Xavier's pov:

I kissed her again, this time it was passionate.

She tasted like fresh strawberry. I devoured every single corner of her mouth. She tried to kiss me back this time. But, my dominance was what she lost to.

I left her mouth only when we both were really short of breath. I rested my forehead against hers, grasping for air.

I looked at her to see that she was flushed, red as a tomato. I was enjoying the blush on her face, proud of myself.

When her eyes met mine, she was so flushed that it felt like her warm cheeks would burn out of heat.

She started wiggling into my arms. Even though I didn't want to, I still let her go. She needed some time to digest all that just happened. She ran as fast as she could. I laughed at her and decided to take care of breakfast.

I went in the kitchen and as per her wish, I gave the weekend off to all the staff. They happily went to their home and I began cooking the breakfast.

Maya's pov:

As soon as I got the chance, I ran into my room as fast as I could. I closed the door and sat on the bed thinking of what the fuck just happened.

"Holy Fuckkkkkk. I just got my first kiss. My first kiss." I shouted looking in the mirror.

I never imagined that my first kiss would be with my husband.

But, it was amazing. It felt just like fireworks blasting around me.

I looked at the mirror to find that I was blushing profusely. My cheeks turned red and the heat radiating from them was too much for me to handle.

I stood in the room for some more time to calm my racing heart.

I finally reached kitchen after tip toeing the entire house, with the fear of facing him.

Author's pov:

Even though, it wasn't his first time for Xavier but, it was something he did purely out of peaceful feelings. He had no lust for Maya. What he had was, pure attraction and nothing else.

He was cooking in the kitchen when he saw Maya through his peripheral vision, tip toeing in the mansion.

He immediately hid behind the kitchen's door from where he could easily see Maya.

As soon as Maya reached kitchen, she let out a sigh of relief.

She went towards the fridge to drink water. Taking opportunity of the situation, Xavier carefully went and stood behind her.

"Ahhhh!" Maya shouted as soon as she turned around.

"What happened Maya? Why did you shout? Did you see someone unexpected?" Xavier asked her smirking.

"Uh...." Xavier wanted to laugh her state.

"Why were you tip toeing around the house?" He asked Maya. Even though he knew the answer, he wanted to hear it from her.

"I..I wasn... wasn't." She stammered, not daring to look into his eyes.

He, tightening his hold around her with his one hand on her waist and the other one on the fridge, ensured that she doesn't run away.

"Maya, look upto me." Instead of looking at him, she looked down , blushing even more

"Maya look up. Otherwise, you know the consequences when you act stubborn." Her eyes immediately shot up.

"See, wasn't that difficult." He said smiling.

"Maya, I know it's your first time being this close to a guy but, it's completely normal. It shouldn't be awkward between us. Instead, I'm the happiest about being your first. Thank you for making me feel so special. And , trust my words when I say that I'm not goofing around with you. You really mean a lot to me and you have a real special place in my heart that only and only belongs to you.

So, rather than being awkward and all shy, try to be comfortable around me. I know that's my responsibility to make you feel home around me but, you'll also have to try for that.

I alone can't make this marriage work. You'll also have to put equally to make this as beautiful as we want.

And, one more thing. This has nothing to do with the intimacy. It's not like I don't want to come close to you, I so badly want you. But, it'll happen only if you want. Your comfort is my foremost priority. My desires stand nowhere near your comfort and happiness. Get that?"

This was the first time when Maya looked into Xavier's deep ocean eyes for so long. His eyes reflected the care, respect and affection he had for Maya.

She was so lost in his eyes that he had to shake her to bring her out of her dreamland.

"Where are you lost?" He asked.

"Uh...Nowhere." She replied with a smile. His words made her sure that even though her past with him wasn't good. But, his actions are now convincing enough that, till the time she is with him, he won't let her go through any pain alone.

"Tell me one thing, very honestly Maya. I asked this in my room also. But, I am asking this again just to convince myself. Do you regret that moment with me? If you have even a slightest percentage of yes in your mind, then tell me. I won't ever touch you without your permission." He said .

Even though his words reflected care and respect for her, she didn't understand why was he asking this question again and again.

"I told you earlier also Xavier, that I don't regret it . Why do you keep asking this?"

"My guilt won't let me believe that you are okay with being close to me. I really don't know how did you tolerate my behaviour all this time. But, I am till date, ashamed of what I did to you. I will never be able to forgive myself for that and even though you are so forgiving and so kind, but I still have this thing in mind that after all I did to you, you being close to me isn't what I expected. If there would be someone else on your place, she would have kicked my balls till now and made me suffer through a lot of pain." He said, with his head down with shame.

"Before this, you are the only one to tell me that you can't make this marriage work alone. I have to take efforts too. In the same way, I can't forget all the things you said to me.

To be very honest, I don't want to forget that. I am not someone who will try very hard to forget the past and enjoy the present. I want to remember each and every detail of my difficult past so that, I can convince myself that I came through a lot to be where I am today. I want to remember my failures and my pain as much as I want to be in the best moments.

I am not asking you to forget everything. You need to and you should definitely remember that till the last. You should have this guilt in your heart that you judged someone without knowing and that judgement of yours led to that person's life and death situation. You should remember that because of your anger and your habit of assuming things the wrong way, made me suffer through hell.

Remembering these things will keep you on the right path throughout your life and you will think twice before insulting or disrespecting someone.

But, this doesn't mean that you let your guilt over power you and make you suffer every second. I want you to remember them not to let them rule you.

I forgave you long time ago and you should do the same to yourself. Don't punish yourself. Please.

And, as far as this progressive relationship between us is concerned, I am really enjoying every single moment with you. Don't ever let this slightest of thought pass through your mind, that I may regret something. And, if I ever will, I have the guts to confess it on your face."

"So, you mean to say that you enjoyed our little kissing session?" His face lit up with his question.

"You only heard this thing through my entire talk." Her eyes widened.

"I was just trying to ease the atmosphere Maya. I understood everything you said. I will definitely try to make myself better, just for you. I'll completely change myself the way you want me to."

"No! I will never want that. I don't want you to change for me. I like you the way you are. I admire you the way you are and I respect you the way you are. I don't want you to ever change yourself for me or anyone else. I just want you to live your life the way you want and free of guilt."

His eyes were intensely gazing at me, thinking of this amazing beauty that is only his and no one else's.

"You remember saying to me, that I have a way with my words? You are the same. You made me realise a lot of things, within just few minutes." Xavier smiled with his eyes twinkling with happiness.

"Uh..shall I make the breakfast? It's almost past the time. I'm hungry." She said to him.

"Actually, it's almost ready. I wanted to make a special breakfast for my wife. But, I didn't have enough time. So I could only make sandwiches and stuffed cheese french toast."

"It's more than enough for two people." She said looking at the breakfast.

They both had their breakfast, with the atmosphere turned very intense with Xavier's constant gaze on Maya and her constant blush getting darker with each minute.

Despite of Maya's pleadings, Xavier didn't let her wash the dishes.

Not wanting to seem rude, Maya stood beside him till he finished with the dishes.

When he was done, she was about to go into her room.

Before she could exit the kitchen, Xavier caught her by her wrist and pulled her towards him in a way that she directly collided with his hard chest.

Shocked by his move, she said, "What happened? Let me go." She started wiggling into his hold.

"You want me to move on from the guilt, right?"

"Yeah." She said.

His smirk made her doubt his intentions there.

"For moving on, I would need some motivation. What do you think?"

"Yeah. I guess. How can I help you with that? " She asked him.

"By keeping me busy in you, your beautiful face." He ran his index finger over her face.

She experienced the worst goosebumps ever. Her clean shaven arms showed the hair follicles perfectly.

"Your deep eyes." He kissed her both eyes.

"Your pink blushing cheeks." He poured wet kisses on her cheeks, slightly sucking them.

"And, your plum lips."

With that he kissed her. With utmost passion and desire.

His lips touched hers. Softly, they brushed over hers. He sucked on to her lower lips making her moan into his mouth. As soon as her lips opened, he took that very opportunity to enter her mouth.

He kissed her like she wanted to be kissed. Soft and moist and hot and breathy, not trying to win a battle but seeking union and closeness and the sharing of one breath, one sensation, one timeless and passionate moment. The heat rose in her cheeks as his tongue touched her tongue, quick and electric and delicious, then firmer, more determined, more curious about the heat that lay within, seeking to chase down that elusive liquid lightning that reached through both of them.

Even though, they both were our of breath, still they wanted to continue. But, their respiratory system demanded air. They both were breathing heavily when they backed out.

His forehead laying on hers, her eyes closed trying to grasp the beauty of the moment was something she always dreamt of.

"You are divine Maya. I can never get enough of you." He said and kissed her furiously blushing cheeks.

Her blush didn't seem to lessen. Her cheeks kept on getting more red by each second.

"So, we have the whole Sunday to ourselves. What are you gonna do now?" He asked her to lighten the atmosphere.

"Uh...I have first stage code to finish." She said, still not raising her head.

"So, want to finish that or wish to stand here in the same position all day? " He asked her smiling.

"No..I..I have to..go." She pushed him lightly and ran from there, straight into her room.

Maya's pov:

I was almost done with the last stage algorithm of the app I was working on. Just need to run an accessibility check and then, I'm all set for the testing.

"Maya."

A sudden, loud call scared me. In reflex, my hand immediately moved towards my racing heart.

"Oh! It's you!" There stood Xavier with a tray of food in his hand.

"Who else would here?" He asked laughing.

"I brought lunch for you. I was waiting for you at table to come but, you didn't. So, I brought it here, in your room itself." He said showing me the food.

"Shit! I'm really sorry that I kept you waiting. Actually, I lost my track of time. I didn't realise it was lunch time. "

"It's okay. I knew you'd be busy. So, I brought it here only. "

"You made the lunch?"

"There's no cook today. So, it's obvious that I made it."

"Now, I feel a lot terrible. It's the weekend. You should have had some time to you. First you made the breakfast, then you did the dishes and now the lunch too. I'm really sorry for not being helpful."

I really felt bad for him. I felt like I took advantage of his free time.

"It's completely fine Maya. If I'd be at your place, working on my projects, then you'd have done the same for me, right?"

"Yeah. But, still I feel bad."

"Let's not talk about that now. Have this first. You must be tired too."

I nodded and as soon as I got up from the chair, I felt a strange pain in my back.

"Ahh!" I shouted, trying to get my hand to my back, where it pains.

"What happened Maya? Are you alright?" Xavier put the tray on the bed and ran to me.

" Yeah. I don't know what happened. A sudden wave of pain ran through my back."

"Should I call Liam or someone else? Is it paining a lot?"

I stood quite for sometime to realise that the pain vanished.

"I sat for so long after months. I guess, that's the reason of the pain. But, it's fine now." I assured Xavier, who was more scared than me.

"Are you mad or what Maya? You just got your cases released and you think that you can work for so long immediately. You should have taken care of yourself. You could have sat on the bed or on the couch.

But no, you had to sit on that hard chair and work continuously. I think, you love to see yourself in pain which eventually gives me more pain.

You know what, from now on, you'll stay with me 24 by 7, so that you don't take any risk with your health and I can also monitor you. You will come with me to my office and at home also, I will be with you everytime you work."

Xavier's words shocked me.

"You can't do that."

"Oh trust me, when it comes to you , I can do more than this." He argued.

"Please Xavier don't do this to me. I've got my freedom for the first time. Don't cage me like this. I'll do everything you ask for, if you let me be here. Please."

"Everything?" He asked smirking.

"Wait, what do you want?" I had a doubt that this will lead to his advantage.

"Don't worry about that. Now the deal is done." He said laughing.

His every smile, every laugh was soothing to my ears.

"Let's have lunch. It's getting cold."

Then, we both headed towards the couch and had our lunch.

He made Vegetable Salad and Chicken Soup for him while I got to have Chicken Fried Steak and Baked Beans.

"You know what, I can get used to your cooking. It's really amazing. I haven't had such tasty meal in years." I appreciated his cooking which was indeed delicious.

"That's a matter of pride for me that my wife liked my cooking. Thank you for the compliments."

Despite of him saying many times to me that he'll take care of the dishes, I didn't let him do it this time.

I did the dishes and came back to my room to see him looking intently at my laptop.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Just trying to understand what on Earth is written here. Trust me, I didn't get a single thing on the screen. How do you manage to do it?"

He asked me with bewilderment on his face.

"Just the way, you do your work."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that the way you make deals thinking about the profits and the risks involved, you predict the future accomplishments before signing something and the way you work in terms of millions and billions, in the same way I work for this. The way you have complete knowledge and confidence for your field, in the same way I work.

If we have to say in simpler words then, everyone knows about what they do when they have the knowledge about it. It seems easier when you have understood every single concept of your work."

"So, you mean to say that if I study this coding then, even I can make apps."

"Exactly, my point."

"Ohhh." He said, understanding my point.

"What are you working on now?" He asked.

"It's Mr. Harris'project. I am making an app for him that gets him control over all his branches' CCTV and functioning. This app will let him know every single detail of his all the employees from, the time they enter their offices to every single transaction made inside or outside the company's premises."

" But, he can get all these details from the reports of the company. Then, why use an app?"

I liked to see him curious of my work and taking interest in it.

"You're right. But, there's no employee who will make himself look bad into the reports. No one will themselves go and tell the boss regarding the mistake they committed. They'll try to hide their mistakes. That's what this app is for, to ensure transparency and truth within the company."

"Wow! I mean, it's amazing. Work can get so much easier by this."

"Yes. Uh...if you don't mind waiting for another five minutes, I need to just finish this algorithm once. I'm at the last stage only."

"Yeah sure. I'm sitting here. You can carry on with your work."

With that, he sat beside me on the bed and I began completing my algorithm.