Page 52 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

“Nori…” When he noticed her looking at the pronounced bulge down his pants, his expression turned somber. “More? ”

“More.” Leaning against the counter for support, Nori pulled his face back to hers. She reveled in the low hum that rose in his throat, while her hands fluttered like moths all over his skin.

Vir drew back with a groan to regard her with half-drunken eyes that were also half-crazy. They dragged over her with pupils so dark it made her giddy knowing that she was responsible. That the hunger in his gaze was for her .

He smirked before his head dipped down to her collarbone again, only to scorch a fresh trail as he made his way to her breast once more.

He lightly nibbled on the hardened tip this time, and his tongue immediately darted over it, making her legs go weak.

She dug her nails into his shoulders as he kept going.

Kissing, nipping, soothing. The underside of her breasts, her ribs, a gentler lingering at the scar on her belly.

He stuck his thumbs under the elastic of her pants and paused. And before he could ask her again, Nori hooked her own thumbs in to pull them off before flinging them on top of the growing pile nearby.

“Look at me,” Vir said, kneeling in front of her.

Her eyes met his, and he sought permission again before he placed his hands on her thighs.

A split second later, he chuckled nervously.

“I know we should have discussed this a bit earlier but… Would you prefer I continue asking before every move, or… do you want me to shut up?”

Right. Of course, he’d picked up on her growing impatience.

But she also knew what he was doing. And it made her hot. And it made her melt. And it made her fall impossibly more for him than she’d ever thought she could.

“Did you read up on trauma informed intimacy?”

“I… took a course.” He ducked his head sheepishly. “It was a long time ago.”

She gave him a watery smile. “I don’t mind,” she replied to his earlier question. “It’s also kind of hot, but… Right now… I’m starving, Vir.” She blushed, watching his lopsided grin as it formed at her words. He knew it wasn’t food she was starving for.

“Noted. Less words, more tongue.”

Nori laughed. And slowly, without breaking eye contact, Vir pried her thighs apart .

“Oh!” She grabbed the edge of the counter for support as her legs turned into noodles when his tongue pressed into the crease behind her knee. “Fuck.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He tilted his head in a mock bow before—another kiss. Another sneaky graze of tongue.

It wasn’t long before her noodle legs had turned irrevocably mushy while the rest of her burned with need.

“Stop teasing,” she groaned.

“I’m not teasing,” he whispered with his mouth so close to her feverish core, she could feel his breath caress her with each syllable. “I want to taste you.”

It wasn’t a question, but a tiny nod was all she could manage before the tip of his tongue darted out to brush against her clit.

While his eyes still held hers. It was just a graze, but it made her jump and grip the counter behind her tighter.

She watched him shudder, right before his gaze lowered to linger between her legs. And then he was devouring her.

He kissed, licked, drank her in, driving her crazy, and making sure she couldn’t hold a single coherent thought in her brain. His subtle intermittent groans mixed with all the sounds she couldn’t believe were coming out of her own mouth while her knees shook.

“Fuck, Nori,” Vir purred , right before he lifted one of her legs and hooked it over his shoulder. “You taste. So. Good,” he added as his mouth worked on her, like a man starved.

His eyes lifted to meet hers, and ever so slowly, without breaking eye contact, he slid a single finger inside her. He said words. She nodded. And he was tasting her again.

His finger curved to hit a spot that made her muscles clench and spasm. “Ah, here,” he said, then added another one.

He did the thing again, making her eyes rolled back in her head, and he had to catch her as her legs gave out with her release. He cradled her molten form in his arms, his fingers still moving inside her, teasing and wringing the last bits of sanity out of her.

“Stop. Vir. Fuck . Stop,” she panted, pressing her face into his chest. Coffee and pine and an earthy musk—the scent of him filled her lungs, intoxicating, soothing, and leaving her breathless all at once. How could she have ever forgotten this? Forgotten him ?

Once she was able to breathe and think coherently again, her eyes lifted to his. “What’s wrong?” she asked, alarmed at his strained expression.

He didn’t respond at first, but his grip on her tightened. He held her to him, his anxious gaze scanning her features, searching her eyes, and she was sure, reading every subtle shift in her emotions.

Whatever he found there, after nearly a full minute had passed, he seemed content with. And bit by bit, his rigid stance eased.

“I told you I’m okay,” Nori whispered, kissing the dip in his shoulder.

A corner of his mouth twitched in response, turning into a full, lopsided grin right before he brushed her temple with his lips. “You are.”

With one last lingering glance into her eyes, he released her and grabbed a knit throw from a chair nearby. “I’ll get you some chai,” he said as he draped it around her.

He kissed her temple again and started walking away when she caught his arm. “Wait. What are you doing?” She didn’t understand. Had she done something wrong? “Was I—was I too loud? Did I do something to turn you off?”

“What? No…”

“Then why…” she trailed off as her gaze dipped to the very prominent bulge down his pants.

“Oh.” Biting her lip, she hooked a finger in the band of his jeans.

She let it circle along the waistline, her nail grazing the skin underneath.

Her eyes expectantly flickered up to meet his, only to watch them grow a shade darker—something she hadn’t thought possible.

“Are you sure?” Vir asked in barely more than a whisper.

“Yes.” Her hand paused at the button. “But not if you don’t want to.” She waited for him to move. To step away from her. Or draw her to him and kiss her silly. Either way, she waited.

With a shaky exhale, Vir reached for the button and popped it off himself before he pulled her to him by her waist and pressed his lips to hers again.

Her hand lowered inside his jeans till his hardened length was in her grip .

“Nori…” he groaned against her mouth—a plea, a cry, or a demand. Maybe it was all three at once. And with a rrrrrrrip of zipper and a swish of fabric, the remaining pieces joined the pile of discarded clothes on the floor.

Their stumbling feet only carried them as far as the couch before they fell onto it, flesh molding into putty-flesh, sinews and bones jumbling into a sweltering mess—their only purpose being to merge into one another. Become a singular body instead of two.

Nori had a vague sense of one of her hands tracing the contours of Vir’s chest, pausing at the long vertical scar in the middle before moving to the faintly embossed lines of his tattoo.

His skin pebbled at the slightest graze of her nail to his nipple, and twisting it lightly between her fingers drew out a throaty cry.

His length jumped in her other hand, already dripping from the tip.

It made him tremble every time she used her thumb to circle his own wetness over it.

His fingers were dipped inside her, too, curving and moving and working her like a sock puppet, while his mouth ravenously devoured hers.

She wondered if she were to simultaneously combust in this moment, would she even care? Would she even know?

With his eyes all dark pupils, Vir pinned her under him with a throaty sound she could only describe as a growl. Her legs parted of their own accord, inviting him in.

“Nori…” he breathed her name. “Nori…”

She watched, mesmerized, as his fingers slipped out of her, glistening slick, and he popped them in his mouth to taste her again. He licked them clean with a deep, rumbling hum in his throat.

“Did I mention how good you taste?” He smirked, right before his body jerked involuntarily as she rubbed her thumb over his tip again. “Ah, fuck .” His eyes squeezed shut. “God, Nori…” He nuzzled her neck, grabbing her wrist to make her stop.

“Look at me,” he murmured.

Holding her gaze, he lowered himself into her. Slow, deliberate, just the tip at first. He slid further in on the next painstakingly slow thrust, his eyes never leaving hers. Her hips arched upwards to meet the next one, and as he went in deeper, her legs wrapped themselves around him .

And they began moving together, meeting each other stroke for stroke.

It didn’t take long for Nori to climax again, but she couldn’t stop herself from screaming his name this time, blowing his eardrums in the process, and inviting his rumbling laughter. Her second favorite sound in the world.

Even when she had nothing left, her core still trembled from every thrust that followed. Thrusts that grew harder and more urgent before Vir, too, shuddered with his release.

His lips found hers again, and she tasted herself on them. A subtle metallic tang, salt and rust. It made her curious to know what he tasted like.

Later. Laughter bubbled out of her at the thought. And she clamped her mouth shut, watching his throat bob while he panted into her neck, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

They lay there for a long moment. Breathless, spent, loved.

When she glanced at him again, she found him already staring at her. As always. Kitten eyes and everything. It made her face grow flushed once more.

“I’ve missed this.” His fingers brushed against her cheek, making her blush even more. He chuckled, reaching for the discarded throw on the floor, and pulled it over them.

“You keep making me fall for you,” she mumbled, brushing hair away from his brow. “I love you.” She wanted to tell him a hundred times over. Every day, for the rest of her life. “Vir Varma, did you just slow-blink at me?”

“I love you.” He laughed, squinting at her again.

She knew he did. He’d loved her for a long time.

It was her turn now.