ANYTHING METEOR GARDEN YOU RECOGNIZE, I DO NOT OWN.
Chapter 9: guilty
Lei stared at the photograph of her in his hands as he recalled the events following that fateful kiss.
Flashback---
They were both sweating.
The heat of the sun was nearly unbearable in its intensity.
His feet hurt like the very devil.
His stomach was grumbling from hunger.
And her hair was all over his face.
So how come he felt so good he wanted to dance?
He'd kissed her because he wanted to know if he'd feel something. A minute into the kiss and he knew. He'd never gotten over her after all.
"When did you find out?" she asked him when they finally broke apart.
"I think maybe I've always known…." Lei answered. His mind might not have recognized her, but his heart did. "I just never thought you'd ever come back."
"I didn't want to." She admitted.
"Why did you?" Lei had to ask although he was glad that she did so.
"Because." She said simply.
He didn't say anything. He just pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. She reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head into the crook of his neck, not caring in the least that he was all sweaty and smelling like heaven knows what.
"You've changed." It was a statement, not a question.
"Ten years tend to do that…" she answered.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" It seemed weird to ask after having kissed the way they did.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"I think that you're still in love with me."
She pushed him away indignantly. "You wish."
Lei laughed. "Admit it. You still love me."
"So what if I do?"
"I still love you too." Lei admitted.
Her face fell. "You don't have to do this Lei."
"Do what?" he asked.
"This! You don't need to say you love me. I didn't come back for that."
"What did you come back for then?" he was smiling when he asked.
"I'm getting married."
Her words hit Lei like a physical slap. This couldn't be happening! Not again! "Married?"
She looked at him in remorse as she nodded.
It took all of Lei's willpower to keep his voice steady as he asked, "So why bother with this charade then?"
"I just…I wanted to see you again…"
"You could have seen me without doing this." He reasoned.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way…" she whispered.
Lei looked at her without expression.
"I never meant for you to find out who I am…" she started to explain.
"Liar!" his voice was like whiplash.
She looked at him in surprise.
"You set me up."
"What? No…"
"You set out to make me fall in love with you again so you could get back at me for rejecting you all those years ago." Lei's fists clenched in anger.
"No…" she shook her head.
"Well, you've had your drop of blood. I hope you're happy." Lei didn't know how he remained standing.
"Lei…" she reached out to him.
He moved to avoid her touch. "You'll forgive me if I don't stay to finish the agreed-upon week. I'll tell Shan Cai to refund your money…" he told her coldly.
"No…please Lei, listen…" she pleaded.
He ignored her and turned around to walk back to where they came from. He took out his cell phone and dialled his personal assistant's number. "Have the helicopter come pick me up." He didn't bother with pleasantries and quickly dictated his location.
End of flashback---
He'd left her standing where she was and never looked back. He couldn't. He'd been afraid that if he did, he'd throw his pride to the winds and beg.
"Not again! Never again!" he vowed as he slowly and systematically started ripping the
photograph into shreds and threw them into the waters.
When all of the pieces had been carried away by the current, he pushed himself up and away from the bridge's railing and started walking back to his car.
He had a flight to catch.
***
Lei opened the door to his house and breathed in the quiet. He'd called ahead and ordered all of his staff to have a day off because he wanted to be alone. They were used to it and he knew everything was prepared. His food would have been left warming in the oven and his bed turned down, ready for sleeping.
His bedroom was blessedly dark, the blinds turned down to prevent sunlight from filtering in. He automatically walked into the bathroom. He needed a shower as badly as he needed sleep. In minutes, he was under the stinging spray, trying valiantly to block all thoughts of her from his mind.
He didn't bother dressing. He just wrapped a towel around his waist after drying his hair vigorously and walked back into his bedroom. He adjusted the room's temperature to his liking before he discarded the towel and quickly got in between the sheets.
He was about to slide towards the middle of the bed when his hand encountered something suspiciously like human skin…a female human skin.
"What the…" he quickly sat up in surprise as he pulled at the sheets to reveal…
…her.
"What took you so long?" she asked.
Lei nearly swallowed his tongue. Although the room was dark, he could make out her form.
She was…
"Why are you…" he couldn't quite finish the thought.
"Here?" she asked mischievously as though it was an ordinary occurrence to have a
conversation in their birthday suits.
Lei didn't answer. He couldn't. He was busy trying to control his body's response to her proximity. She smelled so wonderfully…not to mention looked so…
"My week's not up yet." she answered as she started crawling closer to him.
Lei wanted to move away. He really did. But his limbs seemed to have been frozen. He opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. It seemed as though his throat had ceased to work too.
She stopped moving when she was only several inches away from him. Her teasing look had been replaced with something else…something Lei had trouble deciphering…the room was too dark…and her body was too close…
"Make love to me…" she whispered, not moving, just waiting.
Lei knew he should push her away. She was engaged to someone else. It was probably all a game to her. She'll leave him again.
But he found himself touching her face with his right hand.
He found himself tracing her lips with his thumb.
He found himself leaning forward to touch his lips to hers.
She gave a small sigh before she opened her lips to allow his tongue entry.
And before they could both think further, he'd pulled her into his arms and they were kissing.
Heatedly.
Intently.
Without thought…
…without logic…
…without pride.
***
"Wow." was all she said after as they both stared at the ceiling.
Lei had yet to find his tongue. But 'wow' seemed to sum it up quite nicely.
"Lei…" she whispered.
"Yes?" he finally answered.
"Would you …"
"Be up for round two?" he teasingly finished for her.
"Haha! You wish…"
He turned so he was on top of her. "I do…"
"Lei…"
"Shhh…." He whispered before he started kissing her yet again.
***
"I can't move…" she whispered to him. She was sitting in front of him in the bathtub, her back resting languidly on his chest, his legs on either side of her.
"Uhuh…" he answered, his head resting on the rim of the tub. There was water all over the
floor.
"Are we trying for a record…" she asked, half-seriously, her eyes closed as she ran her hands
his knees absently.
"No…but if you keep doing that…we might just make it…" he answered, also half-seriously, as he felt a familiar response to her movements.
"I can't…" she complained, although she gave a shiver as his hands slid from her sides towards her chest.
"Are you sure?" he whispered to her ear teasingly.
***
"No more…" she muttered weakly as she lay sprawled over him in the dark, though the blinds were no longer turned down.
Lei could only nod in agreement. He'd lost count of how many times they'd ended up like so.
All he knew was that his body was now crying out for sustenance. They hadn't eaten anything the whole day and it was already dark outside. "One of us should probably get food…"
She turned on her side and pushed him off the bed.
"I meant you…not me…" he complained.
She didn't answer, instead she burrowed her head onto the pillow.
Lei gave a loud sigh as he finally stood up. He picked up the towel off the floor and tied it around his waist before walking towards the door. He took in her still figure on the bed before going out to get them food. He was already on his way back to his bedroom, carrying the tray when he remembered her engagement.
He knew he should feel guilty.
But he didn't.
She was with him now. For whatever reason.
It was up to him to keep her there.
***
