Page 30 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

Seventeen

The Ogling Perv.

Nori

N ori lounged in bed with a second-hand paperback she’d picked up from the market earlier.

It was supposed to be an action-packed thriller about a bunch of angels and vampires fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

But only a few chapters in, the story had turned into an explicit romance, instead of the death, doom and destruction the summary at the back promised.

She let out a frustrated sigh and kicked the covers off before reaching for the thermostat panel beside her. Cool air blasted through the room. She flipped the page. And groaned.

The ill-fated pairing of the fallen angel and the bloodthirsty three-eyed vampire couldn’t keep it in their pants for two chapters straight. The book was supposed to help keep her thoughts away from dangerous territories, not remind her of them.

Her fingers grazed her bottom lip as her mind drifted, once again, to the events from two days ago .

Nori was working on her pending progress reports when she paused to take a sip of her already lukewarm tea. As she placed the mug back on the table, Vir’s hand brushed against hers and stayed there.

She turned to find him peeking sideways at her. As if seeking permission, a small smile playing on his lips. It grew wider the moment she wove her fingers through his and resumed typing one-handed.

“Stop staring at me like that.” She laughed, glancing at him again.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll kiss you,” she blurted without thinking, and her face flamed hot.

“Are you threatening me with a good time?” Vir laughed. He leaned forward and planted a quick peck at the edge of her mouth. But just as he started to retreat, something shifted in his eyes. They flickered to her mouth and lingered there, his throat bobbing.

A split second later, he bit down on his lip and dragged his gaze away.

“Vir…” Nori whispered, her heart thrumming in her chest as she closed the gap between their mouths. Mouths that were both hesitant, as much as they were hungry.

Her hand flew to his chest, only to realize it wasn’t just her heartbeat going haywire. His heart, too, hammered right under her palm. Equally crazy. And strong. Alive.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The beat lit a fuse inside her brain. It made her head swim. Her fists bunched the fabric of his shirt, pulling him to her, while an embarrassing moan escaped her throat as she tasted the irresistible curves of his lips.

Vir’s breath hitched, and the next moment he was kissing her like he’d been parched for days and had just found water.

Her heart threw itself harder against her ribs as his mouth roamed every inch of her face, her neck, the insides of her wrists… She was so hot. And so greedy. She didn’t ever want him to stop.

His lips found hers again, while her hands dragged under his shirt, wanting to rip the useless piece of fabric off him. The top few buttons of her own shirt had come undone. What were a few more ?

A nagging voice at the back of her head asked her if she was forgetting something.

What could she possibly be forgetting? And did it even matter?

All she could focus on was him. The texture of his skin beneath her fingertips, the sound of his breaths as they sped and faltered and hitched at her touch. Did she sound like that to him, too? Could he also feel her flesh simmer from the heat radiating between them?

It baffled her, the ease with which he brought out this raw, ravenous side of her, full of fire and lust and desire, and a desperate need to be touched by him and to keep touching him. To never stop.

Vir made a sound in the back of his throat before pulling away from her. “We should stop,” he rasped, glaring at her through hooded eyes. His chest moved as if he was struggling to breathe.

“No, wait.” She pulled him back to her by his shirt’s placket—the dumb fabric was useful, after all—and kissed him again.

“Nori,” Vir whispered, breaking apart after a few more seconds of bliss, “I can feel it.”

He was right. Drawing a shaky, resigned breath, Nori slumped back in her chair.

“Do you hate this?” she asked in a small voice. How could he not?

Vir shook his head.

“Why don’t we take things slow?” he asked, redoing the buttons on her shirt. “ Glacially slow. Or… it’s also fine if we don’t—”

“Slow—” she cut in before he could finish, “—sounds good! Slow’s perfect.”

Vir nodded, brushing a stray curl from her eyes before gently tucking it behind her ear.

“I can sense the subtle shifts in your emotions. It’s a lot more accurate, since I’m so attuned to you now. But you have no idea how hard it is to stop and pay attention to anything else when—” He broke off. “Nori, I’m afraid of making a mistake and hurting you again.”

“You won’t— ”

“You have to use your words, if we’re going to continue at all. Tell me right away if you’re even a little bit uncomfortable. Or if something feels off. If you forget words, just Karate-chop me into oblivion. I won’t mind.”

“Taekwondo. I don’t know Karate,” she said. “Yet.”

“Yes, Taekwondo.”

“I don’t think you’d survive a kick.”

“Nori.” He let out an exasperated sigh.

“Vir.” She grinned, cupping her chin in her palm, her elbow resting on the table. “Got it. Communicate,” she added with a serious face.

Going slow was fine. And so was working on better communication. But what was she supposed to do with the gutter-brained, horny menace she was turning into?

It was hard for Vir to stop? The more important question was, did she even want him to stop?

Zooming out from the memory and back to the book in her hands, she glared at yet another mention of “growls” and “thrusts” and snapped the paperback shut before chucking it across the room. She pulled the covers up to her chin and squeezed her eyes shut.

Vir’s grip tightened around her as his rough hands explored every inch of her body before his fingers slowly slid under the elastic of her panties. Moaning at his touch, she looked up to find his bloody fangs elongated and all three of his eyes blinking in unison.

An older man, as if straight out of a black-and-white movie reel, stood in a far corner of the room: Carl Jung—she remembered him from pictures in Vir’s books.

“You dare mock my work as pseudo-science, woman,” he growled ominously.

Nori looked at vampire-Vir, who blinked his three eyes together again. “You knew this was never going to last,” he said before vanishing with a pop.

That’s when Jung rushed at her with a knife.

“Aargh!”

“Nori? Nori! ”

She blinked to find Vir nudging her awake. Her hands flew to his face to sweep his hair aside before patting his forehead, looking for a non-existent third eyeball there.

“Were you having a nightmare?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.

“No.” Nori shook her head. “Just something… weird.”

“Would you like some chai?” Vir asked, smoothing her hair.

She instinctively leaned into his hand before nodding a quiet yes.

As the subtle notes of cardamom and ginger soothed her nerves, Nori made a mental note to throw the novel far into the sea later.

“Vir?” she called, glancing around the living room after a while.

She got up and searched through the studio. He wasn’t in the garden or the bedroom. The cardboard sign outside the bathroom was still set to VACANT.

Pushing the door open, she marched inside.

“Whoaaaa!” she whelped, slipping on a puddle of water, before slamming face-first into Vir’s bare chest.

His arms flung out to catch her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

He was wearing only a pair of black, baggy track pants, with a white towel draped over his head as if he’d been drying his hair, right before Nori unceremoniously crashed into him.

“Yes,” she mumbled, taking an awkward step back. “Sorry, the sign said vacant.”

She bit her lip, only reluctantly aware of her gaze as it scanned over him.

Vir pursed his lips as if trying not to laugh, and she knew, by the amount of heat radiating from her cheeks, her face was already the color of beets.

Stop ogling, you perv. She squeezed her eyes shut and spun around to leave.

“I don’t mind.” Vir caught her wrist. “If you wanted to take a look, I mean.”

“Are you sure you’re not a mind reader?” She turned around just as he pulled the towel off his head and threw it on the granite counter behind him.

The only thing hotter than Vir in his glasses was Vir with damp hair. It wasn’t just her observation, but a fact that she knew probably had some hard science behind it. Maybe running her fingers through the strands would help her understand it better .

And with the way his scent combined with the mild, earthy fragrance of the shampoo had her nearly drooling? She bet she could write a paper on it.

Nori pursed her lips, compelling her thoughts to behave before she embarrassed herself in front of him. He might not be able to hear the frantic hammering of her heart, but she was sure he could sense the emotions behind every lustful thought that flickered through her head.

Vir chuckled. Of course he could.

“Vir?” She kept her eyes fixed on his as she took a deliberate step forward, bringing her close enough to feel the heat coming off his skin.

“Hmm?”

“Can you feel what I’m feeling right now?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

The very air around them felt charged as her eyes flickered to his mouth. And before she could make a move, Vir leaned in to press his deliciously soft, warm lips to hers.

Nori smiled against his mouth, feeling his arms loop around her waist and pull her closer. While her hands wove through his hair, savoring the damp, silky texture between her fingers. Their lips melted into one another, putty once more.

How was it humanely possible for someone to taste so good?

She traced slow wet kisses along his jaw till she reached his earlobe. As she suckled on it for the briefest moment, a low hum rose in Vir’s throat, like a cat’s purr. Her impulse took over, and she used her teeth before letting her tongue smooth over the bite.

A surprised gasp escaped Vir, and she paused to gauge his response.