kept teasing me like that, then I would have no choice but to give in.
I shook my head. No, she thinks she has the upper hand here, but not again.
I have much more self-control than she thinks I do.
Kiara had dinner with me, and she was much more sober than before. She tried her best not to meet my eyes or even look at my face, hiding hers with the curtain of her damp hair.
Did she regret pulling that stunt in the bathroom?
“Kiara, what happened back there?” I asked when she loaded our empty plates in the dishwasher.
She pursed her lips and her shoulders tensed. “I am sorry I flirted with you like that. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
I would have accepted her statement, but her voice was too firm and sounded too robotic.
Holding her elbow, I made her face me, her eyes guarded. “What happened back there?”
She parted her lips to reply, but I said, “Be honest.”
Kiara paused and gazed up at me, her dark eyes softening. “I am sorry, Ethan. I can’t play being your best friend or even have a platonic relationship with you.”
My face must have shown how hurt I was after she said that.
I took a step back, but she shook her head, taking my palm in her hand.
“No, Ethan, listen to me. I am apologizing to you because as much as I want to be your friend or go back to how we were, I can’t do it.
I loved you. You were my first . . . everything. ”
“What are you trying to say, Bella?” I whispered, pulling her closer, the pulse on her neck beating faster. “Why can’t you be my friend?”
“Because I am still attracted to you.”
Time slowed down, and my ears rang with her confession. Because I am still attracted to you. Kiara Sharma, my Bella, was attracted to me.
I could see her brain turning, her dark brown eyes looking up at me and waiting for my reply. I released the breath I was holding and said, “Come visit my parents.”
“What?”
“Yes, Bella. Come visit my parents. Eveline. Tomorrow.”
“Ethan, I just told you I am—”
“I heard you, Kiara.” Pushing her back on the island, I caged her with my body and made her feel the bulge in my sweatpants. Her rosy lips parted, my muscles clenching and fighting the urgent need to kiss her and take her on the kitchen floor.
“I am attracted to you as well, Kiara.”
Before I could go any further, I pulled away. “But I want to take this slow. Come meet my parents and Eveline with me tomorrow.”
I didn’t wait for her reply and walked to my room, closing the door.
I might have been pushing her a little, but I wanted her to know that this was serious for me.
I was either all in or not at all. I was more than attracted to Kiara Sharma, but this time, I wanted to play all my cards right.
I wanted her to spend time with my family, take her on a date, and kiss her when the date was over.
The next morning, silence filled the car ride to my parents with a very fidgeting Kiara.
I would glance at her every two minutes because she looked gorgeous in a peach summer dress, her tan skin glowing and begging for my touch.
Even though she had agreed, she was holding the seat belt and clutching her handbag.
At one point, she even made a low braid with her hair because she couldn’t sit still.
“Are you okay, Bella?”
“I am perfectly fine and not at all nervous.”
I smiled. I couldn’t wait till she saw my moms and Evey.
As I had expected, my moms took Kiara in a big hug with tears in their eyes while Eveline stared at her the same way when Cinderella from Disney World took a picture with her. Not a single minute had gone by, and my family already accepted Kiara back with open arms and cookies.
We had sat down for lunch and were piling our plates with food when my mom looked at me and Kiara who was sitting beside me. I raised my eyebrow at her when she glanced at her ring finger. Before I could tell her to not ask about it, my mom smiled at Kiara.
“Ethan told me about your engagement, Kiara.”
Kiara tensed beside me, and I squeezed her hand under the table. Her palm was cold.
“Ma,” I said in a clipped voice, warning her not to prod.
Kiara clutched my hand and smiled at her, “Yes, I called it off.”
Lucy, my mom who was observing us, spoke up with a bright smile. “Well, if you must know, I almost got engaged to another woman before realizing how much I loved Helen.”
I sighed in relief when my moms looked at each other, their eyes full of love and adoration, making Eveline giggle.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stole a furtive glance at Kiara. She was doing the same. We both let go of each other’s hands at the same time and stayed quiet during most of the lunch.
We had an apple pie for dessert and then Eveline demanded Kiara to see her nail polish collection. I was sitting on her small bed, her room painted lilac purple, while my sister and Kiara sat on the soft rug, going through the various colors of the bottles.
“I think black will suit him the most,” my sister said after a moment.
What were they thinking?
I frowned, “No, I think—”
Kiara gave her the sweetest smile and my heart felt heavy when her eyes glinted with mischief, “Yes, you are absolutely right, Evey! We can use this pink as well.”
Sitting up straighter, I shook my head at them. “Actually, I’d rather not—”
My little sister gave her a toothy grin, taking the neon pink bottle in her hand. “Kiara, you’re brilliant!”
Oh, no.
“Now, if you have had your fun, can you please remove this?” I asked Kiara as soon as Eveline ran downstairs when Mom called her.
Kiara and Eveline had painted my fingernails in alternating colors of black and neon pink, giggling to themselves while I scowled at them. Just after one meeting, they were like best friends, and I was already scared that they might braid my hair the next time or apply makeup.
But deep down, I knew I would let them, just to make them happy and hear their laugh again.
She looked up from my sister’s little bookshelf to my face. A grin tugged her lips when she took in my outstretched hands, my fingers colored in horrifying nail polish.
“You don’t like it? I thought we both did an outstanding job adding glitter here,” she teased, pointing at my middle finger.
“Hilarious.” I deadpanned.
Kiara snickered and took my hand in hers after dabbing a cotton ball in acidic solution.
It had a strong smell which I tried to ignore and focus on Kiara’s mild perfume twanged with coconut and black vanilla.
While she removed the nail polish, I gazed at the way her eyebrows were furrowed with concentration.
She had undone her braid after lunch, so few strands of her hair brushed her cheeks.
I raised my hand which was already clear of the nail paint and tucked her hair behind her ear. She paused for a moment and continued wiping the color from my nails. The pulse of her neck had increased, and her breathing had changed.
“See?” She said, her voice breathy, “It’s all clear now.”
My nails were the same as before, but I was focusing on her, why her neck and cheeks were flushing. Ignoring everything around me, I lightly tugged the strand of her hair and whispered, “What are you thinking, Bella?”
Her eyes flickered up to me, and the intensity of her deep brown eyes caught me off guard.
Her hand was still on my lap as we were on the floor when she cleaned up my nails, and she was trying to ball her palm in a fist. When she looked away, I knew she was closing off and trying to hide away from me.
I didn’t want that. I wanted those golden flecked brown eyes on me, to look me straight in the eye, and tell me what she was feeling.
Leaning closer, I felt her take a shuddering breath. I tipped her chin toward me and dug my fingers on her waist, her body tensing at my touch.
I tilted my head, my eyes following the path of her creeping blush, down her slender neck to the cleavage of her dress and landing on the hardened tips of her nipples. My eyes met hers and I whispered, “Are you thinking what I am thinking?”
“What do you mean?” She replied, her voice a soft whisper on my lips. Her eyes were hooded and pupils dilated.
“Do you want me to kiss you, Bella?”
My hand slid up her waist, wrapping around her tiny body and pulling her closer to me.
She was almost on my lap, her breasts pressed up against my shirt and her palms on my shoulder, bracing herself.
I waited, my eyes on her parted lips, her hazy eyes, her heaving breasts.
I rubbed the pad of my thumb on her bottom lip, brushing it lightly and feeling the softness of her pillowy lips.
I want to kiss you.
It was written all over my face. But I waited. Waiting for her to make a move because it was written all over her face too. How her eyes moved from my eyes to my lips, her hands holding my shirt tightly, afraid of letting me go and how she pressed up against me.
She closed her eyes, and I trailed my hand to cup her cheek. I watched the slow bob of her throat and she opened her eyes, her hands touching my neck, angling my face and pulling me close.
I waited.
Her lips parted, “Ethan, I want to—”
“Look what I found!”
Like two frightened teenagers caught watching porn, we both scrambled away from each other when Eveline entered the room.
Thank God she didn’t see anything. Kiara’s face was flushed, and she was hiding it with her hair and asking my sister about the photo album that was in her hand.
She had found the album of when we were kids.
I ran a hand through my hair and tried to talk with Eveline and be interested in watching young Kiara and Ethan in every picture, but I couldn’t.
Because I was dying to know what Kiara wanted to say before she was going to kiss me.
I wanted her to complete that sentence. I wanted to hold her in my arms again.
Feel her warm, soft body press against me.
Feel the whisper of her breath on my skin.
I wanted her to kiss me. I wanted to kiss her.
As soon as the main door of my house locked behind us, I pushed her against the door, her eyes wide with surprise.
“What are you doing, Ethan?”
I dropped the keys and her handbag on the floor. I didn’t care about it at that moment. I wanted to know what she was going to say in Eveline’s room. I caged her against the door, my arms planted on either side of her, “What were you going to say?”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head, her hands pressing up against my chest and pushing me away. “I can’t say that to you, Ethan. It was wrong.”
I followed her in the dim hallway, “What was wrong? That you flirted with me, that you’re attracted to me, you want to kiss me?”
Kiara turned around, tears glistening in her eyes, “Yes, Ethan, all of it. I want to kiss you, but I can’t.”
Taking a slow step toward her, I cupped her face and asked, “Why can’t you, Bella?”
Her voice was barely audible when she whispered, “Because I am afraid I will ruin you.”
“You won’t.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I want to kiss you too.”
I kissed her.
It was nothing but a soft pressing of our lips against each other.
The tight clench in my body released as I pulled her closer, running my hand through her hair and holding her there.
She leaned against me, kissing me back with more fervor.
Kiara released a small sigh, her hands clutching my shirt and pulling closer as she tipped on her toes to press herself against me.
Electrifying goosebumps spread across my body when I licked the seams of her bottom lip, biting it with my teeth.
Kiara moaned, and I pulled away, both of us breathing heavily as we gazed at each other with hooded eyes filled with lust. I pushed her back on the wall, my hand wrapping around her slender throat, and slammed my lips against hers.
I wanted her to know how much I craved her and how much I wanted her.
I swallowed her small moans, her fingers tugging my hair making me groan between our hot, wet kisses.
The lack of oxygen made me pull away, breathing hard and noticing her mussed hair, flushed face, and gleaming eyes. A tear on her cheek.
I wiped it with my thumb, “Why are you crying, Bella?”