Published: July 21, 2019----Sept. 30, 2020

On her usual pajama outfit, Katelyn lies on her bed, thinking if Jared will grant her request. She had reminded Jared earlier after their dinner about her transfer's postponement, and his only reply was," Let me think about it, I will tell you later on."

She was not so sure if Jared is deliberately trying to divert her attention, so she will not mention it again or playful. It is because he went to his study room as soon as they had finished eating. With nothing to do, she decided to prepare herself to sleep. But as soon as she was in bed, Jared came inside their room and went straight to the bathroom.

He passes in front of her like a bait to entice the predator to attack him. Of course, she will resist the temptation to ask again. She had already said her opinion, so wait, she will do. At least there was no memo given to Mrs. Johnson the whole day. So she decided to catch her sleep.

It seems like it was only a few minutes that he passed by, and already she felt him sat down on the bed, awakening her. Her wakeful state made her decide to try her luck again to ask for his answer, so once her problem is solved, it can calm her mind to have a restful night.

She got up and then turned to face him to voice out her request, but to her surprise, he pulled her hand, put it on where his heart is and then looked in her eyes" Can you hear my heart beating and shouting out that it needed you near me all the time Tori?"

She looked at him, eyes wide and then lowered her eyes as the intensity of his gaze felts like it's on fire that can melt even the hardest stone and what she was going to inquire was forgotten but instead all she can ask," Where did you learn to be so cheesy?"

He pulled her chin to look at him and then answered." On those weekends, we do nothing but watch all those romantic films you like," she slapped his chest and then turned her back on him.

"So, that was the reason that you sat down with me diligently," she thought out loud and then she remembered what he was doing all those time and turned to face him," but you were busy with your computer while you sat down."

"With all your giggling, do you think I will not be curious what made you forget that you're supposed to act like a lady in front of your husband?" he told her with a smile that reaches his eyes.

His smiling face made her point her fingertip on his chest. "Are you deliberately playing with me?" She asked out more of curiosity than an accusation.

"What do you think?"

"Jared!" she called his name in irritation," I am not kidding, can you please change your mind and not let me work with you?"

Then he bends down his head and whispers on her ear." Be wise; you have the power to convince me in everything, so do it."

With knitted brows, she clarified. "What do you mean?"

Then she saw Jared's eyes on her lips, and that gave her an idea of what he wanted, her left hand took a pillow and threw it in his face. A chuckle was heard from him while he tried to protect his face with his hands. He then caught her as she tried to run away from him, then slump her on their bed, with his body imprisoning her.

"Jared, get off me, you're so heavy," she complained while trying to push him away from her, but her strength was no match on him.

"I like where I am now," he told her while touching her face and tucking some hair on her ear.

Being close to him is what Katelyn most afraid of, as the slightest touch of his skin, can already make her nerve endings rampantly send signals to her weak brain. In return, it will send back wayward responses to all parts of her body, making her uncontrollable.

If he tried to kiss her now, she knows her remaining strength to restrain herself will fly with time, and self-indulgence will reign.

She was thankful when his phone rings as finally, he will leave her alone, and she can salvage herself from falling so profoundly on him. But Jared has no plans to answer it as he continued to play with her face, so she reminded him, "Your phone is ringing."

"Let it be," he answered and then kissed her lips.

In that instant, Katelyn felt like a droplet of rain had poured into her mouth after a day basking in the desert's heat with no water to drink. Thirsty of him made her pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. But the insisting ringing of the phone finally distracted her but not Jared. He was busy unbuttoning her pajama top, complaining." I will throw your entire pajama from now on."

Then he kissed her shoulder and was going lower, but she stopped him." Jared, you better answer your phone; maybe it's an emergency as it's just continuously ringing.

Annoyance was written on his face boldly as he removed his body atop her, and then he lay on the bed. "When he is starting to make love to his wife and someone disturbs it. Whoever it will be will have a lot to pay."

Fuming, he got up of the bed after another two rings and walked to where he left it off in the table.

He picked up his phone, and upon seeing the caller, he looked at where Tori and it was also the time that she gets up from the bed and walked to their bathroom.

He, too, went out of their room to the terrace's direction before picking up the call.

"Charlize, I am already going to sleep. What is it that made you call?"

"I was calling you earlier, but you were not answering." she accused, and then he noticed the slurring of her speech that only happened if she is drunk. He knows that he deliberately ignored all her calls.

"Where are you?" concerned was etched on his face as he asked. He heard a thud and a male voice talking to Charlize while she is shouting and then footsteps.

"This is Chase..."

"What is going on," Jared interrupted.

"I took the phone from Charlize, and she is angry. She is sitting down now in my office on a couch beside me, drunk."

He took a deep breath before asking, "What is she doing there?"

"Charlize and her friends were in the bar earlier, and when she got drunk, she told the bartender to call me. But of course, as he is new, he tried to verify it first to his manager. I am out of the office already, so it had taken time, and that made her angry."

He knew Charlize well; she can be a bitch if under the influence of alcohol.

"I told them first to put them in the suites as I can't let her drive in her current state," Chaste continued, "but then the staff called me when Charlize insisted on leaving and so I told him to bring her in my office. When I arrived, she complained you are ignoring her calls. I just went out for a few minutes to call only to get back and see her friend on the sofa lying and Charlize pouring wine in her glasses with a phone on her ear."

"Let me talk to him," Jared heard Charlize voice telling Chaste, and so he told him to give her the phone so they can talk while his eyes were on the door of their en suite bathroom.

After acknowledging his real feeling towards his wife, he became more protective of her, and letting Charlize know of her existent was the last thing on his mind.

Though Charlize and Tori's path had crossed already in the elevator, they still don't know each other. The tabloids talked about the women he dated, but Tori never directly pinpoints him about his girlfriend. Either she wanted him to open it up on her or don't care, but still, he does not want to spoil what he has with her. She has this innocence in her that he wanted to protect.

He had known Charlize for quite a while, and she can be very possessive of him. All the women he had dated before almost have trouble due to her doings. Not only was she too clingy, but she can even harm herself jut to get his attention.

"Why didn't you tell me that you left your penthouse? I was surprised to be told by the doorman that you are not in the building anymore. I tried to call you last weekend, but you turned off your phone. If I didn't call your secretary, I would never know where you are."

He left his old penthouse, so Charlize will not visit his place unexpectedly as she did in his old one.

He admitted that it was his mistakes that everything became complicated; he had just let Charlize do what she wanted. It was not because he was so in love with her, only used to having her around. Besides, he cannot just leave her that easily. He owes it to his late professor, her father.

Recently, he had opened the topic to her about their relationship. He told her not to expect too much from him, and if ever they had become lovers, it was of mutual consent. She had known it before that marriage between them was the last thing in his mind, but as usual, once he reminded her of something she doesn't want to hear, she changes the topic. In the end, he decided to avoid her even though he was still there supporting her career.

She is a caring person, but just don't let her feel threatened, or else she will become a vicious person.

"Why can't you say anything?" her brittle voice, as she asked, awakened him from his thoughts.

"Okay, wait for me there" he turned off the phone and walked back to their bedroom and saw Tori on the bed. He went directly to the bathroom, changed his clothes, and then walked to their bedroom door, but he looked at her back before that. Hesitant to leave without telling her, but he cannot tell her where he was going else everything will blow up. He still has a lot of things to straighten up before he can be candid with her.

Katelyn, on the other hand, knows that Jared had left because of that phone call. She cannot assume it was because of Charlize, but it seems like it was more important than being with her.

If ever it that her suspicion is right, she has no one to blame but herself because she has been warned before by him, to not fall in love

Her mistake was she made herself vulnerable and started to expect that he will choose her over Charlize in the end. But in reality, even if they had been intimate, to entertain ideas about his leaving his girlfriend was far-fetched.

Maybe he was attracted to her temporarily, but in the end, it is between his grandmother and girlfriend that matters, she has never been an option. It hurts to admit, especially when her young heart is involved finally.

The only problem is he became her weakness.

"If only she can just leave and be away from him, but the impossibility of it is like walking barefoot in lava without being burned."

'But no, she must be strong from now on. She must not succumb to enticement anymore, no matter what happens."

With great determination to resist the temptation, she covered herself with mattress and lulled to sleep.

Still groggy from sleep, Katelyn felt the bed sagged, and a hand touched her hair. She opened her eyes and turned around only to see Jared lying beside her, looking at her. Being near him made her noticed his tired eyes. His gaze brought awareness on her of his assessing her looks.

Uneasiness made her turn her head sideways, pretending to cover her mouth while yawning and then wiping her eyes for any dirt. Afterward, she turned to face him again only to see that his gaze was fixed on her the whole time.

Katelyn felt her cheeks heated, "Did he notice that she was only pretending to yawn to check if there is some dirt on her eyes?" She asked herself, eyes still glued on him.

Soon his eyes traveled to her face while touching it with his hands, a soft pinch here, and a tap to her hair. Then again, his gaze returned to her lips and this naughty voice on her head that she rarely listens to its opinion whispered. "He is intently staring at your lips as if wanting to savor it."

"What time is it?" she asked to distract her mind from further divulging on what was going because she has a feeling that to be absorbed on, it will only push her in a pitfall.

"It is past two in the morning." His husky voice answered.

"Hmm...Why don't you sleep now? You still have work tomorrow." She told him while flapping her pillow and turning her back on him to return to sleep but was surprised as he pulled her in his embrace.

"You don't know how your warmth keeps haunting me," he whispered on her ear, and still flabbergasted with what was happening she just froze. Then he turned her to face him, held her chin, and looked in each other's eyes. She was full of wonder, and he with passion.

Katelyn wanted to avert her gaze, but it seems like those eyes are magnetic fields that no matter how much she struggles, withdrawal was next to impossible.

"Tori," She heard Jared said her name, pronouncing each syllable like a brush tickling her senses softly and magnetized her more to further forget everything except for the furor brought by his voice.

Suddenly he kissed her so passionately, but then it became sexual as he tried to open her mouth with his tongue.

She responded to his tender assault by opening her mouth and granting him entrance to delve in. It was a sloppy kiss with a distinct scent of mint from the mouthwash exchanged between them in the breath that they puff out. His hand caressed her hair while the other one is holding her tight around her waist. She moaned at the closeness of their body as his heart's beating was felt on her chest.

She was stripped of all her inhibitions as her emotion absorbed her. She had lost count of the time as kissing him made her forget everything she just made to herself. Only the sweetness of being intimate with this so gorgeous man occupied her thoughts. She again succumbed to the call of desire.

End of Part 15

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