Page 41 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

L ight poured in through the open blinds of the double windows, casting long puddles of sunlight across the sheets and reflecting off all the polished surfaces of the bathroom through the open door opposite me, little solar flares that stung my eyes as they flickered open.

I scrunched my nose in disgust and tried to curl back into the thick, comforting duvet, but my progress was hampered by the heavy arm thrown over my waist and the firm body behind me.

The night before came back to me in a slow, leisurely narrative that had me curling my toes in delicious delight. Rather than feel embarrassed or shy, I surprised myself by feeling a little like the cat who got the cream.

I stretched, reaching my arms up and tensing my legs in a full body stretch that pulled at my sleep-relaxed muscles in a way that almost felt erotic.

The arm around my waist tightened, pulling me harder against the wall of skin and muscle behind me.

I pressed my butt back against him, unthinking, and my mind momentarily blanked when I felt him poking into my behind.

Jihoon’s hand that lay flat against my belly began to trace a slow, leisurely path upwards over my ribs and then settled onto one of my breasts, palming it intimately.

Goosebumps followed his fingers and I had to bite back a gasp as his warm fingers grazed over my sensitive nipple.

He nuzzled my neck, his breath tickling my skin. I sighed, leaning my head further to the side to grant him access. He pressed a light kiss to my pulse point as he lightly squeezed my naked breast, the nightgown still hanging open from last night.

I rolled onto my back and met Jihoon’s gaze, his eyes a rich bronze in the morning light, framed by such dark lashes it seemed like his irises were casting shadows.

He smiled at me and said, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Good morning,” I giggled, shy now under the scrutiny of the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

He lifted his hand from my chest and ran it up my neck to cradle my jaw, his thumb rubbing softly over my cheekbone.

He made me feel so delicate, so treasured, that my heart stuttered.

I knew I would be in trouble if things carried on as they had been, but all I saw in his eyes was unguarded contentment, so in that moment I made the decision to do this thing whole-heartedly. No more second guessing.

I reached up my arms to wind them around his neck and pulled him in towards me, kissing him soundly. I felt him smile against my lips, it was a feeling I would never take for granted.

It was the kind of kiss that had no rush or frenzy to it, just two people so into each other that kissing was a necessary thing.

Our hands roamed up and down freely, exploring and caressing in equal measure.

It felt like freedom. The freedom to touch him, and to kiss him after months of separation.

The freedom to be here in this moment with him without concern of anyone seeing us together.

The freedom to be unabashedly, with absolute conviction, in this together.

I was so into what was happening right at that moment, that I almost missed the niggling thought, the lingering uncertainty. The question mark that hovered in my head over the word, ‘relationship.’

There had been no conversation, no declaration, no thought of it really. Except for now. I’d call it the ‘harsh light of day,’ but to be fair, though it was bright, the light streaming in the windows was quite lovely .

But still, now I’d thought about it, I couldn’t unthink it. Jihoon must have sensed my hesitation because he pulled back from where he’d been nibbling on my lower lip to meet my gaze.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice so low and slightly breathless, I couldn’t help smile.

“Yeah,” I curled my fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck, “just thinking too hard.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, “don’t do that.” He lowered his lips to my throat, swirling patterns into my skin so successfully that it scattered every thought in my brain.

A little while later, we were lying in each other’s arms, listening to the birds in the garden, when Jihoon tilted his head down to look at me.

“Can I ask you something?”

Languidly, I stretched, so relaxed my body felt like a pool of melted butter in the warmth of his arms.

“Sure,” I said easily.

“How is it that you’ve never…”

I waited a moment for him to continue his thought, but when his cheeks pinked up, I understood what he was asking.

“Oh! Um.” I chuckled nervously. “I guess I just never found someone I wanted to sleep with.”

“No boyfriends?”

“I’ve had boyfriends,” I said, keeping my tone even so I didn’t sound as defensive as I felt. “Before I went to University, I was with my boyfriend for two years, but we were so young. Then he broke up with me.” I shrugged.

“Why?” He asked, and I had to fight a smile at the confusion in his tone. It was very flattering.

“We went to different universities, and he didn’t want to have a long-distance relationship,” I said. “He didn’t want to miss out on all the relationships he could have at uni.” I scoffed. Last I’d heard, he was single.

“The next boyfriend I had cheated on me before we’d gotten serious enough to do anything. Although, maybe that’s why he cheated,” I added, contemplatively .

“After that, I just got too busy with uni and work. Dating wasn’t a priority for me.” I shrugged.

Jihoon was quiet for a while, his hand moving in a steady rhythm as he rubbed my back.

“And none of them ever touched you?” he asked, sounding so puzzled, like he couldn’t wrap his head around it.

I giggled. “I mean, my long-term boyfriend was very fond of grabbing my boobs whenever the opportunity arose.”

Jihoon grumbled and dragged his hand down to my waist, pulling me harder against him.

“But what about you?” I tilted my head up to look at him.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

I laughed, and lightly smacked his chest, enjoying the way his dimples appeared when he smiled down at me.

“Funny man. I meant, when did you ever find the time to have girlfriends?” I kept my tone light, but the words stung my throat on the way up, tasting bitter.

“No girlfriends,” he answered, his mouth still quirked in a smile, before he gave me a brief peck on my forehead.

“None? But…”

“There were girls,” he admitted with a sigh, saying the words slowly, like he was making sure they were the right ones. “Other trainees. But always brief, and always secret. Nothing real.”

I let the words sink in for a moment, hating the sharp spike of jealousy that twisted in my gut, before asking, “Did you never want a relationship with any of them?”

“Once.” He looked down at me, holding my gaze when I might have looked away. “But if we’d have been found out, we would have been kicked out of the company.”

“She’s at ENT as well?” I didn’t mean to ask the question ? it just kind of fell out.

Jihoon nodded, but didn’t offer up her name, or if she debuted, and I didn’t ask.

“Do you mind?” Jihoon asked quietly. The question surprised me because his expression told me my answer mattered to him.

I frowned, “Why would I mind?”

“Some people do.” His mouth turned down, even as his hand tightened around my waist .

“Jihoon, you’re a grown man. Frankly, out of the two us and our combined sexual history, I’m the weirdo.”

He laughed, his breath warm as he pressed another kiss to my forehead, as I lay there contemplating all that we could be.

Some time later, my body decided we were done lying around when it loudly gurgled its disapproval at not being fed. I froze, trying to decide if I could ignore it or not.

Jihoon chuckled, mid-way down my sternum, where he had been laying a trail of kisses from my throat downwards.

“Hungry?” He looked up at me from underneath those shadowy eyelashes, his lips tickling against my skin. It would be so easy to make a femme-fatale joke here, seductively bite my lip… were it not for my insistent, apparently empty stomach making its displeasure known with another unhappy gurgle.

“Hey,” Jihoon said, directing this at my stomach, “we’re going, you must be patient.” He kissed just above my belly button, and I laughed, both from the tickle and the tummy pep-talk.

He raised up onto his arms and crawled up my body.

“You’re not making it easier to get out of bed,” I murmured as he towered over me.

He grinned and leaned down to press a soft kiss to my nose before he rolled off me and the bed, rising to his feet in one, fluid movement.

I would have complained, but it afforded me a front row seat to the way his muscles flexed, the way his back tapered to his narrow waist and, let’s be real, the way his shorts hung off those hips was a treat for the eyes.

I rolled onto my back and sighed. “I do not know what I did to deserve this,” I muttered under my breath, “but I must have been very, very good.”

Not long later.

We opened the fridge to inspect the contents.

“Not a lot going on in there,” I let out a huff, putting a fist on my hip and letting the door close. Milk and basic condiments did not a breakfast make .

Jihoon shrugged, rubbing a hand down his neck. “I thought they’d leave food here.”

I hummed and pulled out my phone, pulling up nearby food delivery places and scrolled for a moment.

“We can order in.” I looked up at Jihoon to see he was also scrutinising his phone.

He tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips, which had no right to be such an attractive expression.

I watched him for a few moments, just enjoying the quiet peace of the kitchen, sunlight glinting off the marble counter tops as bird song drifted in through the open window.

Hard to believe we were still in central LA.

The birds we had in London were downright scrappy, certainly not cheerful songbirds like were currently in the garden outside.