Page 173 of Lau Ahi
I called out to her loudly enough for her to hear me over the rushing of the water and she slowly blinked like she was coming back from wherever she’d traveled.
I opened the glass not giving a fuck about my suit, as I was immediately drenched in water. I maneuvered around her, which blocked some of the water from hitting her, forcing her to blink again before she focused on me.
Her eyes were red and puffy and now my mind was wandering about what had happened.
“Why are you crying?”
Her face tightened as she battled to keep her response to herself but it didn’t work. I watched a tear leave her eye and immediately get swallowed by the water that was raining down on her head.
“I’m so tired, Ori. I’m just so tired.”
More tears followed the first and she bit her lip, trying to regain control of her emotions. But it looked like the dam had broken and she couldn’t shove them back in the box where she’d normally kept them locked up tight.
“Then rest, Mira. That’s why you have me. So that you can rest.”
She shook her head as though she was going to refute my words but I risked my life and put my hands on both her shoulders, forcing her to look at me.
“What?”
“You don’t think you have me?” I went to reach for her but she moved away from me, which hurt but only emphasized she was in crisis.
“Have you? My father had to purchase you for me. I was a trade deal. Even the parent I thought loved me more than anything in this world once again saw me as someone he could use. Just like my mother always has. I knew I would never be the favorite but I thought… I thought I had one person in my corner you know? And now I can’t even pretend anymore that I do. It’s just the stone-cold fact that I’m not wanted by anyone. Nobody wants me. Nobody cares.”
Desolation. She looked completely empty and I wondered what had triggered her to this extent. She’d been holding so much in and I was on the cusp of demanding she give me her truth so I could help her. Seeing her like this, hair matted to herhead and clothes sopping wet, her face forlorn, broke something in me.
“I do.”
She rolled her eyes and exhaled so hard I worried her lungs had collapsed from the effort. “I’m sorry but I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re going to be my wife.”
She pushed me in the chest angrily but even with the force I was unmoved. I kept my hands to brace her so she wouldn’t fall. “This was an arrangement, ORI! An arrangement! You don’t have to pretend to be chivalrous to make sure that this contract goes through. I’m signed and sealed, there’s no breaking that.”
“You think this is a game to me?”
“Of course not,” I relaxed slightly but when she spoke again she pissed me off even more. “It’sbusiness.”
I backed her up not stopping until her back hit the iridescent white tiles. “You think I think about business when I’m with you? You think I’m pretending when I’m devouring your pussy and every inch of skin I can reach the way I do? What about any of my actions screams that this shit isn’t real to me?”
I hated to yell at her but she really had me fucked up. I wasn’t the type to lay my emotions on the line, shit I was rarely one to have them muthafuckas. But I was out here trying to be a better man and a better person to show her how I was feeling. And she thought this shit was business.
Her eyes widened not in fear but in surprise because she’d never heard me yell before. “Ori—”
“Shut the fuck up,Semira.”
Her head snapped up and I stared right back at her ass I pulled off my sopping wet blazer and tossed it on the floor.
“To whom do you think you’re—”
Good, she was getting angry and that’s exactly what I wanted. Her anger. Not her fear. Not her hesitation. Not her worry. Iwanted her anger because her passion was going to be just there beneath the surface ready to pour through the first crack I made in her armor. I grabbed her neck and pulled her toward me before bending down and getting in her face.
“I’m talking to myfiancéewho obviously doesn’t understand what the fuck is going on so now I gotta show her.”
I released her and she stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind. Maybe I had. Maybe I never had that shit. I don’t know. But what I did know was that this catering to her was about to end. I didn’t mind it but I'll be damned if she played me while I did it. I wanted her. I desired her. I cared about her and I was pretty sure I was falling in love with her. And that shit had me shook. Scared the fuck out of me with every breath I took but I craved inhaling the emotion like loving her was my lifeline. Because it was. I was a giant to everyone else but around her I was a lamb. Had turned into the softer one in the relationship because I understood she needed it. That my aggression, the passion that burned in every part of my body for her might have been off-putting.Scary. But now? All that shit was out the window. It was time for me to transform and remind her who the fuck I was.
My hand went to my belt and I released the buckle as I reached for the front of Asha’s shirt and pulled her to me. I met her lips in a kiss so forceful that my lips knocked against my teeth. I didn’t give a damn and pressed further even more until I could barely tell we were two separate people.
