“I couldn’t save her. She was only twenty. I….”
“You did everything, Yosh. Don’t do that to yourself.”
He composes himself and moves my hand away.
“I know,” he says quietly. “And I also know I’ll see things differently after a good night's sleep. But right now, it’s just... a lot. And this conflict between us isn’t helping either. I know how it looked earlier, and I didn’t have it in me to fight you on it. You were right. Erin assigned me to you because she thought it would help me get the position. I never wanted that. I just…”
“Shh, it doesn’t matter. I know it wasn’t your intention. I’m sorry I yelled at you, said those horrible things. I didn’t mean any of it.”
I take him into my arms, and bury my nose in his damp hair that smells like Jasmine, pressing one soft kiss there.
“Think you could forgive me?” My voice sounds like it’s been dragged through mud.
He looks up at me, a little delicate sparkle appearing in his exhausted eyes.
“How could I not?”
Those are the sweetest, softest, words someone has ever whispered to me. The smile on my face doesn’t need words to explain how I feel.
This is it. This feels right. He makes me feel so right.
My free hand slides into his hair, moving to the back of his neck.
Yosh stays, and I think he’s even moving closer.
His breath teases my nose, a bit shaky. A short, careful gasp as I tip his face to look at me. And when he does, I catch those warm brown eyes pearling in front of me with so much vulnerability.
His gaze dips down, lashes low, fixed on my mouth.
He swallows hard, lashes flicking up again.
I see longing in his eyes, a cautious want.
It makes me want to protect him and make sure this feels good.
Our lips meet. He receives me warm and eager. I move past his parted lips, letting my tongue explore his mouth. My hand slipsunder his linen shirt, caressing the soft bare skin of his toned waist.
He finds my curls, no rush in the way his fingers twirl through them.
I get so lost in it I forget how to move.
Luckily he moves around me, adoring me with soft pulses of his tongue against mine.
I let a hungry grunt pass when he tries to haul me back to life. I cup his face with both hands now, kissing him in his rhythm.
It deepens naturally, learning what we like together.
One last tug of my teeth before letting go.
“Feels good, love?”
He gives me a small sweet hum, settling back against my shoulder. I hold him there, where it’s warm and he can get some rest. This feels better than I ever even knew.
Life is fucking insane.
When I first walked in here, I was closed off like a clam. Dragged in by my family, forced to take a break I didn’t believe in.
Now, less than two weeks later, everything’s changed in ways I never saw coming.
