51. Wild Fire
Wild Fire
Kiri
Iwake up with no idea what time it is or where the hell my phone is.
Probably still in the the first bedroom we destroyed, dead.
The curtains are closed, but sunlight has worked its way around the edges, turning the room golden enough that morning has clearly been happening without us for a while.
Natalia is sprawled across my chest. One leg over mine, an arm tucked between us. Her hair is everywhere.
We hadn't gone to sleep willingly. We fought it, both of us insisting we weren’t tired while barely capable of forming complete sentences. Eventually, we passed out under protest, then woke up sometime before dawn and made another mess worth showering over.
Then we got into the shower. That was either a mistake or the best decision I’ve ever made. Hard to tell, guess it depends on which body part you're asking.
Most of the night comes back in flashes now. Her laugh against wet tile. My name breaking apart in her mouth. Her legs around me. Water running over both of us while I forgot every promise I’d ever made before her.
Once in the shower, maybe twice. Several times, if the ache through my entire body is reliable evidence.
It all feels like some insane fucking dream I made up because reality has never once been generous enough to give me something like this.
Afterward, I gave her the full princess treatment.
Carried her out because she claimed her legs had been sabotaged enough for one night, which I was smug about. I had tried to warn her.
I found another bedroom with untouched sheets. Brought her water, chocolate, crackers, and something from the complimentary basket neither of us could figure out what the fuck it was, but we ate anyway because it's probably expensive enough to deserve a chance.
There's still two more bedrooms we haven’t ruined. I smirk into her hair. We can rotate before housekeeping becomes an emergency.
She deserves this place. The penthouse, the soft sheets, the view, someone bringing her everything before she even thinks to ask.
Even if the suite is probably less hospitality and more Stefan paying hush money after one of his executives nearly drugged her at a label party.
The thought makes my jaw lock. I should go downstairs and pay for the room myself on principle.
This bedroom is a subtle purple and gold, right down to the veining through the marble in the bathroom. I glance toward the open bathroom door and immediately picture Natalia against every wall in there, legs wrapped around me the way they were last night. My body reacts before I can stop it.
Last night should have satisfied something. Instead, it lit a fire that's gone wild inside me.
I want her again.
Now.
In this bed. In that shower. Against the windows if she’ll let me.
I always assumed the first time with someone came with its own kind of electricity.
The shock of discovery. The rush of opening something hidden but knowing every time after would lose a little of that edge because it wasn't new.
But every time with Nat felt as intense as the first. Different, maybe, but never less electric.
I’m fucked.
Completely fucking ruined.
I might as well call Ma and tell her I found 'the one'.
The thought lands with a sting painful enough to dull the heat in me.
For a second, I picture telling her. Not everything, obviously.
Not that I spent half the night carrying Natalia between bedrooms like a man possessed.
Just that I’m happy. That I met someone who makes the future feel less like a threat.
Sure, it's messy, but when isn't life a little messy? Messy things are fun, sometimes.
I want to tell Ma that I finally understand why people want to call home when something good happens.
But home's never been a place where I take good things. I check on Ma. I send money. I call when I can force myself through the dread. Then I keep my distance because every visit ends with me watching her defend the man who keeps hurting her, and one day I’m going to put him six feet under for it.
Moments like this are supposed to belong to family. You’re supposed to tell them. Let them tease you. Let someone older than you smile knowingly and say they wondered how long it would take. Instead, I pack the feeling down where I keep everything else.
Rithy will be confused. He was convinced Radhika was the answer. Perfect woman. Perfect way to repair the old damage, but here I am, making the choice that looks insane from the outside.
Again.
Except I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.
Morning heaviness gathers in my body while I stroke Natalia’s hair away from her face.
She makes a sleepy sound and burrows closer.
I look down at her. The golden cast of her hair in this light.
One loose strand crossing her cheek. That perfect nose.
Lips pressed into a soft pout even in sleep.
Without makeup, a few tiny freckles appear across her skin.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them before.
Something warm spreads through my chest. This is different to anything I've known. It's quieter and… somehow, bigger. It's a feeling I don’t have a name for because naming it would make it real, and I’ve spent my entire life believing real things are only more painful when they’re taken away.
Natalia presses closer against me and her lashes flutter. I trace one finger carefully along the strand of hair over her face.
Maybe I don’t have to lose this.
Maybe—
Someone pounds on the door. Natalia jerks against my chest.
“Nat!” Kasia calls from the other side.
My entire body goes rigid. Natalia’s eyes fly open and we stare at each other. Kasia knocks again.
“Are you awake?”
“Shit,” I whisper.