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Chapter 34 - Glad It's Not Easy

Chapter 34 - Glad It's Not Easy

I close my eyes and pretend to sleep, but I can tell Mateus stays awake for the next hour. Thinking too hard again, I suppose. I don't move or say anything, and eventually, his embrace never weakening, he falls asleep. I don't, however. I can't stop from going over that night in my head. There are still so many what if's and why's that I can't answer.

At 7AM the next morning, with a lot still on my mind, I get out of bed as carefully as possible, get ready in the bathroom, and finish packing my things for the flight. Last night, Annette offered to drive me to the airport, and I said yes, not wanting to bother Mateus. Now, I'm glad she offered.

I hear Mateus move around, and I freeze, staring at my suitcase.

"You're forgetting these," he says, making me turn around.

He has pulled the knife set back out from under the pillow.

I walk over and avoid looking up at him when he tries to catch my gaze. My fingers brush his accidentally as I try to grab the set out of his hands.

"You shouldn't try bringing these, even as checked baggage. I'll send them to you."

I don't say a word and go back to packing my suitcase.

He gets up, and I feel him moving closer to me. "Were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

I zip up my suitcase, grab it, and turn around. "Yes, Annette is driving me to the airport" I tell him, and not wanting to be too harsh but still wanting to be formal, I add, "thank you for working with me these past few weeks."

He gets closer, too much closer.

"Mateus, stop. Stop making this hard." I push past him and head downstairs. Annette tells me to make some breakfast while she goes to grab the car.

Not in the mood for a large meal, I grab a granola bar and start to walk to the front to go wait for her. When I'm passing by the open door of the den where we watched the movie last night, I'm tugged into the room by my wrist. Mateus closes the door and spins me around so I'm pressed against it.

Before I even have time to recover and get my thoughts together, his lips come down to claim mine without warning. Instead of starting out slowly, gently, like our first kiss, he grabs my waist tightly and presses his body into mine immediately. His lips are fervent and greedy, and he takes my initial gasp of surprise as an opportunity to glide his tongue into my mouth. And before I could think about what I was doing, I kiss him back.

He groans softly when I respond, but his lips remain relentless, demanding, like he's trying to draw all the worry and the pain out of me. My hands explore the solid planes of his chest, as he grips me harder, continuously taking from me, exploring me, and destroying me all at the same time.

When his tongue slows to skim against the back of my lip, one of his hands slides too far up my waist, brushing against the bottom of my breast. My knees go weak, and I would have crumpled onto the floor without the weight of his body holding me against the door. A small moan of pleasure escapes the back of my throat.

Satisfied, he breaks away from my mouth, leaving a trail of warm kisses all the way up my jaw.

"I'm glad it's not easy," he says lowly into my ear. His breath fans down my neck, and I involuntarily tremble.

My frazzled brain has to take a second to figure out what he's referring to, and in the meantime, he leaves, crossing the room and going out the other door before I have a chance to respond.