I hope this chapter can warm you up somehow. And there is a reason why I wanted to post this chapter on Christmas Eve - you'll see why soon. Enjoy :)

Note: This fic is purely AU (Alternate Universe), which means that the story is completely different from the original Candy Candy story. But there are some elements from the manga that I've included into the story - you'll know which ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Candy Candy manga and all the characters in it, but the talented Kyoko Mizuki does. This fic is a product of my own twisted imagination and inspired by Mizuki's masterpiece. If any of the plots, specific scenes, or dialogues appears to be similar to that from another fic or story, it is purely unintentional and coincidental. 'Great minds think alike', after all.

The characterization in the fic is based on the Manga and not the Anime.

All I Want For Christmas - Part III

To say that the party was glamorous was an understatement. It was beyond anything that I could ever imagine. The words glitz and ritz came to my mind. Famous people were everywhere as far as my eyes could see inside the spacious, opulent Grand Ballroom at the legendary Waldorf Astoria.

During the five course lavish meal set for a king, we were seated in this round table of ten people. Obviously, I didn't know the rest of the guests who were sharing table with us, but it was not difficult to tell that they were the people whom Albert had come in contact with in his work. For the most part, dinner was quite uneventful, and I had to admit that the truly interesting part was when the servers nimbly removed the fancy plate cloche to reveal the gourmet creation the chef had meticulously prepared for us to savor. Sad but that was how it had been for me.

I didn't understand. Was it because of the gown I was wearing that I had become so quiet? It was not that I had been neglected. In any case, it was totally the opposite. Albert had pretty much attempted to include me in almost all the conversations he had with his colleagues, but in all instances, I had replied with one or two short sentences adding a nod here and a nod there in a polite manner. And in the end, I had resorted to be a good listener. Honestly! This was definitely not how I would typically behave. The normal me would've jumped from table to table, asking for autographs, considering how the place was littered with all types of celebrities.

Besides the rich and famous, the place was also packed with beautiful women.

Since the seconds we had stepped in to the Grand Ballroom, I had been counting the number of women that had conveniently bumped onto Albert. Amazing how these women, no matter how sophisticated they appeared, would do anything – I meant anything – to get Albert's attention! I couldn't blame them though. I must admit that Albert looked exceptionally dashing tonight in his dark suit that made his blond hair stand out.

To my surprise, knowing how he was always keen on being a true gentleman, he had deliberately shrugged off the advances from those women without even sparing a glance at them. In fact, he had mostly devoted his attention to me. I was utterly flattered. I was his date after all, and that had to be the reason he was being extra attentive to me. He was just playing his role as my partner tonight. There couldn't be any other reason for that, right?'

After almost an hour had gone by, boredom had finally caught up with me, threatening to lull me to sleep. The party was nice and all, the food was fabulous, the wine was extraordinary, and Albert was a super gentleman – but nothing had happened. It was not like that I had expected something to happen. It was just that this could've been better.

As I was surveying the room with my eyes, trying to keep myself occupied, inconspicuously spying on the celebrity couple sitting several tables away from mine, I felt Albert nudge me slightly.

"Candy, the reason I had invited you to come with me in the first place is not so that you can act like a true lady - I want you to have fun," he whispered into my ears.

"Well, I don't want to embarrass you with my antics, Albert," I answered tongue-in-cheek, and he just gave me a chuckle in response.

Abruptly, he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up, tossing his napkin onto the table. "Perhaps, you just need a little lesson on how to enjoy the party."

All the while I could only gape at him in surprise. "Alb-"

Before I could say anything, he had grabbed my hand and towed me along with him, meandering through the tables, chairs, and people, and a short moment later, I found myself standing in the middle of the dancing floor. In the background, I could hear the music playing.

"Albert…" I looked at him, demanding an explanation.

Ignoring me, he held my hands and placed them on his shoulders. Then, his arms moved to encircle my waist. "We can start by dancing." He grinned as he began moving, and I automatically moved, following his lead.

I attempted hard to maintain my angry façade, but I couldn't succeed when he was grinning at me like that, so I just whipped my head to the side, pressing my lips to stifle my chuckle. "Dancing is good," I commented in slight concession, which he returned with another grin.

We then swayed to the beat of the music without talking, just enjoying each other's company, basking in the soothing atmosphere. The live band played an ear pleasing, mellow music. The whole perimeter of the dance floor was bathed in soft rays of light. Sweet floral fragrance emanating from the exquisite fresh flower centerpieces on the tables permeated the air. Everything about the place was imbued with romance.

On an impulse, I let my eyes droop to a close and leaned my head against his chest.

"Candy-" His voice called me softly, rumbling against my ears.

"Yeah." I responded still with my eyes closed. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat drummed softly against my ear.

He let out a long sigh. "I'm so glad you agreed to come with me tonight," he told me, causing my eyes to snap open, and I withdrew my head from his chest. Only then, I realized the music had stopped playing, but yet we were still dancing.

Slowly, I retracted my arms, removing them from his shoulders. We ceased moving and just stood in the middle of the dance floor, ignoring the many pairs of eyes directed toward us. To my surprise, he didn't let go of me. His arms were still wrapped snugly around my waist. Without even looking, I could feel the piercing of furious glares from jealous women from all over the room and couldn't prevent from making a quip about them.

"But by taking me as your date, you've broken a lot of hearts tonight." I wore a mock pitiful look on my face.

He faked laughter, "Ha ha ha… Funny."

"You should've seen those faces," I told him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" His face contorted into confusion.

"Those women who were swarming you earlier. They were attacking you from all sides, like you were a hot potato." He cocked his eyebrows, giving me a patented look, looking amused. I continued, "Well that wasn't the best choice of words, wasn't it?"

He laughed a little.

"I wouldn't blame them though." I paused.

"You wouldn't, eh?" He looked at me, grinning, coaxing me to continue.

"You're hot! Oh Drat! Did I just say that out loud?" I feigned bashfulness.

He chuckled. "Ah… I'm flattered. Candice White actually thinks that I'm hot. You have never said anything like that before, Candy."

"I just did, Albert. I mean, slipped. I just slipped," I answered in a jesting manner.

Suddenly, as the band resumed playing, he pulled me closer to him running his hand over my bare back, literally causing me to gasp. "Whatever, Candy. So, you think I am hot, huh?" The soft rumble of his chuckle filled my ears.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment, but I quickly attempted to conceal my discomposure with a retort. "Don't push it, Albert! You might have just lost your hotness."

He chortled and swiftly twirled me around so that my back was firmly flushed against his chest, his arms resting around my waist. It didn't occur to me of how close we were until his masculine scent totally surrounded me. This was the closest to physical intimacy we had ever had.

"Well, the same thing applies to you too." He half whispered to my ear, causing me to turn to face him only to stare right into his brilliant blue eyes. My heartbeat rate climbed exponentially. He was too close; our nose practically touched. I tossed my head to the opposite direction almost immediately.

"Have you noticed the many pairs of eyes directed at you? Would you believe those men? They were openly ogling you." I heard him say with slight disdain in his voice as I struggled to act collected to mask the growing nervousness within me.

Letting out a deep breath, I pulled my body away from him and turned around to face him. "I guess I wasn't paying attention. I missed that. So, they think I'm hot, huh? Is anyone of them worth being pursued?" I cracked a joke in an attempt to downplay my own nervousness.

"Don't even think about it! You deserve much better than those – those, those people," he told me. His mouth curved into a smile, looking like he was joking, but his eyes though, his eyes conveyed to me that he was being serious. "The only reason that they haven't laid a single hand on you is because you're with me," he added. His smile turned into a smug grin.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Since they see the big sign on me: property of William Albert Andrew. Hands off!" I finished for him, taunting him.

"Candy!" He scowled.

"I'm just kidding, Albert." I grabbed both of his hands and held them in mine, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Since, we're on that subject. Why did you ignore those women, Albert? I know I'm your date and all, but..." I moved my hands to his elbows and looked at him from an arm's length.

He released a long sigh and answered, "Candy - I have the most beautiful woman in the world, right here. Why would I want anything more?"

Of all the things he could've answered, that one totally took me by surprise. Without warning, he drew me closer to him, engulfing me in a hug, causing me to once again be encompassed in his warmth. I felt a bit dizzy by the proximity.

"I –" I stuttered weakly against his chest, trying to control the rampant beating of my heart that started to get out of control.

Gently, he eased me away from him and observed my face. "Aaaw… You're blushing." He smiled warmly, staring into my eyes. At that instant my face felt hot. I knew he was right.

"I'm not," I murmured a lie, avoiding his eyes, because I knew my face was probably as red as a ripened tomato just as he had claimed.

He sneered. "Whatever, Candy."

I just pressed my lips mutely as a response.

We spent the remaining of the song in silence, just moving around to the beat. I noticed that the dance floor had become more crowded compared to when we had just started dancing. And I was quite aware of the daggers those ladies threw at me, but I could care less about them.

I stole a glance at Albert out of the corner of my eye.

This wasn't the first time I danced with Albert. I had danced with him twice in the past during my last year in high school. The first time was the spring dance. After nearly a month of deliberation, I had mustered up the courage to ask him to the spring dance, and to my pleasant surprise, he had agreed to be my partner. Nevertheless, there hadn't been anything romantic about the event that was held inside the school gym. The makeshift dance floor was overcrowded that we could hardly move around and had to literally yell just so we could hear each other. The ambiance was definitely in stark contrast to the ambiance in this luxurious Grand Ballroom.

As the female vocalist began to sing a romantic ballad, I let my hands travel to rest at the nape of his neck, his hair brushing softly against the back of my hands. I leaned my head against his broad chest. His arms snaked around my waist.

I let him lead me moving across the dance floor.

A smile crept up my lips. Never in a million years I had ever pictured that I could be here dancing with him again.

"Uhm… Albert." I called him in a soft voice.

"Yeah?"

I drew away from him slightly to gaze at him. "Me too." I told him, smiling.

"Huh?" He looked at me with confusion reflected in his blue eyes.

I put my head back against his chest, inhaling the mild masculine scent that I had grown very fond of. "Me too. I'm glad I decided to come here with you too." I expounded my earlier remark to him without being able to wipe the grin out of my face.

The only reply I received was the tightening of his arms around me as I felt pressed against him. When I felt the soft brush of his moist lips on my shoulder, a tingling sensation flared within me, a familiar yet forgotten sensation.

Then, his arms loosened around me as he withdrew from me.

Stealing a quick glance toward him, I tried to decipher what was on his mind. He seemed to be preoccupied with something, staring off into space. A wistful smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

We continued dancing for a short moment. Until, as if someone had given us a command, we mechanically stopped moving, disentangling from each other's embrace, standing face-to-face. The next thing I knew, our eyes met and locked in an intense gaze. Then, slowly, our heads moved closer. We were so close to each other to which his warm breath practically tickled my nose. At that instant, I had this crazy urge to lean forward to remove whatever distance between us and just kissed him. But before anything happened, he averted his gaze from me and threw a glance over his shoulder, breaking the intimate moment as I could only stare at him in a half trance.

What had just happened?

"Are you thirsty, Candy? As a matter of fact, I am. I could definitely use one of those, right there." He gestured toward the cocktail serving table with his chin, his eyes eluding mine. I could only nod my head weakly in silence. I couldn't deny the fact that I was thoroughly disappointed with his evasive behavior.

After our dance, which had ended abruptly, Albert had taken me to mingle with as many people as possible. I couldn't help but think that he was trying to steer us away from being in a situation in which there was only the two of us. What had transpired between us earlier, where we had shared a fairly intimate moment on the dance floor and had somehow left it hanging, had inevitably generated awkward tension between us. We both had tried to overlook it, pretending that nothing had happened, and acted as normal as we possibly could. However, I didn't think any of us had succeeded though.

We stayed in the party for another two to three hours before we decided that we had enough excitement for the night.

The ride going home wasn't that much different as an air of awkwardness still hovered above us. It wasn't in total silence though. Sitting next to each other within the confined of the car, we did talk. So far, our conversation had been restricted to benign topics, no mentioning of the party or the dance of any kind. But, I knew that eventually we had to talk about the party and everything else related to it, probably not tonight but definitely some other time.

"Did you have fun at the ball, Candy?" Albert asked suddenly, catching me off guard with his question, as I hadn't foreseen he would bring up the topic right now.

I displayed my brightest, widest, happiest smile to him. "I certainly did, Albert. Thanks for inviting me."

"My pleasure," he simply said.

"How about you, Albert? Did you have fun?" I asked him back.

A broad grin appeared on his face. "Me? Definitely. I have to admit that it was one of the most well-organized events I've ever attended."

"Even if I have never truly attended another similar event in the past – I have to agree," I told him in affirmation.

"But, you didn't look like you were enjoying yourself earlier. You were not being yourself. You were playing miss manners. What happened with the vivacious Miss Candice White?" he asked in a sneer.

"As I told you earlier, I didn't want to embarrass a certain someone with my unrefined manners. But, eventually, I did better, right, Albert?" I told him, playfully slapping his shoulder.

He scoffed. "Yeah right. After I had to drag you to the dance floor, that is."

I gave him a sarcastic look at his last comment. "Well, that dance was something…" I started but then immediately halted before going further, gauging his reaction.

"Yeah… it was…" He drifted off in a contemplative tone. Then, before we knew it, we found ourselves gazing intensely at each other. But the next second, he whipped his head to the side and seemed to find the window to be more interesting to look at.

I could only swallow back a groan of frustration. He was being evasive again. I had given up trying to figure him out. I kept telling myself that he had told me from the very beginning that this whole thing was a favor that he had asked of me. But for the life of me, I just couldn't quell hope from sprouting inside of me. Was that presumptuous of me to think that tonight Albert had treated me extra special, as if he had been wooing me?

What had happened so far?

Albert out of nowhere had asked me to be his date. Albert had sent me to a shopping spree fit for a star, well not really, but close. Albert made sure I had enough royal treatment and adequately pampered. And poof! I was transformed into Cinderella ready to attend the ball. Albert had totally captivated me with his looks, charm, and manners – Cinderella's prince charming to the core. Albert and I were enjoying each other's company, totally oblivious to our surroundings. Albert and I were getting close to… to what? Would something happen? As much as I tried to deny it, I remembered at one point wanting to just go for the kiss, but then just in the blink of an eye, the moment had been dissolved.

Apparently, the clock had struck midnight, and it was time for Cinderella to return to reality.

I breathed out a long sigh, facing away from the mundane scenery outside the window.

"What's wrong, Candy?" he asked in a worried tone, suspending my muse.

I shook my head in answer. "Nothing. It's just that all good things must come to an end. I mean, candidly speaking, this night had been magical from the very beginning to the end. In a way, I feel like Cinderella tonight. But just like Cinderella – these will all disappear." I threw a sad smile at him.

"It doesn't have to," he murmured softly, so softly that I had almost missed it. But I had heard him.

"What?" Pretending not to hear him earlier, I put on my bemused face.

"Oh, nothing," he replied with a stiff smile. I decided to play along with him and let the subject go.

"Oh look! We're here," he announced suddenly, sounding relieved as I noticed the car rolled to a complete stop.

"Would you like to come in, Candy?" he asked, his eyes looking hopeful.

"Sure, why not?" I replied without too much deliberation. "To tell you the truth, even though it's been a lot of fun playing Cinderella and all, I can't wait to get out of this." I gripped the satin material of the gown in my hand.

"Need help? I'll be willing to lend you a hand," he said in a teasing manner, slyly grinning.

I snickered at him. "Heh! You wish!" He just chuckled as he helped me exit the car.

Once inside the house, I went to the guest bathroom to change into my comfy sweat pants and white button down shirt. It had been quite an interesting experience playing princess and all, but this was much better. I pulled out the pins holding my hair up and let the blond curls fall naturally, cascading down my back. I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I wiped the last trace of make up with a piece of cotton ball.

Goodbye Cinderella. Thank you for giving me a magical night.

After splashing my face with cool water and dabbing it dry with a towel, I sauntered across the hallway into the living room. I could see Albert sitting quietly, sipping from his mug. He hadn't changed out of his tuxedo shirt, but he had removed the tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons, his jacket lying in a dark pile on one end of the couch.

I approached the sofa with slow steps. "Do you remember the other time we had gone to a dance party?" I flopped down into the plush sofa, sitting next to him.

"Yeah?" he asked without looking at me, his tone urging me to continue.

"That time in high school when we went to my school dance," I told him. "Ugh! Just thinking about it," I added being not too fond of the experience.

"Why? I thought it was fun." He chuckled when I rolled my eyes at him. "And you looked really cute in your pink dress," he told me in a sincere voice. His warm smile was etched on his face.

"Ugh… Thanks… I guess." I looked away, abashed. As I lowered my head, I noticed the dangling lustrous stone on my neck and just then realized I had to return the precious jewelry to him. Quickly, I brought my hands over my shoulder, reaching for the clasp at the back of my neck. "Before I forget..."

"You can keep the necklace for one more day," he said lightly as he put his mug down on the table.

My hands stopped moving at once as I looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious? But this is your priceless heirloom jewelry."

He explained with ease, "I don't have the box with me right now, and just like you said, it is priceless, so I rather not carry it around with me – I might lose it."

My mind constructed a comeback instantly, but I decided to concede. I really didn't want to argue with him right now.

A moment of silence passed between us.

"Why did you run away from me, Candy?" his morose voice asked all of the sudden, dispersing the quietness between us.

My heart jumped violently inside my chest, my head whirling toward him. "What!? What are you talking about?" I strained a smile while trying to keep calm, which was an impossible thing to do when my heart was beating uncontrollably. He couldn't be asking me about that time, right?

"That night before you left," he responded as his gaze softened with tenderness. "You said goodbye to me and kissed me and just disappeared."

I felt the blood drain from my face at his words. No! He can't be doing this now! He isn't supposed to remember.

"I didn't run away from you," I muttered under my breath, eluding eye contact.

"Is that right?" An ironic chuckle escaped his throat. "Then, why didn't you say anything first before you just took off?"

"You could've chased after me…" without thinking, I countered in a soft murmur as I stared down at my hands.

"What did you say?" he asked, his tone rising with piqued curiosity.

He didn't hear what I had said, right?

Attempting to sidetrack him, I turned to face him and forced a smile. "Nothing. Just forget it."

He furrowed his eyebrows in doubt.

Ignoring his skeptical look, I implored, "Just forget it, Albert! Please forget it, okay? I don't know what I was saying. I guess I was just-"

"I was too stunned to move," he interjected, talking as if he hadn't heard a single word I had just said. "And I needed time to re-evaluate my own feelings for you."

I stiffened in my seat. "Your feelings for me?" I echoed in a faint whisper while different scenes from the past bombarded my mind, images flashing rapidly inside my head.

Nodding his head, he continued, "It took me a while to figure out everything, but I did go after you."

"You… did?" was the only thing I could manage to emit out of my mouth as my brain churned hard to piece everything together.

He nodded his head again, a sad smile adorning his lips. "But I guess I was too late. You seemed so happy being with another man, so I left..." His blue eyes regarded me with sorrow while the face of a dark haired man flickered in my mind.

Terry…

Albert had seen me with Terry? How could he-

Right. He said he did go after me.

Then it hit me like a blinding light!

My hands flew to my mouth, my heart throbbing with dull ache.

Oh God! Does this mean that Albert… He was in love with me back then? And when he saw me and Terry, he...

No...

All this time... When I thought I had no hope… God! Why now? Why is he telling me this now?

I can't talk about this now. I just can't!

This is too much… This is too much for me to handle.

I have to get out of here!

I bounced to my feet, glancing toward my watch without even really looking at the time. "Oh! Look at the time…. It's… very late, past my bedtime already. Well… that … that explains it. Gotta go, Albert," I stammered in haste, laughing nervously. "And I'll have the gown dry clean and bring it back to you probably—"

"The gown is yours, Candy, for you to keep. My present," he cut in, without letting me finish my sentence.

I just looked at him strangely. I didn't fully comprehend what he really meant.

"Are you going to wish me a merry Christmas, Candy?" He let out a pensive smile, still sitting down.

"Huh?" I mumbled, slightly taken a back. Then it finally registered in my mind. Christmas Eve. His present.

I couldn't believe this. He had planned everything all along. He had actually planned it without me knowing or even the slightest bit suspicious. He had planned my present all this time.

In a normal scenario, my response would be to approach him eagerly and twine my arms around him in a tight embrace as I complimented him for being able to carry out such a grand plan. But there was nothing normal about tonight.

"Didn't you just check the time on your watch? It's past midnight." His voice shook me out my muse as I caught the last part of his comment.

Without rechecking my wristwatch to confirm the time, I knew he was right. I laughed fretfully, being caught lying. "Oh, yeah… It's Christmas already. Gee! The party must have taken most of my energy." I glanced at him uneasily and saw that he was staring at me without any trace of smile on his face.

I grew extremely tense as I felt goose bumps prickling the skin along my arms.

Forcing a smile out, I uttered to him in a small voice, "Merry Christmas, Albert."

Instead of a warm big friendly hug from him as what I had expected, I received an intense gazing that made me ill at ease and made my heart skip a beat. His eyes were totally unreadable.

I swiftly looked away to avoid his penetrating eyes. "Uhm… Thanks for everything, Albert. Now I probably should go. We'll talk some more tomorrow. Thanks for the present – a nice surprise I must say. I'll drop your present tomorrow morning." I stepped back awkwardly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, turned around, and started pacing toward the door. Without words, he followed, tailing a few steps behind me.

As I was about to turn the handle on the door, he laid his hand on top of mine, ceasing my movement altogether. I froze on my feet as a huge lump started to form in my throat.

"Please don't go, Candy."

The seconds after he had said those words, I couldn't do anything but glance over my shoulder in a mechanical fashion and looked directly into his eyes despite the nagging voice telling me not to. At that instant, when my eyes met his clear blue ones, I knew that we had indeed crossed the line.

His eyes penetrated deep into my soul. Nervously, I turned around to face the door, evading his gaze. I didn't expect this coming at all, not from him, not at this time, not in this stage of our relationship that was still nonexistent. I just hoped my knees could hold my body weight for a while, and my rib cage was strong enough to sustain the fierce hammering of my heartbeat.

What should I do?

I felt him leaning closer toward me slowly, his hand still lying on top of mine. With an infinite gentleness, he ran his fingers through my hair and brushed it to the side, revealing my neck. I tried not to jump when his cool fingertips grazed against my skin. He leaned over me, his head hovering inches above my shoulder, his hair tickling my neck.

"I want you to stay, Candy. I want you to stay with me tonight," he hoarsely whispered against my ears, "I want you… "

The second time he had said it, it didn't sound quite like the first time. This time it sounded more urgent, and desperation was evident there. It sounded almost like a command driven by a surge of desire than just an honest plea.

I gulped nervously. What should I do? Is this okay?

Maybe I should say, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that," walk out that door, and then this would become something that both of us would forget the next day and many days to come, probably even became something to joke about. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

But why am I not doing anything? And why my breathing suddenly becomes ragged? And why…

Suddenly, I realized I have this problem. This gigantic problem. The problem was while my head was saying one thing, my heart and my body were thinking quite the , no matter what, we must not continue treading on this slippery slope.

"Albert- "I whirled my body around to face him, determined to put a stop to this midnight interlude.

"Sshh..." He gently pressed his long index finger against my lips to silence me. All thoughts forgotten, I was thunderstruck, glued to the floor. His finger traveled downward, barely grazing my chin then trailing down to my throat causing me to suck in my breath sharply. Then, without warning, he grabbed me by the waist pulling my body against his, driving out a throaty gasp from my mouth. As he dipped his head, nuzzling my neck, an involuntary moan escaped me, and my head rolled to the side, as if providing him with more access.

I could feel him smiling against my skin, inciting a shiver to ripple along the length of my spine. "If you really would like to know - I'm not as oblivious as you think, Candy," he spoke breathlessly into my neck.

My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as I perfectly grasped the meaning of his words. He knew about my feelings all along? No way!

He lifted his head and pressed a gentle kiss onto my temple before pulling away, inspecting my face. I sensed what was going to happen next when he leaned closer. My eyes closed in anticipation. A moment later, his lips, quivering slightly, brushed so softly against mine, tentative at first. When I gave no resistance, he continued with the sweet torture. His kisses were tender, a gentle caress against my lips. Yet, with each kiss, I could feel my conscience slipping further and further that I could see only haze.

I felt myself grow weak with each passing second and had to grasp tightly onto him for support, so that I would not collapse on the floor.

Suddenly, the kissing ceased.

My eyes flew open, and I found his eyes fixed upon mine. "What are we doing now Albert?" I so desperately wanted to ask him that, but my voice failed me.

He ran the back of his hand against my cheek and brushed his thumb gently across my lips. Holding my chin between his thumb and index finger, he tilted it upward. The corners of his lips curled up slightly in a faint smile as he leaned forward in a painstakingly slow manner. Right at that moment, I expected that he was going to kiss me again.

Yet the kiss never came.

Halting all his movement abruptly, he pulled away and withdrew his hands from my face. His eyes were locked on mine.

"What is he doing? What is he waiting for?" I asked myself, feeling extremely disconcerted by his sudden retreat.

Then it dawned on me, he was giving me a chance to stop this. He was letting me choose. He was giving me a way out.

But…

I examined his face for some kind of sign but found nothing but undisguised desire. Hastily, I turned my head sideways, escaping his heated gaze. Suddenly, I was scared. Not being scared of him or what he could do to me. But I was scared of what I could do to him.

I forced myself to, once again, gaze into his eyes, but instead my eyes without my consent drifted downward to his lips, his partly opened and moistened lips.

"Albert, I… Ugh…"

His lips. I want his lips. I need his lips on mine. I desperately need to have his lips on mine… Now!

With that last thought on the back of my mind and any other thoughts abandoned, I crushed my body against his and yanked his head down toward me, capturing his lips with mine. The impact sent him to stumble backward by a step, his arms swiftly roping around me.

Our lips were joined in a passionate assault, our hands roaming all over our bodies, exploring urgently. Soon, I felt the hard surface of the door hitting against my back and my head as we grew desperate, craving for more, deepening our kisses, deeper and deeper, letting our souls soar in ecstasy, reaching to the brink of our consciousness before desire would conquer us wholly.

But then the pace gradually slowed, and the once ardent strokes of lips turned feather-light. His hands moved to cradle my head as his lips traversed my face, leaving a trail of moist kisses on my feverish skin.

A moment later, the delicate ministration ended, and a moan of protest escaped my throat. I had this overwhelming urge to open my eyes, but I restrained it. The next thing I knew, I felt his hands hovering at the base of my neck.

"Look at me, Candy… Look at me," he murmured huskily in between heavy breathing as his fingers trembled upon contact with the first button of my shirt, undoing it.

"Albert – I…" I let out in a breathless whisper. Opening my eyes, I instantly stared into a set of sparkling blue pools.

The words stuck in my throat.

He gazed at me with this unfathomable awe, like I was the most beautiful and precious thing in this world for him. No one had ever laid eyes on me like that. No one.

I shuddered when he repeated his words, "I want you to keep looking into my eyes." His fingers fumbled with the second button on my shirt, exposing the satin material of my camisole.

I could only comply, gazing right into his blue orbs.

His eyes… I felt calm… and safe, and all other thoughts just evaporated into nothing.

All I wanted was to be with him, and nothing else mattered.

To Be Continued

I've written this story as a compensation piece for all the torment I've put you through in Ninety Days. You can say that this is a condensed version of Ninety Days with less drama and angst and more heat. :)

Thank you again for following the story. I would love to hear what you think, and if you're shy, please feel free to message me in private. Thank you again for taking the time to read this. -forever-

And finally,

I wish you a very merry Christmas to you all.