? as-sas-sIN’S
LOVE ?
CHAPTER 13
“You should’ve woke me!”
I turned my attention from the lettuce I was chopping and glanced at the doorway where Montse stood, hands on her h!ps.
She was wearing the nightwear from last night. The nightwear I’d slowly peeled off her b©dy. A b©dy I’d explored inch by delectable inch.
I sm-irked. “Just say you’re thankful that breakfast is almost re-ady.”
“I am not!” She protested, strolling into the kitchen while I returned my attention to the salad I was ma-king.
She stood beside me and attem-pted to gr-ab the plate into which I was chopping the vegetables. I pushed it out of her reach and glared at her. “Just let me do this.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe because you looked like you were going to nee-d quite some energy for today.”
“Why would…” She started to ask, then paused. Her cheeks flamed red. “You…”
I chuckled and continued to work on the sandwich. Montse walked over to sit on a stool. I stole sidelong glances at her every once in a while and caught her staring at my as-s every time.
“Like what you see?” I asked tea-singly.
“Huh?”
“My as-s.”
“I wasn’t staring at your as-s!”
“Yeah sure.” I laughed.
Finally done with the sandwiches, I deposited them onto ceramic plates and turned to face her. She looked away quic-kly.
Yep, she’d definitely been staring at my as-s.
Unable to resist a smile, I walked over to her and placed one of the plates in front of her. Holding her chin, I tilted her face towards me and k!$$£d her softly.
The k!sswas slow, ourl-ips melding so perfectly. I was so tem-pted to de-epen the k!ssbut I knew how fast that could make me forget about the food. I ni-bbled on herl-ips lightly, ending the k!ss.
“How are you feeling this morning?” I asked.
Montse looked into my eyes briefly and blu-shed. “Good.”
“Just good?”
She ducked. “Fine. I feel wonderful. I feel like the whole world has been given to me on a platter.”
We laughed. Dammit, we practically felt the same way. I was feeling like I had some power over the world and that was why I could call this special woman mine.
I didn’t take my eyes off her as we ate. p@rtly because she was so damn enticing and p@rtly because I loved how she looked when she blu-shed. And she did that a lot.
Every once in a while she would look up and meet my eyes, then quic-kly look away, her cheeks turning red.
All of a sudden, she held my gaze with a defiance that all but said: two can pl@ythe game.
We had a staring contest while we ate. When it proved none of us was willing to give up, we bur-st out laughing simultaneously. Montserrat’s laughter was captivating even though she nearly bowled over with it.
“Who knew you could stare into someone’s eyes so fiercely?” I asked, my laughter easing gradually.
“You’re such a j£rk.” She grimaced in feigned annoyance.
“Well this j£rk wants to have you for dessert.”
I’d put so much restraint when holding her close throu-ghout the night and the nee-d was coming back to kick my ba-lls with a vengeance.
Done with the last bite of my food, I got off my stool and rounded the counter to face her. Her eyes looked at me with curiosity and anticipation. I dropped to my knees, fitting myself between her p@rted th!ghs.
ri-ding the hem of her nightwear to the middle of her th!ghs, I k!$$£d her flesh delicately. I could feel her quaver.
“What do you say?”
She su-cked in a breath. “Is dessert that necessary after breakfast.”
“When you’re the dessert, I could have you after tea time.”
I gr!pp£dher th!ghs and and began focusing them ap@rt. Montse coporated. At least she made me think so. Until she suddenly kicked me in the th!gh.
“Ow!” I gro-an ed, blinking at her. “What was that for?”
Amusement danced in her eyes. “What took you so long?”
“What?”
“I promised myself that when my prince charming finally c@m£ along, I would kick him in the nuts and demand what took him so long. Except, it didn’t feel right to kick you in that place.”
I looked at her for several unblinking seconds before I could find my vocals to laugh. She could be so childish sometimes.
“Don’t worry.” I placed a soft k!ssto her knee. “You can kick me in the ba-lls. . . as long as I get to tear your pvzzyap@rt later. Like I’m planning to do now, right after I eat that sweet pvzzy. Tell me, Princess. Do you want me to eat your pvzzy?”
A dazed nod from her was all I nee-ded to p@rt her th!ghs and bury my face in her pvzzy.
****
Paradise.
That was what being with Montse felt like. Like I was in some kind of Paradise where there were only the two of us, so content with each other.
For the next few days, we made love everywhere. In the lake, by the lake, in the bathroom, in the living room, on the kitchen counter, on the windowsill, on the stairs…
Yep. Our time together was ma-king Montse bolder and so much naughtier.
When we weren’t ma-king love, we cooked together, watched TV, pla-yed games together, or just chatted about life.
Since most of my life had been spent as a recluse, I didn’t have much contributions on the chatting about life p@rt except my childhood until I was ten when my parents were murdered. I didn’t tell Montse about the murder though.
She on the other hand had so much to share and never seemed to run out of tales. If she was bothered about me not talking much about my life, she was good at hiding it.
*******
I was having the same nightmare again.
Teasr rolled down my cheeks but I was forcing myself not to make a sound. My father was getting stabbe-d and my mother’s throat was getting slit over and over again.
“Traitor! Traitor!” My father was screaming at me instead of the sounds of pain he should be ma-king.
Then something that had not been in my previous dreams happened.
Montse strolled into the room, singing the song my mother had so loved to sing to me when I was a child.
She st©pped singing, looked at my father getting stabbe-d, then at my mother getting her throat slit repeatedly, and turned to me.
“You promised me you were going to give up this life for me.”
“I intend to.”
“Traitor! Traitor!”
In a blur, my father gr@bb£d the gun of one of the men who were there to kill him and my mother and aimed it at Montse. Then he pu-ll-ed the trigger.
****
I woke up with a start just as there was a BOOM! In my dreams. Montse was on my che-st, and the sudden move awoke her. Lazily, she placed her hand on my che-st and looked at my face in the dark.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. Just nee-d a glas-s of water. You go back to sleep.” I delivered as smoothly as I could.
I was so thankful for the darkness. Without it, Montse would surely see, reflected on my face, the fear that was crashing throu-gh me like an avalanche.
Montse got off me to sleep on another side, and I slowly got out of be-d and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, I f0rç£d myself to look into the mirror. My reflection confirmed my suspicions.
I was afraid. fv¢k, I was so afraid for my future with Montse.
Despite my constant nightly nightmares recently, I’d always held on to hope that being with Montse would be enough.
That the nightmares would eventually go away on their own. I’d been so determined not to let them affect Montse and I.
But this new twist with my father shooting at Montse had broke me.
What message were my late parents trying to s£nd me? That Montse would die because of my decision to leave my revenge incomplete?
That I would lose her?
? as-sas-sIN’S
LOVE ?
CHAPTER 14
Sunlight soa-ked throu-gh the glas-s window. The sky looked a gorgeous blue with sparkly wisps of white. The dawn choir rang on. A bird fluttered on the window, chirped, then moved in a different direction.
Everything looked so peaceful. Everything but me.
I didn’t hear Montse walk up behind me. I only felt her arms wra-p around my torso and herl-ips press against my n£¢k.
“Beautiful house, beautiful day, beautiful man. It’s like I won a million-dollar lottery.”
An irresistible smile stretched myl-ips. Rotating in her arms, I faced her. She was as n-ked as I was.
“Gorgeous woman, beautiful s-en-se of humour, gorgeous b©dy, a sweet as fv¢k pvzzy. Where did I get this ticket to Paradise?”
We both chuckled as her arms settled around my n£¢k. I rested my hands on her as-s and pu-ll-ed her closer for a de-ep k!ss. It felt like I had no problems in the world.
Montse rested her cheek against my che-st. “You feel so good. So nice.”
She sighed. The sigh was too heavy for my liking it.
“What’s wrong?”
She averted her eyes. “Nothing.”
“You’re a terrible liar, princess.”
It took her seconds to speak up. “I got a call from the principal of St Patricio yesterday. He wanted to know if the danger was gone and if I could return. It made me realize how much I’d missed my job.”
She looked into my eyes, and blue panic flashed throu-gh hers. “Don’t. . . get me wrong. I love this. I love us. I love being with you. But it’s just. . . it’s just. . .”
“Hey… Hey.” I cu-mpped her face and brushed a strand of her silky hair off her face. “Teaching has always been a pas-sion to you. It’s something you can never let go of. Something I’ll never let you let go of.”
She studied my face. “You’re not upset?”
“How about we return to town tomorrow so you can go back to what you love doing. I’ll be right there with you.”
“Thank you! Thank you!” She launched a hvg that showed me just how excited and relieved she was.
If only she knew that this wasn’t just about her. If only she knew that last night’s dream had left me afraid that leaving my parents murder unavenged would lead to consequences I wouldn’t like to see.
If only she knew that my revenge on The Godfather was back on track.
I slid my arms down her back to squee-ze her supple bottom. “How about we make good use of the free time we have now?”
She bit her bo-ttoml-ips e-ductively. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
*****
I drove the car steadily throu-gh the woods. Its tyres crunched throu-gh dried leaves and withered twigs. Bringing the car to a st©p, I glanced at Montse to find her gazing at her cabin with a look of nostalgia.
Earlier, when I’d implied that I wanted us to go to my house, the only thing I’d gotten from her was a dimness of her smile.
I could un-derstand why she didn’t want to go back. It was the place where she’d witnessed Helena’s murder. It had to be a horrendous memory.
When we got out, I went for our stuff in the backseat and met Montse on the porch. She was swinging in her net hammock, her eyes closed in bliss. God, she really was gorgeous.
Her eyes fluttered open when she s-en-sed my pres£nce, and she smiled that smile of hers that could s£nd any man to his knees. I leaned down and k!$$£d her before settling into the net beside her.
Her smile suddenly disappeared when her eyes fell on a p@rticular tree. I realized that was the tree behind which we’d ducked the day we’d been attacked here.
“Hey. It’s okay.” I pressed my nose to her cheek. “You’re safe. The danger is gone. I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”
She nodded, her smile returning. “I know. I trust you.”
We stayed like that for minutes. No talking. Just gazing at the sky and the trees and the birds and listening to the birds sing as the hammock swung us back and forth
Now I un-derstood why Montse had stayed here for so long. This place was peaceful.
“Oh God, Mateo.” Montse said all of a sudden, sitting up straight.
“What about him?” I narrowed my eyes, scanning the trees around.
“The day I was kidnapped, we were supposed to meet.”
“You were going out to meet him?”
She glanced at me. ”He called and said we nee-ded to discuss some important things. Since you told me not to go out, I gave him your address instead. God, he must be so worried about me.”
Yeah, so worried that he’s probably celebr@ting our death.
“Before that day, had you ever spoken to him over the phone?” I asked, wanting to confirm the suspicions now weighing down on my che-st.
“Yes. He called a week before, and I explained what was happening to him. Why?”
“Nothing.” I replied cooly.
I clenched my fist as anger bunched in my arms. Things were ma-king so much s-en-se now. After the fiasco with Montserrat’s kidnapping, I’d been too caught up in her safety to an-alyze some crucial things.
How had those men known where to find us?
I was trained enough to detect whenever I was being followed so that was out of the question. Which left only one option; Mateo had been in cahoots with those men.
He was the reason my Montse’s life was put in danger. He was the reason why the only woman I could’ve ever dared to call a friend was dead.
And he was going to pay.
Dearly.
*****
The same nightmare startled me awake: the one where my father pu-ll-ed the trigger on Montse. Luckily, I didn’t wake her.
I lied down quietly, trying to even my breathing. Trying to st©p my heart from beating so heavily. Trying to come to terms with the fact that it was time.
I shifted slowly and eased Montse off my b©dy, hoping she wouldn’t wake up. She didn’t. I got out of be-d and looked back at her. She was as nûd£ as I was, and my morning wood wasn’t helping things.
I looked away. I couldn’t afford to be hor-nynow.
Moving quic-kly and yet as quietly as possible, I gr@bb£d a pair of black trou-sers, a T-shi-t, and a black leather jacket from my suitcase. I was dressed within two minutes.
I’d spent half the night after Montse had fallen asleep after we’d made love wondering whether I was doing the right thing by going after The Godfather.
But if I didn’t, would the nightmares ever st©p? What if something actually happened to Montse if I decided to leave my revenge incomplete?
After what felt like forever, I’d finally come to a decision. I was going after The Godfather.
I had no better choice. Even if the nightmares would eventually go away, a p@rt of me would always know that I’d failed my parents. I didn’t nee-d that kind of regret coming between us in the future.
I picked a book lying on a table in Monte’s room and to-re a page. Picking a pen, I scribbled;
I promise to be back, princess. But I have to go for now. For us. For our future.
I placed the note on my side of the be-d. Montse was still slee-ping, looking like an angel while doing so. My throat ti-ght£ñed as I surveyed her beautiful b©dy.
I wasn’t going to deceive myself into believing this was going to be easy. The Godfather was a dangerous man. If things went wrong, he could easily feed me my own ba-lls and have me killed.
This could be the last time I was seeing Montse. This could be my last chance to k!ss.
Leaning down, I did just that, pressing myl-ips lightly against hers. She stirred but didn’t wake up.
I left the cabin, wondering whether I was doing the right thing.
Am I going to regret not telling Montse the truth?
Am I going to regret not telling her that I love her?
TBC….