chapter 16
Zloban
I check on her after settling into my car. I was busy the entire day, but each time I glanced at her feed she remained in her room, until evening, when she went for a walk in the garden before heading to the rooftop.
Because there are no cameras in her bedroom apart from the ones she uses, I had to watch her through drones.
She spoke with Wen for nearly two hours. I usually listen to her conversations with others before going to sleep, just to hear her tranquil voice.
By the time I return to the mansion, it’s already 9 p.m. She has eaten her dinner early. As I walk upstairs, I stop in front of her door. It’s too early for her to be asleep. I knock once.
I promised myself this morning that I would keep my distance from her. Now I reason with myself: I’ll just wish her goodnight and look at her face. That’s all.
She opens the door, a smile tugs at her lips the moment she sees me. Then, without any warning, she throws her arms around me, inhaling against me here and there.
“Why do you always smell so nice?”
I gently pull her away. “Have you eaten your dinner?”
She nods, still smiling brightly.
Why is she in such a good mood? For some reason her happiness rings like an alarm in my head. I’ll check her day’s activities.
But as soon as I release her shoulders, she hugs me again. “Have you eaten your dinner?”
This time I decide to let her hold me. I simply hum in answer.
“How was your day?” she asks, rubbing her cheek against my chest.
“It was good.”
She steps back, takes hold of my arm. “Okay, let’s go to your room. We’ll sleep after you shower and change.”
I stop her. “You are sleeping in your room tonight.”
She releases my arm. “Okay.”
I narrow my eyes. That’s it? I was expecting an argument, maybe even a tantrum. Instead, she rises on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Good night.”
My heart stumbles. She kissed me. The last time she did that was when I first came into this house. I told her I didn’t like being kissed, and she never repeated it. Until now.
She steps back into her room and shuts the door, grinning. I remain standing there, replaying the moment her soft lips brushed my cheek.
Reluctantly, I move my feet and head to my own room. I step into the closet, remove my clothes, fold them neatly, and hang them in the section reserved for used garments. Then I grab a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and head into the bathroom.
I shower quickly, careful not to let the water touch my face, then change and walk back out.
I stop cold at the bathroom threshold. The room is dimly lit, and on my bed lies someone sleeping peacefully. I should have known. Since when has she ever been obedient enough to stay in her own room?
But the bigger question is, how did she get in here? I locked the door.
My eyes find the answer. The balcony. She climbed across from her side, jumped in through my window. My frown deepens.
If she thinks she can climb over balconies, sneak into my room through windows, and I’ll simply let it slide, then she is gravely mistaken.
I stride toward her.
But after three fast steps, I freeze at the sight before me.
She’s sprawled on my bed, wearing yellow shorts barely longer than her panties and a pathetic excuse of a top, nothing more than a strip of yellow fabric with less coverage than her bra, leaving her back bare save for a single strap.
And the position—lying on her stomach, one leg bent—gives an unmissable view of her ass.
The second I take it in, one and a half seconds later, my cock jerks to attention. My steps slow, my chest tightening. My eyes waver between devouring the sight and looking away, desperate to silence the maddening ringing in my skull.
By the time I reach the bed, my head is numb. I’ve even forgotten what I was thinking a moment ago—something that’s never happened before. And I don’t appreciate it happening now. I cannot lose control. But it’s slipping from me, sliding faster the longer I look at her.
“AVIRA!” I shout.
She jolts upright. And now—now her front is on display.
If she’d been completely naked, it might have been less devastating.
My gaze lingers for the briefest millisecond on her perfect breasts, pushed up beneath the fabric, the thick line of her cleavage daring me to look longer.
One heartbeat-long glimpse, burned into my brain forever.
I know that each time the memory resurfaces, my body will betray me.
“What the hell are you wearing?” My words thunder out.
She glances down at herself, making me follow, and a violent twitch shoots through my shaft.
She looks back up, cheeks flushed pink. “My new pajamas.”
“Change them. Right. Now.”
She slides off the bed. I shut my eyes, fighting to block the sight in front of me, but the darkness is worse.
In the shadows behind my lids, she’s not walking away, she’s beneath me, my hands all over her soft skin instead of clenched, nails digging into my palms. I snap my eyes open only when I hear her steps passing me.
I fix my gaze on the wall as she rustles inside my closet. My jaw tightens while I adjust my very visible erection, shifting it to the side. A minute later, she returns and lies down on the bed again, this time wearing one of my oversized T-shirts.
“If you dare wear anything like that again, I’ll glue clothes to your body.”
She only nods, grinning like the little demon she is.
“And what are you doing here,” I demand, “when I told you to sleep in your room?”
She juts her lower lip out, eyebrows raised and pulled together, blinking slowly with exaggerated innocence. “I don’t want to sleep in that room.”
I press my lips into a hard line. She knows exactly how to make that damned puppy face, and how to use it to manipulate me.
“Fine. Sleep here. I’ll take your room.”
Before I can move, she darts forward, sitting up and catching both my hands. “Please sleep here, Zoan.” And there it is again, that stupidly adorable puppy face.
“You’re overusing that face,” I grind out.
She grins wider. “I’ll stop using it once it stops working.”
I exhale sharply. “I’ll sleep here. But only if you promise not to touch me.”
She lets go of my hands, moves back, and starts lining pillows between us.
Then she flops onto the far side and announces with a satisfied sigh, “I’ll sleep here.”
Is this another one of her games? She is the most unpredictable person I’ve ever known. If it had been anyone else—someone I’d spent this much time observing—I would be able to predict their future a year in advance. But ask me what this woman will do ten minutes from now, and I’ll have no answer.
I lie down on my side of the pillow partition. She clutches the pillow between us, watching me with that smile that always heats up my chest and makes me think I’m the luckiest bastard alive to be the reason behind it.
“Can I hold your hand?” she asks softly.
I shift onto my side, placing my hand on the pillow in front of her. She snakes her forearm around mine, sliding her fingers beneath and locking them with mine, then lifts my hand and rests her cheek against the back of it.
I meant to give her my hand to hold, but she ends up hugging it instead. And I’m sick enough to enjoy it, even when I know I should be keeping my distance. The bitterness of what I’m going to do to her in the days to come burns in my throat.
But that’s for another day. Tonight, I’ll let myself watch her fall asleep with that smile still glowing on her beautiful face.
Avira
I wake up with a frustrated groan. I’m hugging the pillow, the partition still lying perfectly in its place. I had planned to move the pillows aside and wrap myself around him, but somewhere between pretending and waiting, I actually fell asleep.
A grin spreads across my face as last night’s experiment flashes in my mind, the glorious result—that massive bulge in his sweatpants. My cheeks heat up instantly. I fan my face with both hands, giggling under my breath. He must be huge to pitch such a tent.
Sliding out of bed, I step out of his room and into mine, practically dancing and humming with triumph. I snatch my phone from the nightstand and type a quick message to Wen.
Me: ‘The result is positive. The prize was a huge tent.’
Her reply comes almost instantly.
Wen: ‘Hehehe. I told you. Now?’
I bite my lip, grinning like an idiot.
Me: ‘More unintentional encounters.’
Wen: ‘Lol. Poor Z.’
Laughing, I toss the phone onto the bed and twirl my way into the bathroom.
After freshening up, I head downstairs toward the dining room. But before I can reach it, I hear voices coming from the living room. My steps quicken. As the tones become familiar, my heart leaps.
And then I see them, standing with Zoan, deep in conversation.
“Daddy! Mama!” I cry, joy bursting from my chest as I run toward them.
Daddy catches me easily, lifting me into a big twirl. “My little pumpkin.”
He sets me down, and I lean up to kiss the scar on his cheek that Mama gave him. Then I turn straight into Mama’s arms.
She presses a kiss to my temple. “How are you, darling?”
“I’m amazing,” I beam.
They exchange a look over my head, silently reading each other as they always do.
Mama pats my cheek gently. “Go and eat your breakfast.”
“How long are you staying?” I ask eagerly.
Her smile softens. “Two weeks.”
My grin widens. It’s been so long since I’ve had them around for this long.
A year ago, I visited them in D.C., but I only stayed for a week.
I don’t like that city one bit, it feels too stiff, too suffocating.
I much prefer either our hilltop estate overlooking the ocean on the outskirts of San Diego or Pa’s countryside house, where time moves at its own lazy pace.
“Shall we leave, Dad?” Zoan asks.
Daddy nods. He strokes my hair gently. “See you in the evening.”
I nod.
I’m sitting cross-legged on the carpet while Mama sits in one of the armchairs in the morning lounge.
She’s massaging my hair, and I’m excitedly sharing the outline of the story I started writing yesterday, it’s a story about a woman who falls for someone she absolutely shouldn’t.
Of course, that woman is inspired by me.
She will have to stand against her loving family if she wants to live with the man she loves.
“Then comes the twist,” I murmur, eyes fluttering closed under the hypnotic rotation of her fingers, “when she discovers the enemy she loves also harbors similar feelings for her.”
“How?”
Half-asleep, I mumble, “She sees his tent.”
Her fingers freeze. My eyes fly open in horror. What the hell did I just blurt out?
Her laughter erupts, spilling through the cozy room like music. “You’re writing R-rated content now!”
I chuckle nervously. “I think so.”
“Hmm… let’s see how your father reacts when he reads this book of yours.”
I whip my head up so fast my neck nearly sprains. “Daddy reads my books?”
She nods, still grinning. “We read all of your books.”
I stare, stunned. I was completely unaware of this very critical information. I always thought only Ma, Pa, and Wen read my books, because I forced them to.
“Who else reads my books?” I ask.
“Your aunts,” Mama replies.
I sigh. “No males?”
“Only your daddy and Zo.”
I snap upright, now sitting fully facing her. “Zoan also reads my books?” The shock rattles through me like an earthquake.
“Have you not seen all the hardcovers in the library?”
I shake my head, dazed.
If Zoan really does read my books, then I might have to change the content. Because what I wrote in that chapter about her finding out is exactly what happened yesterday. Or… should I leave it as it is? He should know what I know. But Daddy reading it? No—God, no.
I poke her knee like a child begging for mercy. “Don’t let Daddy read this book.”
She chuckles, amused. “Okay.”