Page 7

Chapter Seven

Aline

I woke up in a good mood. Humming a happy little tune as I left my room, I relieved my bladder, brushed my teeth, and then walked toward the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. I stopped at the doorway when I saw the lump on my couch, and last night came running back to me.

Ziomara fixed my shower at two in the morning, and then Xochil stayed the night because I had a stalker. Warmth spread in my chest as I looked at her sleeping peacefully, overpowering the discomfort of knowing I had a stalker.

My orixa gave me a tiny happy nudge as I watched her for a moment longer, letting me know how he felt about her being in our home. Finally, I finished walking over to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. I pulled out eggs and bacon, then turned on the stove. I heard her stirring as I was whisking eggs together, so I put the bowl down and turned around to greet her. The whisk fell from my hand in surprise when I found her right behind me.

“Good morning,” I greeted her, my voice cracking and my heart racing as she stepped closer.

“Good morning, beautiful,” she whispered with a sly smile.

“Hi,” I answered back stupidly, and I could swear the nudge my orixa gave me felt more like he was face-planting on my shoulder than anything else.

Xochil stepped closer, and though I was taller and much more physically imposing than her, I was the one who felt like the prey.

“You’re making breakfast?” she asked, bending down when she got close and picking up the whisk.

Heat flooded my cheeks, and I was grateful that my dark skin didn’t show the embarrassment I felt. I thought she was going to kiss me when she approached. I wanted her to kiss me.

“Umm… yeah,” I answered, clearing my throat when it came out a little too breathy. Hopefully, she would think it was my groggy morning voice.

She held out the whisk for me, and I moved to grab it. I couldn’t hold back the gasp that left my lips when our hands touched, and I felt the same static shock from yesterday. Her eyes darkened at the sound, and her gaze shifted to my lips before it returned to my eyes.

I was going to step back, but at an encouraging nudge from my orixa, I leaned forward until our lips touched. She stood still for a moment, surprised, before she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me closer to her.

The moment her lips moved against mine, I was lost. For such a petite woman, Xochil was pure power. I could feel the hidden strength of her muscles as she pulled me tight to her with one arm, the other going to the back of my neck to keep me bent. I was five-foot-seven while she was only maybe five-foot-three, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t reach me if she wanted to, but she appeared to like the way I was bending, making her arch into my body.

My entire body felt like a live wire, and I dropped the whisk again, wrapping myself around her and moaning when the hand around my waist moved further down to cup my ass.

She growled softly, the sound surprising me and making me shiver. It sounded so aggressive, so hot! Then, she plunged her tongue into my mouth, and I melted into her, giving in to all the feelings she’d been stirring inside me since the moment our eyes met.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” she mumbled as she pulled back.

Her pupils were dilated so much that they almost appeared black, and it reminded me of the first night I saw her. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on my shoulder, kissing a spot that made my entire body tremble with need. Her hands moved further down my ass and dipped under the silk shorts as she continued to kiss my neck. I moaned, letting my hands roam under her shirt and toward her perky breasts. The moan she released when my thumb went over her nipple made me feel like I’d won a Michelin star, and I wanted to explore it more. But then her phone rang, and we were jerked out of our moment. We looked at each other as we breathed hard while the phone continued to ring.

“I’m sorry. It’s harder to control my w—myself when I’m half asleep. I hope I didn’t scare you by being so forward,” she whispered, looking a little vulnerable.

“You didn’t scare me,” I replied. “Your phone did.”

The nervousness in her face disappeared, and a wide smile replaced it. She leaned forward to kiss me again, but her phone began ringing again.

“Who the fuck calls so early,” she whined, pulling back to go check her phone. She swiped on the phone after a moment and growled. “What are you doing awake at seven in the morning, Miguel?” There was silence as she listened to his response, so I picked up the whisk to wash it and continued to make breakfast while she talked to her cousin. “Yeah, Zi fixed her shower. We saw someone hanging around her house, though. Someone is stalking her. Okay, that sounds good. See you in a bit.”

I turned on the stove and tried not to sound disappointed when I asked, “You need to leave?”

“No. I was actually going to ask if I could send your address to Miguel. I know we talked about it last night, but I want to make sure you’re still comfortable with him being in your home.”

“Ummm, I’m not going to be here for long. I need to head out in less than an hour and meet my produce guy until the new fridge arrives.”

“It won’t take long,” she assured me.

“Sure, then. I’ll make him some breakfast, too,” I replied, turning away from the bright smile she gave me before my knees stopped supporting my body.

She was too damn cute.

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel uncomfortable having Miguel in my house. I trusted him for some reason, and my orixa would have warned me if he didn’t want him here.

I placed the bacon in the frying pan and felt a pair of arms come around my waist, making me gasp. Xochil rested her face against my back, and the act felt so intimate and… right. It felt right.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and I felt her lips sear my skin through the satin shirt as she pressed a small kiss to my back.

The nudge my orixa gave me felt like a happy sigh. I tried to ignore it, because I didn’t understand how he appeared to be all in so quickly. These feelings terrified me, so I tried to lighten the moment.

“Shouldn’t I be the one thanking you? You saved my ass like five times at the restaurant yesterday, had your friend fix my shower, scared a stalker away, stayed the night to make sure I was safe and you’re having your cousin come check out my security. What do you have to thank me for?”

“You’re making breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day,” she answered, the teasing in her voice making me laugh.

“You know this is going to be more like a snack for you. I’m making twelve eggs here, and I’m sure that won’t be enough to fill up those stomachs of yours. Do you have a magical portal in there, and I’m really feeding a small village of tiny demons?” I teased.

“Maybe. Would that be so bad?” she asked. “Do you believe in magic and fate?”

The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and while I felt myself tense, I did my best to relax and think about how to respond carefully. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also couldn’t tell her the truth yet.

“Yes. I believe people’s paths cross for a reason. That there’s something more out there than just us,” I answered a few moments later, as honestly as I could.

“Me too,” she sighed and snaked her hands under my shirt.

My breath hitched as I felt the heat of her hands and that delicious static electricity she seemed to carry with her on my stomach. She didn’t move them up. She seemed to be content just having that skin-to-skin contact. My lady parts were definitely disappointed and clamoring for more, though.

“I was put in your path. Since our eyes met two nights ago, I feel like all I can think about is you,” she admitted.

I admired her bravery. I wasn’t sure if I’d have the guts to say something like that to someone I met the day before. And it wasn’t like I could say I disagreed with her sentiments. I felt obsessed; I wanted to know everything about her. I wanted to get to know, touch and feel her body. Intimately.

I flipped the bacon as I took a moment to gather my thoughts, my orixa nudging me approvingly as it followed along. When I was done, I put my spatula down and turned around in her arms.

“I feel exactly the same,” I admitted, and then I cupped her face with my hands and kissed her again. She growled a little and tried to deepen the kiss, but I pulled back. “I don’t know how you keep doing that, but it’s fucking hot,” I breathed, and she gave me another pretty smile before she pulled me down again and took over the kiss with another sexy growl.

Her tongue quickly parted my lips, and I was pushed against the counter. I moaned into the kiss, letting my hands roam down her body. I shifted my neck to the side when she moved her lips from mine, kissing down my jaw and neck. I felt her suck on the crux of where my shoulder met my neck, and she had to hold me up when my legs went weak, and my pussy flooded with moisture.

“Xochil,” I moaned out.

“Again,” she ordered, sucking on the spot harder.

I could feel her teeth begin to clamp down, and my body wanted to feel her bite me more than I would have ever thought.

“Yes,” I moaned—or begged. I couldn’t tell.

Xochil whimpered, her teeth digging deeper into my shoulder, but before she could break the skin, she pulled back and was across the room so fast I got whiplash. My body felt cold from the lack of her body against mine.

I was breathing hard, my hand on my neck. It was warm and sensitive. I shivered as I touched the spot she had been sucking on. Why did she stop? And why did she look like she was in pain?

“Are you okay?” I asked her, seeing how she kept closing her eyes tightly as if trying to control herself.

“I… yes. I’m sorry. You’re just so fucking hot. I’m trying to go slow, but yo… I… I just need a moment,” she finished, heading to the bathroom and shutting herself in there.

Hurt and confusion slashed through me. Who asked her to take it slow? Did she have someone else? No. She would have mentioned it yesterday. Wouldn’t she? Though, looking back, I had initiated every kiss.

My heart sank. What if she was already with someone, and I fucked up by tempting her. Was she in my bathroom beating herself up for cheating?

I turned back to the pan when I heard the bacon crackle and pop. I pulled it out before it could burn, lowered the heat, and added the scrambled eggs. I grated some cheese into the mixture as I thought about what I needed to do.

I needed to apologize, and back off. That was the best thing to do. My orixa thought she would be important, so I couldn’t fuck this up because I felt an insane connection to her that she might not feel. She kissed me like she did, though. And she said she couldn’t stop thinking about me.

I shook my head. I was confused, and I didn’t like feeling that way. My day was already too tiring to add complications. Maybe it was best that after today, we all went our separate ways. My orixa nudged me angrily at the thought, but I ignored him.

“I’m sorry,” Xochil’s voice startled me as I was in the middle of giving an angry, silent lecture to my orixa.

I turned around to let her know it was my fault, but she surprised me again by being so close behind me. This time, she caught the spatula before it fell to the ground, and handed it back to me with a quick kiss on the lips. My heart fluttered at the sweet kiss, but I steeled myself and did what I set out to do.

“No. I’m sorry. I don’t even know if you’re already in a relationship, and I kissed you… pushed you. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or put you in a tough position. I’ll finish making breakfast, and we can pretend it never happened. We can just be friends,” I finished, turning around before she could answer. I didn’t want to see her face when she thanked me for understanding.

“Wha—Aline, turn around,” she ordered, surprise in her voice.

When I didn’t, she growled again, and I squealed as she swept a hand under my knees and picked me up. For a tiny woman, she sure as fuck shouldn’t be able to pick me up. She was going to hurt her back if she didn’t put me down. And she didn’t. This petite, five-foot-three woman carried me to the couch as if I weighed twenty pounds.

“You’re freakishly strong,” I squeaked, trying to squirm into making her put me down before she hurt herself and dropped me. “Put me down, Xochil.”

“No,” she said stubbornly, sitting on the couch and placing me on her lap.

If someone were here, they might think this looked comical, a two-hundred-pound woman sitting on the lap of another woman who couldn’t be more than one-twenty. I looked down into her eyes and couldn’t take a breath at how intensely they were looking at me.

“I’m not with anyone. I’ve been single for almost two years, and I never had any serious relationships before that. You didn’t push me. You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I don’t want to pretend like the kiss didn’t happen. I want you, Aline. So bad, baby. I’m trying not to push you, because I want you to get to know me. Only then, can you decide if you want me.”

“I do want you,” I assured her, and she gave me a sad smile.

“You don’t know that. You won’t know that until you know everything about me, and we don’—” she stopped when a knock sounded on the front door.

She sighed and kissed my clavicle, and then she kissed that same spot as before, making me shiver.

“We won’t have time for any of that until we deal with your stalker and your chefs come back. We’ll have time to talk, then. That’s probably Miguel. Do you mind if I open the door?” she asked.

“Yeah, go ahead. I have to check the eggs,” I answered, getting up from her lap and walking back into the kitchen.

I heard Miguel’s voice when she opened the door. They both whispered for a few moments before I heard his heavy steps coming into the house.

“Good morning, Lu-lovely lady,” he greeted me cheerfully. “I’ll take a look around and see what I can come up with for recommendations.”

“Breakfast is in about five minutes!” I called out to him as he went straight toward the backyard.

“Sounds good!” he replied, giving me a giant grin and a thumbs up.

I shook my head and turned back to the stove.