Shouldn’t Have Gone

by Mara Lynne

  She says under her breath, her head in a daze, “I want you inside me… Now.” Still clothed, she searches for the buttons of his shirt and pants.

  Hunter replies with a groan, looking for a way to free her of the fabric that keeps her bosoms imprisoned. When he finds the zipper at the back, a satisfied grin erupts from his mouth. Quickly, he frees her of her clothing and the aching need of her breasts to be touched. Hunter willingly obliges her with every bit of attention, fondling them with great care and sensual caresses, kissing and sucking them with intense need. The tension spiraled away when his hand moves down her thigh, grasping her skirt, and pulling it up, showing off her legs to him. He finds a way to get rid of her undergarment, and when she’s free of it, he parts her thighs and lifts her legs until she has little choice but to cling to him with her legs around his waist. The wall serves as a support to keep her steady and aid Hunter with his undertaking.

  All of a sudden, before they could continue, the lights go off. It’s dark inside, and she loses sight of everything except for Hunter’s vague outline, illuminated by the dim light from the windows. Other than that, the room is not a scary place to make love in. However, a sudden commotion outside catches her attention, and Angel opens her eyes and shifts her attention to the bolted door.

  Rains start to pour, hitting the windows of the powder room.

  “Stay still,” Hunter grunts.

  “Something’s happening,” she says, catching her breath.

  “The power went off because of the rain,” he says. “It will be back in no time.”

  “But Hunter…”

  “Two more minutes, okay?” And he devours his mouth again.

  Before Angel could react, her center meets him. He presses himself firmly inside her. Her shriek comes simultaneously with the bellowing thunder. Her hips undulate, rocking together with the moving waves of heat and delight within her. His hardness and the feeling of pulsation inside her excites her beyond anything.

  Hunter’s body freezes when he finds his own release. Overpowered by the passion of their lovemaking and the exhaustion that comes next to it, she rests her head against his as he lay his at the nook of her shoulders, tasting the sweetness of her sweat and smelling the lustful aroma her body discharges. As their breathing begins to return to normal, Hunter and Angel are wheeled back into their consciousness, and they know they have to leave the room before anyone finds them out.

  Smiling, he utters, “Remind me to bring a lot of Colombian coffee when we return.”

  “I thought you have a singular taste on things. Are you becoming traitor to your own self?”

  “Spontaneity doesn’t actually suck, you know,” he says as he puts her back to the ground.

  Too many things happened in one day. When the electric supply had returned, the rain having stopped, Angel and Hunter left the coffee shop and went on looking for a hotel to stay for the night. Angel insists on staying at a cheap accommodation, which Hunter did not argue with. He’s wonderfully exhausted to quarrel with her over a hotel room.

  Besides, Angel might reward him again for behaving himself and for choosing to be obedient.

  Chapter 27 – What She Wants

  After their second day in Bogota, Angel and Hunter take the four pm flight to Cartagena where they would spend the night before they fly to Guatape.

  Through the small window of her seat, Angel sees the feather-like clouds floating around the plane. With Hunter sitting beside her, sleeping, she thinks she could make use of the solemn time to nap. However, she couldn’t stop thinking about their last moments in Bogota. They were the most wonderful—the best so far—on this trip. They visited several churches that are mostly built during the colonial period.

  Churches play a huge role in her life since she used to sing in the church choir when she’s around seven to ten, and when there are weddings, she and her little friends in the choir sang for the service. Since she was little, she’s always dreamed of the day she’d walk down the aisle in a lovely white dress, with George in her arms and the man he loves waiting for her at the altar. There were even times when she would turn into a bedazzled spectator on one of the wedding services, choosing instead to imagine herself as the bride.

  Now, it’s not far from coming true.

  Churches in Bogota are grand. The design of the altars and facades display the heavy influence of Spanish colonization. On the other hand, the churches she had visited when she was little were small in size and not as enigmatic and historical as the ones she saw in La Candelaria. Never had she seen such a classic beauty. Never before had her eyes laid upon a history come to life. Never had she imagined herself to stand before important relics and religious statues of sizes and extravagance. All day she stared at them as though she was staring at Jupiter.

  She rests her head on Hunter’s shoulder when the latter suddenly rests his head on hers, sliding his hands to hers so that they are entwined.

  “Sorry I have to put you through this,” she says to him.

  Hunter lacks sleep because of her poor choice of a hotel, but he did not breathe a word about how he despised the little room, about how he’s been trying to steal a few hours of sleep while in travel. Twisting and twirling last night was all he did. Well, the bed was pretty uncomfortable, but it wasn’t that bad either. It’s pretty large for the room, but the temperature was really high. The air conditioning was dead half of the night. And yet she heard nothing from him.

  And then she had to put him in economy class for another trip. The chair is too small for Hunter’s huge frame, the space too narrow for his long legs.

  “When we get to Cartagena, I promise I won’t get in your way,” she adds as she lifts her face to kiss him on the cheeks. This experiment has gone way too much, and Angel seriously thinks she’s already punishing the man. Hunter’s born with a silver spoon in his mouth. She doubts if Hunter has ever been in a situation where he has to make ends meet.

  She’s doing this not only because he wants him to let go of rules and standards and to stop sticking to the expected. Angel wanted Hunter to know the life she’s living, the world she was born into, the kind of things and people that made her the person she is.

  She will not be able to give him expensive gifts, for those are things she doesn’t have. But she knows that Hunter is guaranteed of her heart, of her entirety, as his woman, as his own. She could only give herself and nothing more.

  “It was fun, Angel,” he finally speaks. “Last night was horrible, but I got to watch you sleep, and it’s the best part of it.”

  “You watched me sleeping?”

  “Well, yeah…” he bobs his head a bit shyly. “I like to do it a lot, I must confess. I’d wake up at each night, and I’d just stare at you.”

  “Is it too much of an entertainment that you make it as a habit now?”

  “Very much,” he answers. “It gives me peace of mind.” He was about to say more, but he stops there.

  Hunter could have said more about what he feels, but they’re on the airplane and privacy is an issue when you’re traveling economy.

  They didn’t stay long when they get to Cartagena. Hunter finally got his much-awaited sleep, but they left immediately when his private jet arrived at five in the afternoon.

  By 6:10 pm, the private jet lands on a barren island, where kilometers away north lay a modern-looking rest house—sleek and chic, fitting for Hunter’s icy exterior. However, the glow from the windows makes it look and feel cozy and warm inside, just like how Hunter really is. Behind the architecture is the body of water Sarah has been telling her about. As Angel and Hunter set foot in the place, Sarah and George were there to meet them.

  Sarah bursts into tears at the drop of a hat. Oh, how she misses Angel! And the tightness and length of her hug show it all—god, it was longer than the time needed to raise yeast. George is on the verge of crying, but he composes himself like a real hard man knowing his future son-in-law is there watching their dramatic family reunion.

&nb
sp; “We thought you’d be arriving in a few days,” Sarah says as she lays the bowl of salad on the table. “When your luggage came ahead of you, it crossed our minds that you opted to stay longer in Bogota and Cartagena.”

  George adds, laughing, “I honestly thought you’ve run away with your bride some place we haven’t heard of.”

  “It crossed my mind,” Hunter utters as he scoops more salad from the bowl into Angel’s plate. “I was tempted, you know. With all the wonderful churches in Bogota, I thought Angel was leading me to marriage out of schedule.”

  “I actually was,” she teases. “Seriously, I was starting to think you’re intentionally missing out on the clues I openly laid out for you, babe.”

  Their eyes meet, and not long after, Angel bursts into laughter and Hunter realizes she was just joking.

  “I’m serious!” he insists. “I could have married you straight away when we were at Sta. Maria, the one that you really like.”

  The laughter continues until it is time for dinner to end.

  Angel helps Sarah with the dishes while George and Hunter talk outside about things future in-laws commonly talk about before the wedding.

  Then Sarah raises the concern about Hunter not being his normal self.

  “Am I hallucinating or what?” She turns to her daughter who is already drying up the glasses. “The Hunter Stone I know is the cold, heartless man you scorn so much. Are my eyes deceiving me? You two look so comfortable with each other. Your father and I were having troubles on how to deal with him once you’ve arrived. Seriously, you don’t know how many times George practiced that one-liner joke. I am surprised! The man knows how to amuse people.”

  It was then that Angel realizes it’s time to break the truth to her.

  “Mom, I’m marrying Hunter,” she says after one deep breath.

  “I know,” Sarah answers, sadness beginning to crawl into her face. “Marriage should be a happy thought, but when I think of your sacrifice, I feel really guilty, sweetheart. Hunter is a nice man, and I do not doubt him, but I don’t think you…”

  “I’m marrying him because I love him,” she readily cuts in.

  Sarah is immediately silenced. Her ears freeze, and her eyes widen out of pure shock.

  “Yeah,” Angel continues as she reaches for her mom’s hands. “He came here to ask for my hand. I’m going to marry him for real.”

  Lost for words, Sarah grasps the handle of the oven and allows her chest to rise and fall dramatically as Angel watches her finally trying to calm down.

  “No contracts, no restrictions? Like for real, sweetie?”

  Nodding, she marches toward her mother and embraces her. Sarah wraps her arms around her and sweetly smiles. “I don’t know what to say, but I’m happy that you finally found someone to love.” Yet there seems to be a hint of doubt in her voice. The tightness of her embrace suggests worry.

  “I need you to trust me, mom,” Angel says. “I know things started badly between us. I, too, did not expect this was going to happen. Nothing makes sense when I am with Hunter, but I know I am insane if I say I don’t want and need him. I hope you understand me.” Tears line the edge of her eyes.

  Sarah wipes them away and looks at her with content like a proud mother.

  “Sweetie, whatever decision you make, I will support you. I know you’re making the right choice.” She kisses Angel on the cheeks. “This news shocked me to the bones, but somehow it relieves me that you’re not going to marry just because of some damn contract. I’m glad it has turned the other way.”

  “Thank you, Mom.”

  ***

  After a talk with George at the beach, Hunter took a run on the shore for thirty minutes, only returning to the villa when the rain starts pouring. He slides the glass door of their room open and enters, only to find out Angel staring at the mirror in her night dress, blow drying her hair. The glass door opens outside to a balcony facing the beach, and he hurriedly shuts it behind him when Angel notices his arrival.

  “I made the bath for you, Hunter,” she says, her focus still on her reflection in the mirror.

  Hunter pulls up the hem of his workout clothes and slides the sleeves off his arms, throwing it away to the chair beside the nightstand. Then, he picks up a dry towel from the foot of the bed and starts drying himself. Running the fabric across his skin, Hunter sits at the edge of the bed and stares at Angel as though his eyes are glued only at her.

  The stirring in his stomach recurs as Angel’s bosoms bounce as she flips her hair from side to side, almost spouting out of the neckline. Hunter bites his lower lip, imagining it’s her nipples he is nipping. He feels his tongue growing parched as his gaze travels down her hips to her bare legs. The way she moves her legs coils the muscles around his groin. His head is already drawing out the fantasies of licking her sweet flesh behind the thin fabric of her dress. The black night dress she wears fits her like a glove, inviting him, and her cluelessness to her effect on him only worsen his dire need. Everything inside him is in complete uproar, the consequence of desperately wanting to take her down.

  “Is something the matter?” she asks, gaping over her shoulder to see him, so innocent of the ruckus she’s caused inside him. “You spoke to Dad, I suppose.”

  “Yes.” He nods briefly.

  Damn! How he wishes Angel takes notice of how she’s turning him on just by that naïve look.

  “What did he say?”

  “He’s strangely silent.”

  “Silent?”

  “Yeah…” His voice is waning.

  The recognizable distress in his tone alarms Angel, and so she shuts the blow drier down and puts it to rest on top of the dresser.

  “Did he say no?” Anxiety spreads all over her face. Angel knows her father very well. He’s not outspoken, and he likes to keep things to himself. She remembers how worried he was when she told him about Hunter and the marriage for the first time. He was completely against it. Had it not been for Hunter’s kindness, he would have taken her away from Hunter. But this could still be remedied, she thought. She could talk to him tomorrow and let him understand what changed. She knows that George might not take these changes positively right away, but she’s hoping he’d try to understand.

  She trudges toward his direction, and as soon as she’s in front of him, Hunter slowly pulls her near him. He places his palms on her hips and locks her legs with his thighs. Angel stood before him in complete stillness. Looking down at him, she waits for his reply.

  “He didn’t say anything that suggests disapproval,” Hunter answers. “He only told me that I better give him a grandson.”

  “What?” The tension on her face loosens up, and she begins to smile.

  “Yeah, he said he wants a grandson. George wants one badly.”

  And though Hunter successfully got his point across, Angel knows him too well not to know what’s on his mind. If it’s true that George agrees with the arrangement, wouldn’t Hunter be overjoyed and start dancing? Instead, he’s here trying to fake what he really feels. She knows what his real agenda is, and she’s not falling for it.

  He continues, breaking his sentences intentionally to sound cute. “Don’t you think it’s time to… start a family?”

  “I know where this is heading to,” she tells him.

  Hunter tightens his clutch on her hips and locks her legs with his.

  “You do?”

  “Yes. And we’re getting there, so I don’t think it’s an issue.”

  “How do you know?”

  Resting her hands on his face, she replies in a soft voice, “We’ve been doing it almost every day… every single time you get your hands on me… unprotected. So, just let things happen naturally, okay?”

  He answers, “I just want to make sure—” he pulls her closer“—I give George the grandson he wants.”

  A gasp escapes her throat when she feels his fingers slipping through the skirt of her night dress, rubbing her skin delightfully. She feels the sting of his lips o
n her hip bone, but there was the sheer fabric defusing the effect.

  Hunter runs his nose and lips along the length of her trunk, smelling roses and chamomile. The fight to withstand the temptation is getting out-of-hand, and Hunter feels he’s on edge, about to lose himself.

  Why must she be so soft? So tempting? So lovely? he thought to himself.

  “Hunter…” Gasping for air, Angel’s breathing has changed. She feels her muscles, particularly the ones around her core, constricting.

  “Why must you torment me, Angel?” Hunter murmurs as he brings the fabric up to her stomach, exposing her thighs and her underwear. Hunter begins to kiss gently what’s in front of him, running his tongue and lips along her trunk as Angel reaches for the back of his head and clutches onto his hair so that she keeps herself upright. Her knees shake, and her spine convulses. The blissful sensation heightens when she feels warm air cross his mouth and nose. It brings shivers all over her.

  Gulping, she finally finds her voice. “My parents sleep in the next room, Hunter…”

  “I’ll be gentle, I promise…” he says as he pulls on her lace underwear.

  But she can’t promise she could tame down her reaction. Everything Hunter does to her has an insurmountable effect on her, and only screaming could alleviate the delightful torture she’s feeling.

  “That’s impossible…” she tells him.

  It’s too late to stop him.

  He’s run his tongue down there and rains her with kisses.

  Angel has to bite her lips to prevent herself from moaning loudly, to no avail. She resorts to covering her mouth with her hands.

  ***

  The room is dim, and Angel rests her head on Hunter’s hard chest.

  What would she tell her parents when they start asking about the noise they created while making love? Hunter is a beast, and she always has a hard time domesticating him on the bed.