Page 31 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

With his breath unsteady, he leaned against the counter, his eyes hooded, and she resumed her nibbling, slowly moving to the other side. Vir’s eyes closed fully, and his breathing sped up till it was all ragged and shaky.

To know that she was responsible for making him sound like that, melt like that—for her. It drove her crazy. He was her kitten-eyed Vir. Her Vir. Hers.

Mine.

She could call him hers, couldn’t she? Just for the time being? Just as long as he still wanted her ?

Her hands dragged against his chest, savoring the feel of him under her fingertips. One of her nails grazed a nipple, making goosebumps erupt across his skin. A sharp inhale from him was all it took for her to dip her head and let her tongue flick over it.

“Fuck—Nori,” Vir hissed her name, his hands tangled in her curls.

“You like this?” she asked, switching to the other side.

With another sharp hiss, Vir caught her chin and brought her face back up to his, his jaw clenched, dark eyes simmering. Something was different when he kissed her this time.

More —was the only word she could think of. She wasn’t ready for the raw urgency with which his lips began to move against hers. Devouring. Claiming.

Nori’s legs turned into jelly, and she leaned on him for support.

“Tell me when to stop,” Vir whispered, pulling away from her.

“Not yet.” She drew his mouth back to where it belonged.

With a low guttural sound in his throat, Vir picked her by the waist and placed her on the counter. As his body pressed between her thighs, Nori winced at a recent, similar memory as it flashed before her mind.

She knew she’d messed up, and now it was too late for her to ask him to stop. She waited for the inevitable with her eyes squeezed shut.

But a long moment passed, and nothing happened.

Vir was waiting, too, standing still, his breaths slowing. But the thumps of his heart under her palm were still furiously wild.

Nori opened her eyes to find a bunch of thick, soft towels sandwiched between her and Vir, like a cushioned wall separating them. Nothing below their torsos could touch.

“When did you…?” Fear and disbelief gave way to relief. She looked up to see the hesitancy in his eyes while he stood searching hers.

“Did I fuck up?” he asked.

Nori shook her head before surprised laughter spilled out of her. As Vir’s expression relaxed in response, she grabbed his face to plant sloppy, wet kisses on every visible inch .

She reached his lips, and his mouth claimed hers again. The hum in his throat was back. And it wreaked havoc on her self-control. Impulses waged wars inside her, making her want to push her luck just a bit more.

Breaking from their kiss, she pulled her t-shirt over her head and threw it aside.

“What—” Vir’s eyes widened into cartoonish black orbs, “—happened to taking things slow ?”

“This is slow,” she leaned in to whisper in his ear before nibbling on his earlobe again. “Did you want to take a look, too?” Her face burst into flames as she unclasped her bra, not knowing where this crazy, bold side of her had even come from. “Because I don’t mind either.”

“Are you sure?” Vir rasped as she nibbled on his other ear.

“Yes.” She took his hand and placed it against her breast, her breath hitching at the contact.

Desire overtook Vir’s remaining hesitancy, and soon Nori was struggling to rein in the embarrassing moans and whimpers coming out of her while his tongue grazed her taut nipple, playing and teasing before he took it into his mouth.

“God, Nori,” he whispered against her already sensitive skin, sending waves of pleasure down to her core.

Nori’s hands balled in his hair, pulling him to her, needing him to be closer.

More. She wanted more. And she loathed the repulsive towel-wall between them. She wanted to be touched. Everywhere. And she wanted so badly to touch him. And do other things.

“Oh, Vir. I can’t take this anymore.”

“I can’t either.” He drew in a shaky breath and leaned away from her, his jaw clenched tight. “We should stop.”

The disappointment bred another rebellious thought. But this one wasn’t asking Nori to push her luck. Not really.

She hopped down from the counter, and the towels fell, revealing the outline of Vir’s very defined erection poking through the front of his pants. Without hesitating, she grabbed his hand and led him to the door. There, rising on her toes, she kissed him again.

“Nori,” Vir whispered a moment later, his voice strained .

“I have an idea.” She stepped outside and promptly swung the door shut behind her.

“What are you—?”

“Take off your pants!”

“What?”

She leaned on the wall beside the door, shocked at her newfound confidence. “It’s like phone sex without a phone, okay? Take it off.”

After a brief pause, Vir’s raspy laughter rang through the door, followed by a quick shuffle of fabric. Nori let her hand slide under the elastic of her panties and swore at how obnoxiously wet she was.

Over the next few moments, as they murmured and panted on either side of the door, Nori no longer cared about the embarrassing sounds she was making. It was Vir’s responding groans she was more interested in.

The delicious bass of his voice filtering through the thin veil of glass and fiber built her higher and higher, till his breathless rendition of her name as he came made her tip over with her own release.

S unlight caressed her face as she stirred awake the next morning, and a surge of warmth seeped into her cheeks with last night’s events rushing to the front of her mind.

With a coy smile, she opened her eyes to find Vir’s side of the bed empty. As she reached for her glass of water on the nightstand, she looked at the clock and balked. It was already past noon.

She found Vir in the kitchen, tossing a bunch of chopped ingredients into a pan. They instantly began to sizzle and sputter.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, sneaking an amused glance in her direction.

“Good afternoon,” she replied groggily. Her stomach grumbled loudly as she watched him move the stuff around with a wooden spatula. “Smells really good. What are you making?”

“Mushroom cheese dosa,” Vir answered. “I thought I’d give it a try. You seemed to love it at that diner. ”

Nori’s heart sank at his words, and nodding once, she excused herself. She took her time composing her features in the bathroom mirror before she stepped out again.

She struggled to keep a straight face as she watched Vir place their mushroom, cheese, and mashed potato filled dosas on their plates before dragging a stool to sit beside her.

Tearing off a small piece of the delicacy, she placed it in her mouth, and the explosion of flavor instantly made her want to crawl under the counter and bawl her eyes out.

He could’ve at least been a bad cook, seriously.

“What’s wrong?” Vir asked, watching her chomp her food with unnecessary force.

Nori shook her head.

“Look at me.”

She shook her head again.

Vir sighed, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, and she felt herself leaning into his touch without thinking. Her eyes closed, and the anger and frustration melted away.

“Why do you have to be so…” she trailed off.

“So?”

“So you.” She opened her eyes, still refusing to look at him while the lump in her throat grew. She glared down at her plate, trying hard to keep the moisture in her eyes from spilling over. “You’re only making it harder for later.”

“For later?”

She didn’t reply.

“Are you planning on leaving me then?” he asked after a pause, and she could tell he was hurt by the way his voice wavered at the last syllable.

She wouldn’t—couldn’t. But she knew he would.

“No,” she muttered in a small voice. “But I need to be prepared for when you do. You don’t see it now, but you will eventually.”

“Nori—”

“Be realistic,” she interrupted him. “How long can you keep doing it through a closed door? Last night was… it was fucking amazing. But don’t you want more? I can’t give you that. At least not right now, and maybe not ever. ”

“Then maybe I don’t want more.”

The affliction in his tone made her look up. “You’re saying that now,” Her voice cracked. “But you’ll change your mind. You know it as well as I do.”

“Nori…” Vir raked a hand through his hair, and as he let go, some fell over his brow.

Nori clutched her hands together in her lap, suppressing the need to reach out and brush the strands away. She watched him look to the side with a deep, forlorn sigh, and when his gaze finally returned to her, it was softer, kinder, but more pained than before.

“You haven’t explicitly told me this, but I do sometimes feel like you love me, too,” he said. “Would you just stop if I tell you we can’t—” He paused to look around as if he might find his next words suspended in the air around them, “—touch anymore?

“No, don’t answer that,” he cut in as she opened her mouth to reply. “I can’t do that, Nori. I can’t stop loving you even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. So, please stop telling me to leave, because I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m not telling you to leave,” Nori mumbled, turning her face away as hot tears rolled down her face.

“Because when you do, I won’t be—” She sniffled, wiping a t-shirt sleeve over her damp cheeks.

Then, tearing a large chunk of her dosa, she shoved it roughly in her mouth.

“And how the hell did you make this better than that diner? Is there anything you’re bad at? ”

“Everything’s going to be okay.” Vir stood and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

Nori buried her face in his chest, looping her arms around his waist. She was probably squeezing him too hard, but she didn’t care. She’d hold on to him harder if she could.

“The answer is love,” Vir stated simply, after taking his seat once she’d loosened her grip on his poor waist.

“What?”

“Why the dosas turned out better than that diner’s.” He gave her a smug, lopsided grin. “Well, that, and a blob of snot that accidentally fell into the pan earlier.”

“You’re gross!” She snorted, pushing her plate away .

“Okay, okay. I’m joking.” He laughed, sliding the plate back towards her.

Vir laced his fingers through hers and planted a light kiss on her knuckles. And as he did, the knots in Nori’s chest began to dissolve. Like fizzy little chunks of aspirin in water.

He didn’t let go even as they ate, tearing pieces from his dosa and putting them in his mouth with his left hand, while the fingers of his right one remained firmly intertwined with hers.

“What are you thinking?” Nori asked, watching him smirk to himself.

“I never saw any real benefit in being a leftie,” Vir answered with a wink. “Not till now.”