Chapter 26

When Taria woke up, she was laying in her bed, holding Tian's shirt that he took off. She smiled warmly, smelling the shirt that smelled like Tian's favorite perfume, then she changed her dirty clothes and went out looking for Tian. When she saw him standing in front of Ve's office, she ran towards him, and hugged him from behind

"Good morning, Tian", Taria said while she was still hugging Tian

"Good.. good morning, Taria", Tian said while he was covering his red face with his hand

"That was cute", a voice Taria didn't recognize said, then she opened her eyes to see Ve and another man standing inside the office and looking at them, making her face blush while she was pushing Tian away

"Good morning, brother Ve, good morning to you too, mister", Taria said with a warm smile

"It's not morning, little kid. Are you feeling ok?" Ve said while petting Taria's head, and she nodded with her eyes full of energy, then she looked at the white haired man, waiting for someone to introduce him to her.

"Kid, this is Kai. My assistant", Ve said

"Oh, Hello, Kai", Taria said politely

"Hello, Taria. Ve told me a lot about you", Kai said

"Don't believe him, he was the one who told me a lot about you after he investigated you", Ve said, then he looked straight at Taria's eyes while his hand was still above her head. She knew how concerned he was just by looking at his deep black eyes, so she put his hand above his, and smiled brightly to let him know that she was really ok.

After that, Tian pulled Taria away, with a sharp look that she couldn't see. He opened his room's door, then he hugged her tightly after pulling her in and closing it. She knew that he was still worried about her, so she hugged him back, closing her eyes in order to feel his warm body better.

"Sorry, Taria. I should have killed him from the start", Tian said with a low voice

"Tian, that was the first time I sleep without nightmares since years ago, and you were the reason for that. You don't have to be sorry about anything, because I'm thankful for everything you do, even if it was just breathing", Taria said, then she looked into his eyes, smiling so bright as if she was reborn without her past wounds. She put her hands on his face, feeling his hot cheeks, then she said "I want you to teach me swimming"

Tian stopped dead as he was still loading. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Taria while his eyes were asking her if she was serious. She laughed gently when she saw his confused face, then she stood on her toes, holding his shirt, and getting closer to his face, but before Tian could know what was going on, she was poking his nose with her own. Tian's eyes got wider, unable to believe what just happened. He touched his nose with his fingers, then he looked back at her smiling face that forced him to smile.

"Ok then, I will tell the maids to bring you a swimming suit", Tian said, then he went out.

Olivia entered after a while, then she handed Taria a swimming suit Tian chose, with a top that must be tied around the back and neck and a very short bottom, then she led her to the swimming pool and left.

Taria wore the swimming suit even though she was feeling kind of uncomfortable about it, then she wore her bathrobe over it, and got out of the changing room, heading to the swimming pool where Tian was.

Tian was already in the water shirtless, but he got out when he saw Taria coming, moving his wet hair away from his face. She forgot her fear after seeing him as her attention was focused on him only, yet that fear got back just after seeing the pool behind him.

"Why the hell did I ask him to teach me swimming? I hate my dramatic side", Taria thought, and she was about to run away after regretting her decision, but Tian caught her arm.

"I changed my mind, I CHANGED MY MIND", Taria said

"You can't. Take off your robe now and get into the water", Tian said, reminding Taria of her sports teacher at school who used to force her to train, making every muscle of her body tired. She held her robe tight while she was shaking her head, then she started running around the pool with him running after her.

"I DON'T WANT TO GET INTO THE WATER", Taria shouted after Tian caught her, however, her foot slipped as she was trying to run away again, leading them both to fall into the water. Taria was closing her eyes, and her hands were covering her mouth and nose. Her hair floated towards his face, filling his heart with her, and he felt that time had stopped, yet the bubbles that came out of her mouth forced him to break that spectacular moment and get her out of the water.

Taria gasped, then she hugged Tian tight, afraid of drowning. Her arms were surrounding his neck, and her legs were surrounding his waist, just like a koala and a tree.

"Taria", Tian said

"I'M NOT GETTING DOWN", Taria shouted

"I promise not to let your hands go. Don't you trust me?" Tian said

"No", Taria replied fast

"Loosen your legs now, and I will keep holding your hands. If you did that, I will tell the chef to make you peach tarts and fried chicken", Tian said

"... I hate how you use food against me, but ok, I will loosen my legs, I SWEAR IF YOU LET MY HANDS GO I WILL KILL YOU", Taria said, then she loosened her legs slowly, and Tian moved backwards while holding her hands.

Taria felt less scared, and she started getting more and more relaxed, while Tian was thinking of a way to let her take off the robe.

"Ehm, swimming with a robe is so hard. You need to take it off", Tian said while his evil side got activated, then he held Taria and put her on the edge of the swimming pool.

She asked him to turn around, then she took the robe off, showing her silky soft body. After that, she asked him to carry her back into the water, so he turned around again. Tian couldn't blink as it was his first time seeing her dressed like that, he wanted to hug her tightly and kiss every part of her skin, yet the last thread of his good side struggled to keep a hold on him. He put his hands around her waist, and she put hers on his shoulders, then he carried her and put her slowly in the water. Taria felt the swimming suit's top loosened, so she held it with one hand while the other was still holding Tian's shoulder, and her face turned red as she wasn't able to retie it. Tian realized what happened fast, so he pulled Taria closer to him, surrounding his neck with her arm, and he started tying her top for her.

Taria felt his hands running over her back which gave her goosebumps, and she felt his breath over her neck and shoulder while she was listening to the rhythm of his heartbeats. She surrounded his neck with her hand, closing her eyes as her mind was displaying all the moments she spent with him. Their first meeting, and the shock she felt when she knew that he was her senior. Their long night shifts together, the food they ate together, the gifts they bought for each other, the wine they drank together, and all the smiles and tears she shed with him. By the time she opened her eyes again, Tian was done tying her swimming suit's top, and he was holding her arms again trying to move her away from him in order to start teaching her. She looked into his black eyes, then she surrounded his neck with her arms again, while her body was touching his, and she kissed his lips, slowly and softly.

Tian's heart was about to jump out of his chest, and he couldn't move a single part of his body as his brain froze, including his eyelid that remained wide open. She moved her lips away from his, then she opened her eyes slowly to see Tian that became a statue. She felt her heartbeats as well as his, and she felt her blood running through her veins, then she said "I love you, Tian"