Embers of Desire IV

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I might edit this one in the future. 

Also, I changed the cover, do you prefer this one or the previous one? 

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On with the chapter!

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"Nari… what is this?"

When Leandro walked back to his room, a towel hanging by his shoulders, he expected to see the lady in question fast asleep. Instead, she was up and about, dressed in a pink, strawberry-patterned gown that did very little to cover her curves. It looked more like lingerie than sleepwear. 

She had prepared an assortment of pastries, dolls, scented candles, and a fucking mint mask of all things. He wanted to palm his face, if only to hide his soft smile behind it. 

"This is for you, of course." Nari said with a smile, hands on her hips. "Come, come~ lie down~"

Leandro didn't have a choice. She sprung up to her small feet, ran up to him, and dragged him to the bed. Considering how concerned she was a while ago, he decided to let himself be pampered.

Besides, he deserved it. 

And Hari's pampering was a different kind of pampering. It didn't count. 

Leandro sunk into his bed, instantly relaxing as the scent of the candles engulfed him. Nari settled the pillows around his head and took the towel from his neck. 

With surprising tenderness, she tucked a light blanket over him. 

"Why are you doing this again? Not that I mind, of course."

She was a walking contradiction. He thought she'd be more, well, mad, after his stunt. Instead, here she was, feeding him sliced apples, smiling down at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Well… I don't know what you've been through, but it must have been difficult, right?" Nari grabbed one of the many dolls and carefully placed it on his chest. She was treating him as if he was in a coma. She fiddled with a cat plushie, playing with its paws and waving them in his direction. "This is the least I can do."

And then she continued to feed him slices of apples. 

Leandro was perceptive enough to know that the whole advent of the apocalypse had left aftershocks, despite their earlier conversation. On the other hand, he was so used to it, that it almost felt nostalgic—as if he was seeing an old friend after a long time. 

'Sometimes, I really don't know what I'm doing.'

Then again, that's part of life. To err and learn. Except that he didn't want to mess things up with Nari.

So, when she reached her shaking hand to tuck another slice of apple in his mouth, Leandro lightly grabbed her wrist. Yes. He should be more considerate. Being thoughtful is good, it makes people feel appreciated and important. 

"Wait." He moved up a bit. The doll on his chest fell off. 

Nari blinked, looking at his hand and then to his face. She frowned. "Is there something wrong? You don't want the apples? I can get you something else if you'd like—"

Leandro pulled her forward, cupping the back of her head with his free hand as he gently eased her in his arms. The crown of her head fit perfectly under his chin, her scent tickling his senses. 

Nari's eyes grew round, cheeks turning a vivid pink. A startled gasp left her lips, but she didn't pull away.

"Huh?"

Her warm breath fanned his neck, a wonderful distraction that made his fingers tighten around her shoulder. "Thank you for worrying about me. I appreciate it."

"At least you're grateful."

How cheeky. 

He felt the tension leave her small frame, and her body melted into him. 

She smelled so sweet, felt so warm. He was surrounded by softness and heat. The sensation of her smooth skin under his fingertips sent thrills of excitement through his body, but he forced himself to stay calm. She was too fragile, and this wasn't the time.

"I'm stronger than I look."

"I know."

"If you know—"

She gave him a soft smile. "But even strong people need someone to lean on." 

Leandro paused at that. Of course, he knew. He was just so used to shouldering everything. That's what he trained so hard for. He didn't want to endanger the both of them by being weak. Oh, he abhorred that. He saw first hand what weakness did. The Tower was a lawless world—and the cosmos was an even darker place. 

The only path forward was to be resolute. Merciless. A sharp sword that'd cut the strongest of alloys, the most determined of wills. 

"You're such a fool…"

"I'm not." He could see the kitty fangs poking out of her lips, as if she were about to bite him for the disrespect. 

Nari felt his chest rumble with a chuckle.

"Do I look like I'm about to die?"

"Don't joke around. I'm serious."

He huffed a breath, snuggling his chin into the crown of her head. 

"I am too. I won't be leaving you, Nari. You'll soon see for yourself how strong your Oppa is."

When he said it so firmly like that, it left her with no room to argue. 

"You better…"

It didn't catch up to her until a brief bout of comfortable silence ensued—but she was pressed nose-first into his bare chest. Uh-oh. 

Leandro let out a gentle sigh, warm breath tickling her neck. She felt like she was going to faint. He smelled so good. It was pure torture. 

With great effort, she kept herself still.

All of a sudden, the gravity of the situation registered.

Skinship. Physical intimacy. Something they hadn't done before. At least, not without clothes. Her night dress didn't exactly count—God she could feel her breasts squishing into his chest. 

And much to her growing embarrassment, her nipples began to stiffen up. 

Her eyes swirled, cheeks ablaze. 

'Why me! Why me!'

Her palms became sweaty, arms hovering just barely, because she really didn't know what to do with her hands. She gulped a deep breath, her back rigid.

"Relax." The low rasp of his voice startled her. There was a slight chuckle to it, and Nari blushed from the roots of her hair all the way down to her feet.

"I-I'm not, ah..."

She was getting a bit hysterical by this point. A mixture of embarrassment, shame, arousal, and an acute feeling of fear danced around inside her heart. Fear of him pushing her away in disgust, hatred or shock. Was she really so unlovable that the mere prospect of skinship sent her into a panic? If she actually ever did have a chance, she might have ruined it.

With excruciating unwillingness, she broke free from the embrace. Within two seconds, she was already missing it. By chance, she glimpsed at Leandro, only to see him staring back at her with a tilt of his head and an odd glint in his eyes. 

"A-A-Anyway…" She turned around, playing with her hair. "S-Should I go get the laptop? You want to play a game or watch a movie?"

"Hmm…" He peeled the mask off of his face, tossing it away with a slight frown. "I'm not good at games. A movie doesn't sound too bad, really."

A bright smile lit up her face. "Great! I'll go get it!" And then she skedaddled away with imaginary cat ears twitching. 

••••

•••

••

•

The room was cast in a comforting darkness. The only source of lighting came from the laptop's screen. Leandro was lying down, one arm above his head. Nari had occupied the spot next to him, right where said arm had made more space for her to tuck in and snuggle. 

One of her hands was draped over his chest, just a little higher where the laptop used his solid belly as a laptop stand. This time he was wearing a shirt; she had vehemently insisted on it. 

The drama Nari chose had been going for a while, and he already knew that it was going to be a long night. The movie wasn't bad per se, but just not the type of content he'd consume. 

Leandro glanced at Nari from the corner of his eye. She was staring intently at the movie. She looked so serious, but relaxed. Her cheeks were still slightly flushed, but that was more of her natural complexion than some sort of inner turmoil—at least he hoped so. 

He wrenched his eyes off of her side profile and focused on the movie. A little voice in his head whispered that the woman next to him was more worth his attention than some boring, love comedy. He inwardly agreed with that. 

Ten seconds later, Nari stared at Leandro from the corner of her eye. She didn't want to make it obvious. But the longer she stared, the more the side of her head itched. 

The movie was okay, but the drama between the love interests was getting on her nerves.

Perhaps it reminded her of her own drama. 

A single guy surrounded by too many women. Inevitably, he had to choose one. 

Nari unconsciously held onto Leandro's chest a little too strongly. She stared holes into the screen, as if doing so would make that stupid, idiot, big-headed, idiot, idiot protagonist choose the one that resembled her the most. 

She hated romance movies like those with passion. They always had the guy choosing the wrong one. The hot one with lots of curves. Why do men always think with their penis when choosing a partner, anyways?

As if led by her thoughts, Nari let her eyes drift to the man next to her. 

Leandro had very obvious muscles and an attractive face. And she never saw him leer at her as if he was picturing her with less clothes on. 

She wondered though, did he ever look at her 'that' way? Did he ever picture her with no clothes on? Did he ever fantasize about her? 

What went through his head when he looked at her?

"Are you okay?" Leandro suddenly asked, shifting to look at her with a slightly raised brow. "Your forehead is all scrunched up. And your face is quite red as well."

Nari could feel the heat on her face reach new heights. Still, she managed to compose herself fast enough not to be too suspicious. "This movie sucks. It has no sense of love. She's obviously the better girl for the male lead but he's stupid enough to choose a slut who wants him for his money and doesn't even try to hide it."

"...Nari. It's just a movie. An unrealistic one, at that. Women aren't sluts or saints. People aren't necessarily what they appear to be on the outside." He rolled his eyes a little. 

Nari huffed under her breath. "Are you saying that men can't tell the difference between good girls and sluts at first glance?"

"Depends on the situation. The context. No one has an accurate radar for that." Leandro said, quietly. "Sometimes you've got to take a risk. In a way, this drama kind of nails it. You don't always end up with a prince charming, or a princess."

"That sucks…" She mumbled.

"Yes..." Bad memories resurfaced, but Nari's presence melted them off his mind. "It does."

She shifted a little next to him. "Can you tell the difference, Oppa?" 

Leandro turned his head slightly to the side, softly pulling her eyes on his. "I can."

"You can?" She was suspicious. 

The movie was momentarily forgotten. 

He shrugged. "I guess when you get to my ag—a certain point in your life, it becomes easier to read people. It's not always the case. Not even for me. But most of the time I can tell…"

She squirmed a little as he paused to take a breath. 

"... And I can tell that none of the women in this stupid drama can compare to you, Nari. They're like cardboard cutouts. But you're the real deal, a genuine princess in a world full of pretenders. You've got the looks. The heart. You care. You brought these sweets. These dolls. And you're asking why is it that true love is seldom rewarded. It makes you wise, in a way."

His hand lightly grazed her bare shoulder as he smothered a kiss on her head.

"Don't ever think you're not enough, Nari. You have more strength and kindness in you than anyone I've ever known."

"..." 

Nari made an extremely funny face as she blushed, cat ears popping out of nowhere. She didn't say anything, opting to just continue watching whatever was left of the movie.

The minutes trickled by. The ending of the drama was fast approaching. Nari hadn't exactly paid the series a lot of attention. She just caught snippets of it, enough to rant about the protagonist's stupid decision, but otherwise skipped a lot of details. 

She chanced another glance at Leandro. This time, his jade-green eyes met hers. 

Her heart leapt to her throat as she quickly moved her gaze off of him and into the movie. 

Bad timing too—the main character had made his choice. And now both lovers were tonguing each other to some CGI background. 

"Anng!❤"

Nari put on her best game face on. 

"Hngh!"

And then they ended up having sex. It was not some sweet love-making among rose petals and candles, where they whispered their love for each other between kisses. Oh, no. It was a brutal exchange of fluids and wrestling.

"Hngh! Harder, baby. Oh yes! Oh yes!❤"

The female lead had her tongue out as the main character rammed her jiggling ass from behind. You'd think he'd go somewhat easy? No. It looked like that ass owed him money, and he wouldn't be satisfied until he collected his debt, and by the looks of it, some hefty interests as well. 

Seriously. The budget for this scene was unnecessarily high. 

The lewd sounds rang out of the laptop.

Leandro was not particularly comfortable, though he didn't show it. And it was not the explicit content itself that made everything awkward, it was simply the company of 'someone' that made the whole thing harder to digest. Yeah, no more movies for a while. 

As if that wasn't enough, the drama's characters continued to rut like animals for a prolonged amount of time. 

Nari's face was expressionless. 

At least she was not overly reacting.

"Oppa…"

It was sudden. 

Nari had been so quiet up until a few minutes ago. In hindsight, the tightening of her grip on him must have been the first indicator. There might have been a few others, but Leandro wasn't really in a position to think about that—not when her lips were on his. 

"..."

He stiffened in shock. 

The warmth of her lips, her minty scent, her hand crawling to the back of his head as it clawed at his hair. It was like getting dunked into hot, sweet water. 

Her curtain of hair enveloped his face, nearly getting entangled between their moving, shifting lips.

Leandro unconsciously opened his mouth, either to breathe or to speak—it hardly mattered when Nari pounced on his tongue like a cat on mice. 

It was slippery, moist, and warm, like a serpent coiling around him. 

He let his instincts get the better of him. One hand went for her waist while the other cupped Nari by the shoulder. For someone whose previous occupation relied on taking other people's lives, his touch was nothing but gentle.

And as much as he could control Nari's movements with a mere flick of a finger, there were some things that exceeded logic.

Like his reaction to her. 

The laptop fell off of him, replaced by the warm, lithe body of Nari. She curled up on him like a cat, her claws sinking into him.

"Mmn..." She whimpered lightly under her breath, the taste of his lips and tongue exciting and enflaming her desire. Her stomach felt so strange as her chest pulsed. 

Nari leaned into Leandro, straddling his lap, pressing their chests against each other. 

Her lips left his, her forehead nuzzling into his neck. 

"Nari?"

She rolled back to her side on the bed, a peaceful, albeit slightly mischievous, smile on her face. "It's a 'good luck' kiss. Whenever you're about to do something stupid, it will remind you to come back safe to me."

"..."

The laptop was still playing the drama—though now the credits were rolling up.