- [Music Recommendation: "Soffia La Notte" by Fabrizio Paterlini - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

[Please note: This chapter is written in Verrill's POV - that Friday night when they were about to sleep]

Finally settling in for the day, I laid my body on the couch and covered myself with a thick blanket. The room temperature was comfortable enough to sleep in, and the couch was big enough for me. It's pretty soft, too, so I shouldn't have problems sleeping in it. Though, this is my first time sleeping on a couch. It's not so bad.

Before I closed my eyes, I looked towards Hora's direction to check if she's sleeping already.

'Hm? Her eyes are still open? Is she having problems sleeping? Maybe she's still worried about her unresolved matter and all those questions she had lingering in her head. She's been thinking hard this whole week. I hope tomorrow she gets the answers she needs.'

"Uhmm… Verrill? Are you sleeping already?" Hora asked, in a shy tone. I knew it. She couldn't sleep yet. Of course. It's normal if a person was worrying about something.

"Not yet," I answered her. "And you? Why are you not sleeping yet?"

"A-Ahmm… well… you see…."

She's having trouble saying whatever it was. Hmm… She must be hurting. I should check on her.

Getting up from the couch, I walked towards Hora to see her expression clearer. I sat on the side of the bed and observed her. To my surprise, she's blushing? Was she sick? Or… was there something she wanted to say but felt embarrassed?

"Are you okay?" I asked, while caressing her swollen cheeks from pouting. Did I do something bad? She seemed upset.

Hora's eyes looked straight at me but after a few seconds, she quickly drew them away. It was as if she wanted to say something, but was hesitant to say it. Hmm… If she wanted to ask me for something, she could just say it and I'll do it for her. There's no need to be shy. I should train—I mean, teach her, to be more open and not to be shy around me. We should be comfortable with each other. I wanted to be closer to her than anyone else. Even closer with Senara though this and that were different things. Heh. At least, I knew something about Hora that Senara didn't know. That's an additional point for me.

But then again… why was she pouting? What was it that she's having a hard time telling me?

I tried to ponder hard in my brain if there was anything I did for the day that might had upset her. From the early morning class, up to our flight, and the moment we arrived here, talked to her aunt, and got this room to sleep in, there was nothing amiss or foul that I did. I worked hard on not being mischievous today, too, since I'm being considerate of her feelings, worrying for her.

It was useless trying to guess it though, so I thought it was better to ask instead.

"Is there something you wanted to say to me?" I asked bluntly.

Hora's face became redder. That was weird. Why was she—Oh! Don't tell me it's "that"? No. There's no way Hora would be upset over not getting a kiss from me today. Yeah. That was the only thing missing if I'm not mistaken. But I'm only suppressing myself since I didn't want her to think I'm a kissing maniac or something. And there's no way she's going to ask for that first. I had always been the one to initiate our kisses so far. I had been too greedy lately as well. Maybe that's what she was upset about.

"Okie! I'm gonna say it but p-promise me you won't get creeped out! O-or think badly of me," she shyly said, making me blink my eyes in confusion. Yeah. I probably did something wrong I didn't know about and she's gonna reprimand me about it.

"Oh. Sure. What is it?"

"A-Ahm… Rather than say… I—ahm," she fidgeted.

Hora nodded her head and held her fists tights, as if resolving herself to say whatever it was that she wanted to say. She looked straight into my eyes again and then… inched closer to me and kissed me.

I felt my whole world stop when she did that… kissing me on her own accord. It was brief, just a few seconds peck but still… the fact that she initiated it… I'm very happy. My face felt hot in an instant and my heart went wild on my chest.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

"R-Reward… for a lot of things… today," she whispered almost inaudibly.

But those words alone made me chuckle. And a very warm feeling enveloped my heart. So very comfortable yet, almost squeezing and tugging my heart. It's amazing how she always managed to drive me off my wits.

"So cute," I blurted out in a mumble.

Truly, how in the world could someone be this cute? Just looking at her made my heart weak. Just look at those rosy pink cheeks, and lips moistened by our kiss, the way her eyes looked at me as if pleading with me for more. Damn it. It's too tempting.

'I want more.'

Losing half my sense of self control, I held the back of Hora's head gently and pulled her face closer to mine, catching her soft lips with mine. Starting with gentle pressing on her lips, then slowly becoming more passionate… more needy… until I completely devoured her entire mouth—I even ended up slipping my tongue inside. That was a mistake. I ended up copying that French kiss I saw at a movie I watched the other day. I hope she wasn't too grossed out.

'Ahhh… but her lips, I can't get enough of it. This is why I didn't want to kiss her today. I thought it would be rude considering she's not feeling okay.'

Chuuu~ Chuuuuuuu~ Chuuuuuuuuuuu~

After what seemed to be half an hour of kissing, I finally let go of her lips.

"Haaah… Haaah… Haaah…" we both panted. We did kiss for a long time.

Hora's face was beet red—probably mine, too—and her eyes were teary, looking up to me. What an angel. So beautiful, and cute, and lovely, and irresistible.

'Am I too lustful or she's just… too much for me to handle? I feel so weak against her charms. I find everything about her perfect. Even the craziness she does sometimes were all so cute to me. Ahhhh… I'm crazy. But then again, maybe… this is just how love is supposed to be.'

"Verrill…" Hora whispered my name in a husky voice which I found so sexy that I felt shivers on my spine. Because of that, I unconsciously bit my lips.

"… Yes? Hora?" I replied back in the same manner.

"More… please."

Snap!

And that's it. The line of my reasoning and self control snapping hard. Hearing her say that was lethal.

Grabbing her waist and pulling it close to my body, I embraced her tightly, and continued our kiss. This time, with more passion and hunger to the point I ended up pinning her down on bed again. My hands caressed her face and her waist. I even ended up slipping her shirt up and holding the bare skin of her waist. Damn it, such sinful hands. When I noticed I did that, I immediately stopped myself and instead, put my other hand on the back of her neck.

'Verrill, you should stop. If you kiss her more, you'll only be tempted more and you might end up completely devouring her. She'll be scared so stop it.'

Chuuu~ Chuuu~ Chuuu~

'I said stop! Why are you not stopping?! Uggh… her lips felt too good I just can't—'

And like last time, during my birthday, my lips ended up moving down, trailing her chin and kissing up to the side of her neck. Sh*t! I did it again.

"Aaaahh…" Hora moaned the moment my lips touched her neck.

'Ah, I see. So she's sensitive here. Ha-ha! But damn, her moans are too seductive. I should really stop before I… Haaah… If only we're already adults, I won't hesitate seducing you until you give yourself completely to me. Then, I can have you all for myself. Haaah… I'm becoming too greedy.'

"I'm sorry."

At last, I managed to stop myself and pull back. Nonetheless, that was a very satisfying kiss. I could probably sleep peacefully tonight.

"I-It's okay," she said. She shouldn't have said that or next time, I might end up going lower. I should warn her about that.

"No, it's not. I almost devoured you."

Hora blinked her eyes looking like she didn't understand what I just said. Could it be? Was she…?

"Ahm, Hora. Do you know what happens after a kiss?"

There it was again, a blank expression.

"Uuuuhhh… a hug?"

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

I should have known. This beloved girl of mine was a completely innocent angel.