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Bowing again I leave. Making a beeline out of the building I do my best to keep my composure and it works until I find myself walking straight into a deluge of rain. Looking up I let the cold rain cool my hot face as tears spill down my cheeks. I don’t know how long I stand there until my shoulder is bumped.
“Oh, so sorry.” I needn’t have bothered apologizing, the person just throws up a hand and jogs into the rain.
Hair plastered to my head I know I’m going to catch my death if I stay out here. It’s too slick out here to ride my bike to my room. “You’re hitting on all cylinders, Tay.” Muttering the sarcasm, I curse myself for not looking at the forecast.
My mind was tangled with the play I’m writing and the developmental meeting I had this morning. Hisashi did his best to calm me earlier over FaceTime, but I could barely concentrate on his words. It just so happens that the seven a.m. time I insisted on is just after his work out time. The last couple of weeks of seeing his body drenched in sweat as his tee-shirt clings to his beautiful body have been an exercise in agony. Today was leg day so he had on a double layer of shorts that did nothing to hide his muscled thighs and bulging dick print.
I may have even let a “Lord have mercy” slip much to his dismay and my embarrassment.
I hurried off the phone after wishing him a good morning.
Darkness dips around me and I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. I know it’s him but I can’t risk answering it in this downpour. He’ll understand me calling him later. The times of our calls have long since stretched beyond the time of the gala.
I have even fallen asleep a couple times on FaceTime with him, only to wake to see him reading having never hung up.
“I like watching over you,” was his reply, and I thought it was the sweetest, most amazing thing.
I’m about a block away from my dorm when a sleek diamond black Rolls Royce comes alongside me. My tummy dips when it slows down coming to stop several feet ahead of me. I’ll have no choice but to walk by or cross the busy thoroughfare. My brain scrambles as I try to figure out how I can politely decline the ride.
The driver gets out, opens a huge umbrella, and comes around to the back passenger side. I stop when a tall figure gets out with a long black coat draped over his arm. I know before he turns toward me who it is. I could never forget that tall wiry form, the length of his arms, or those hard thighs.
Taking an involuntary step back when I see the dark anger on his face, I can’t figure out why relief and fear mingle inside my chest. Something in me tells me to stop moving, not because I feel assured, it’s like prey trapped under the gaze of a predator who has her locked in his sights.
Anger and fierce determination are in every line of his face, every step he takes my way. When they reach me, there is finally a reprieve from the storm raging, but why do I feel I’m about to be swept up in a tsunami? Hisashi takes my bags then wraps the heavy coat around my shoulders, wrapping a long arm around me, pulling me into his side.
Slowly the three of us make our way to the Rolls Royce. The driver expertly maneuvers us around to open the door, getting no one wet. Both men wait as I get situated in the luxurious confines of the car, doing my best trying not to soak the interior. Hisashi slides soundlessly in beside me.
Seconds later the driver slips behind the wheel. We pass my dorm.
“Um…” My head swivels looking as we zoom past my room.
“Quiet, little dove. You will let me take care of you.” He drags me into his arms, stroking my drenched curls. Too emotionally and physically tired, I let him.
Chapter
Four
Taylor
We are still on campus,but it is an area I’ve never visited. The lobby has a doorman. Immediately, I can tell this is where the wealthiest students live. The foyer exudes luxury and exclusivity. After a whispered exchange with the driver, Hisashi leads me to the elevator. He walks close to me but the touching and pulling me into his arms like in the Rolls Royce is gone.
Shivering in the elevator, I miss his warmth. We are both silent, standing apart facing the mirrored interior of the elevator. The ride up is swift, but I can’t take my gaze away from his sleek masculine form. He exudes sensuality and dark menace. The polite dinner guest may as well have been a figment of my imagination. The smooth lover of that night is gone as well. The kind, curious about every aspect of my life phone and FaceTime companion is gone as well. How many faces does he have? All those other people were the outer layers. Somethingtells me this dark, inscrutable stranger is the true Hisashi Takeda.
The doors swoosh open to a loft style apartment that could compete with anyArchitecturalDigestlayout. The entire skyline is illuminated in the ceiling. There is a wall of floor to ceiling windows. It’s obvious that’s where his lab is if the array of computers and whiteboards are any indication. The area has no chairs, only standing desks and one ergonomic ball with a base.
“Sit,” he instructs, pointing to the gaiken. I sit. Before I have a chance to bend to remove my shoes, he gets down on his hunches. He cups my left foot his hand pulling my shoe off. Then switches to the other foot doing the same. He turns the shoes upside down looking at me while he does it, pouring water from them his expression bland before sitting them upside down on a drying rack.
“You’d prefer to drown than call me,” he tsks, his disappointment pulling his beautifully cruel mouth down in a severe arch.
“N-no—” The look he shoots me makes me snap my chattering lips closed.
“Stand-up,” he snaps rising. His tone brooks no argument but I don’t like it. Slowly, I rise but no sooner than I do is he stripping my clothes from me.
“Woah.” I hold up a trembling hand staying him. He drops his hands clenching them at his sides. “I got it. Can you get me a robe or something?”
“Hai,” he says. Striding away, his jaw flexes like I’ve insulted him or something.
I realize my mistake the moment I try to unbutton the first button. My hands are trembling so badly I can hardly control them enough to get them to my shirt. My fingers are so numb I have to squeeze them hard a couple of times to bring feeling backinto them. Precious seconds pass before I finally get the first one done.
