Page 25 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

The insidious greed—greed for more time , more life had been growing inside him all this while, without him even realizing. Each passing day had been making him want another one, and another, and another. But since when? And what else had he become greedy for?

Vir didn’t have to think too hard to know the answer to that.

Nori didn’t reply right away.

With his eyes focused back on his toes, he picked a sense of hesitancy from her. But overshadowing it and everything else, was a fierce protectiveness as it slowly ballooned out of her, growing bigger and bigger till it engulfed him fully in its cocoon.

“Yes. It’s going to work,” Nori spoke with such conviction he almost believed her. Almost. “I’m going to make it work. You’re going to die a hundred-something-years-old grandpa someday.”

Nori

V ir looked up to meet Nori’s gaze, and the intensity in his eyes held her glued to where she stood. She had a sudden, strong urge to reach for him. To rise on her toes and press her lips to his brow before the moisture in his eyes had a chance to spill.

Denying herself this simple action burned like a wound festering inside her chest. She bit her lip and dug her bare heels into the sand to keep herself from inching closer to him.

She was going to make sure he had a fair chance at a long and healthy life. And a happy one.

That meant she couldn’t do any of those things she ached to do—reach for him, comfort him. She couldn’t allow herself to feel things she wasn’t supposed to feel. It’d be cruel to lead him on when she had no intention of letting it go anywhere .

She wouldn’t—couldn’t do that to him.

Vir’s throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously before taking a small step closer to her. Slowly, deliberately, he leaned in and paused with his mouth inches away from hers. Hesitant, yet also as if challenging her to move away from him.

As if he could tell she didn’t want to.

Nori didn’t know whether it was the sudden proximity or his uncharacteristic boldness that did it, but for a split second, her resolve faltered. And before she could reason herself away from him, she leaned in and closed the gap.

Nothing could’ve prepared her for it—the urgency and raw force that her mouth crushed his with. Her body reacted of its own accord as their lips gave into each other like two chunks of soft, warm clay, melting and molding together to form crazy abstract volumes.

Vir’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her to him. One hand cradled her face as he kissed her like he’d been starving just as much as she had, while his gentle fingers combed through her curls, making her melt right into him.

When their lips finally drew apart, gasping for air, Vir didn’t stop.

His mouth shifted to trace a line of fiery kisses along her jaw and down her neck, while Nori’s palm pressed into the small of his back, wanting—needing— more .

Their bodies mashed together, putty and clay, fueling the newfound intensity of her desire.

But then, it’d never been a question of if she wanted him.

It’d always been a resounding—how dare she?

“V—Vir,” Nori gasped, drawing a ragged breath as hot tears blurred her vision. Her hands balled into fists and began pressing hard into his chest.

Vir

V ir’s greedy, parched mouth made its way back up to her lips.

The taste of her… He couldn’t have imagined it in his wildest dreams. And the unbelievable surge of emotion—both his own and Nori’s. Nori’s…

He couldn’t even differentiate where the wash of his colors ended, and hers began. The intensity had him reeling .

Nori’s hands balled into fists against his chest, and for the briefest moment, he wondered if she was still trying to pull him closer.

It rather felt like he was being pushed.

Confused, he leaned back and caught her eyes.

What he saw in them stopped him in his tracks.

And a split second later, he sensed it, too.

Right under her layers of rapidly fading desire, was fear .

He let his arms fall to the sides and took two deliberate steps away from her.

Between the next few thumps of his struggling heart and the heavily bloated pufferfish in his chest, it truly dawned on him—the gravity of his feelings, his hopelessness, and the depths to which he’d fallen for her. If he confessed, would it scare her away?

With the distance between them, Nori slowly began to relax. Her fists unclenched, and little by little some semblance of color returned to her chalky features.

And as it did, the remnants of Vir’s silly smile crumbled under the weight of her sorrowful gaze. Her eyes lowered to her feet and waves of guilt began rolling off her, surging till they’d consumed them both.

Vir clung to her through his eyes, not daring to close the gap between them again. He was going to fall apart into a million pieces if she refused to look at him now, with the regret in her silence so unmistakably loud.

She regretted kissing him.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, slowly withdrawing, her steps unsteady in the sand. “I’m so sorry.” She turned and ran back to the studio.

Vir stood there alone, his toes curling and digging into the slippery, damp sand again. A few reluctant heartbeats later, he let out a shaky sigh and followed her inside.