All that she could feel was his touch and everything else ceased to matter for her.

When she couldn't take it anymore she bent her head down and detached herself, gasping and panting for air. But he was merciless. His started exploring every possible nook and corner of her face, her neck, and even her ears weren't spared. He showered her with the touch of his soft and wet lips and rendered her all defenseless.

She moaned helplessly with every touch of his and when she couldn't take it anymore, she tugged the collar of his shirt and said,

"Raymond stop !!! Please !!!"

But he was not ready to listen to anything.

He moved her hair to one side and kissed under her ear. She shivered and held him even tighter. He then took her hands which were still tugging his collar and lifted them and wrapped around his neck. She didn't resist. Probably she couldn't resist even if she wanted to.

Seeing her floating in his love, he was more than pleased. He went back to her ears and rested his nose there and whispered,

"Now tell me you love me".

All that she could do was to nod slightly.

He smiled with her reaction and then leaned a bit further and kissed her ear gingerly. She moaned and whimpered and clutched him tighter.

Encouraged by the way her body responded, his hands started traversing everywhere on her body, touching her at forbidden places and she started to shiver and wither like it was autumn. He was on the verge of exploding himself, so he paused. Paused because he still respected her boundaries.

He retracted his hands and rested them on her waist and then he softly bit her earlobe and said,

"See ??? How much you want to be with me?"

"But Raymond, I ..." and her voice trailed off as he silenced her lips again with a small peck.

"I don't want to hear anything", he said and rested his forehead on hers for a moment like he wanted to draw away all the negativity around her and absorb it.

Then he sighed and took out something from his pocket in his hands and transferred it into her hands.

"What is this?", Akira asked in surprise.

"It's my mom's pendant", Raymond said softly looking into her surprised eyes.

"I can't take this", she said and kept it back in his hands.

"Akira, I promise to support you in every decision that you take for yourself. If you want to work in Vikram's company then go ahead, work there. I will never object. You want to explore your life, then go ahead and do that. I have no issues with it. I am just happy to know that whatever we had between us wasn't fake. That's more than enough for me. I can just live with those happy memories. So please just accept this. This is just one last favor that I want from you", Raymond said and looked deep into her eyes like he was trying to search in the unknown.

"Um... It's quite expensive", she said.

"If I cannot be with you, then at least let it be with you Akira. I will feel like I am there with you. Can't you at least give me that?", Raymond asked but his tone sounded all defeated like he had lost all his battles.

Then she nodded and turned back for him so that he could put it himself.

She grabbed all her hair and lifted it up with one hand so that he could put on the pendant easily.

The moment she bared her neck like that, his throat went all dry. The tattoo at her back invited him, her bare smooth skin invited him, her curves invited him. He sighed and silently took a step ahead placed the heart-shaped pendant around her neck and then fastened it at the back with the hook.

His hands slowly rested on her shoulder and his thumb grazed on her bare shoulder. With his one light touch, she melted. She leaned back on him and her heart started beating all erratically. Her breath was hitched and she could hear the loudness of her heart beating faster and faster every passing moment.

He pressed his nose at the nape of her neck and inhaled her. He wanted to capture her smell and keep it with him. The moment his nose touched her skin, she felt a fire rushing through her veins. Her hand which was holding her hair up fell down automatically, freeing her locks which spread themselves on him. His body tingled with the soft touch of her locks. He could smell all lavender and that somehow made him both happy and sad in a weird way. He un-buried his head and turned her so that he could see her with that pendant.

The pendant adorned her lower chest. It gleamed like a beauty on her white smooth skin. He placed his hand on the pendant and looked into her eyes and said,

"Can you keep wearing it for me, every day?"

She nodded with her heart beating heavy with his touch.

He sighed. It was time to let her go.

"Can I kiss you one last time before you go?", he asked.

Her emotional wreck self, couldn't speak or move and she just looked at him.

He came forward and held her waist with his arms and made her arch her back while he supported her body. He kissed her forehead and then kissed softly on her lips and then stopped. His eyes went down looking at the pendant hanging low on her chest. He paused for a while and looked at her.

Her eyes were still closed. He thought for a moment but then he moved his head and reached below the pendant and then he planted a soft but wet kiss on the bare skin of her chest. She was startled and opened her eyes with this sudden touch. Her chest rose up for she breathed heavily.

"Remember that !!!", he said and paused to look into her eyes.

"Remember me !!!" he said and ran his fingers on her cheek and walked away leaving her just like that.

She stood there still trying to breathe.

He reached his cabin and then slumped on his chair.

Tears started roaring, his heart started roaring but he kept still trying to calm his nerves which had gone rabid. Then he took out his phone and texted.

"The GPS tracker has been placed. Please check if the microphone is working" - Raymond

"Yes, it's working"

He saw the text and sighed. But then his phone buzzed with another message.

"I could hear you. Are you ok Ray?" - Katherine

He saw her reply and then kept the phone back on the table without replying back.

The pain had started to sear in.