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Chapter 3: A Trap or a Safe Embrace? – February 13, 2021

“Anything,” he responded quickly.

He would not miss his chance with her.

“You don’t try to kiss me in front of my daughter.”

His heart flew skyward.  “Does that mean I can try to kiss you when we’re alone?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

She swallowed.  “You can try,” she whispered.

Her response was the most alluring thing he’d ever heard.  It shocked him.  He’d been with dozens of girls, but there was something about this one that kept him on the hook.  Despite her experience – which, really, compared to his had been nothing – she seemed like a complete innocent.

Why had she mentioned kissing?  Now the man looked like he was going to devour her.

“I said ‘kiss me’ only.  Nothing else,” she swallowed as she took a step back.

“Did you?” he quirked an eyebrow as his eyes traced that lovely mouth.  “May I take that as a command?”

Her eyes widened.  “No, I meant ‘try to kiss me,’” she responded hastily as she backed up another step, attempting to climb out of the hole she’d just dug for herself.  

Her heart began to beat wildly.  She still remembered their first kiss.  It had been the absolute best kiss of her entire life.  If she were honest, she would admit that she wanted another.  No…she wanted a million kisses like that one.  But they were so close to his bed.  And he’d admitted that he was a player.  Accustomed to girls falling into that bed with him.  

She closed her eyes.  She didn’t want a player.  She didn’t want a broken heart.  She didn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life.

She’d already been played once by a player.  Was that lack of good judgment on her part always going to be her undoing?

He was creeping towards her, but the sudden vulnerability that flashed across her countenance pierced him like a blade.  It physically hurt him to look at her for a moment.

“What is it?” he whispered suddenly, wondering what could cause such a wounded expression on her face.

“Please,” she breathed, “have a care with my heart.  If you – if you’re just toying with me, let me go.  I can’t,” she began to sob, “I can’t go through it again.”

“Does that mean you’re beginning to like me a little?” he queried, his voice flooding with hope.

She had to see him then, so she opened her eyes.  And the expression on his countenance drew her closer to him.  His entire face seemed flooded with sweetness.  So when his arm slipped around her a moment later, and he pulled her close to him, she surrendered her lips to his own.  

But he didn’t take them.  He bent his head and kissed her cheek, his lips lightly brushing across her skin.  She shivered as his words slipped into her ear.

“We have all the time in the world.  There’s no rush.”

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and she gripped his shoulders as she leaned towards him.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel very good still.  Ugh.  Why did I have to try to hide from my life in a bottle?” she buried her face in his chest.

“Again.  My fault.  I’m so sorry, baby.”

“Minha,” she whispered.

“What?” he asked as he gazed down over the slope of his cheek at her bent head.

She took a deep breath before lifting her face towards his.  “Minha,” she murmured again.  “My name is Minha.”

“Minha,” he breathed her name with reverence.  He felt an exultant joy flood his being.  “You’re entrusting me with your name?”

She shrugged.  “You already know a more important one.”

He drew his eyebrows together as he tried to discern her meaning.

“My daughter’s.”

A sound burst from his lips.  “Ah!”  Enlightened now, he shook his head.  “A very important name, indeed.  But not more important than yours.  Just equally so.”

He kept tracing her lips with his eyes.  She was feeling terribly self-conscious.  She glanced back down at his chest.  

“Do you have a toothbrush I could use?”

He laughed suddenly.  Her question was so unexpected.

“Absolutely.”  He frowned.  “It’s been two days since you ate.  Would you like something to eat now?  I had our chef make you some chicken noodle soup.”

Her heart instantly melted.  She berated it for its softness.  But the look in her eyes as she glanced up at him communicated all he needed to know.  This girl had never been cherished by a suitor.

“You had your chef make me soup?”

The vulnerability in her voice undid him.  “Of course,” he murmured.

She nodded.  “Toothbrush and bathroom first, soup second.”

“Come.  I’ll show you where the bathroom is.”  He didn’t want to let go of her.  He was afraid she’d slip to the ground and hit her head or something.

This was odd.  He wasn’t used to feeling such soft emotions towards a woman.  Care, concern, worry.  This was completely foreign territory for him.  He wasn’t accustomed to taking care of someone else.  But he found that he…liked it.  Especially if it meant he could be around her.

As they walked down the hallway side by side, his arm around her waist, her leaning into him, he bent and breathed in the scent floating up out of her hair.  He mumbled some words.

“Are you aware that you smell divine?”

She snorted then.  “Like the hospital?”

“What?” Puzzled, he frowned.  “No.  You smell like peaches.”

She smiled.  “You can smell that?  It’s my shampoo.  I haven’t used it since…yesterday morning?  What day is it?  What time is it?”  She glanced up at him.

“It’s eight o’clock, Saturday night.”

She sagged against him.  “Oh, thank God.  I still have thirty-six hours to get back to normal.”  Then a tremor passed over her face.

Alarmed, he responded, “What’s wrong?”

“No, I don’t!  I have so much stuff to prepare for class next week!  Oh, how will I ever get it done in time?” she wailed as they came to a standstill outside the bathroom.

“That’s easy,” he breathed into her hair as he bent his head towards her and whispered across her temple, “I’ll help you.  It’s the very least I can do since I’m the reason you landed in this calamity.”

She lifted her face to look up at him again.  She narrowed her eyes at him.  “So…you really never intended to sleep with me last night?”

He shook his head.

She sighed.  “I wish I’d known.  I wouldn’t have been so nervous.”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d believe me.  I was going to prove myself through my actions.  I meant to take you to a nice, romantic, candlelit dinner.  And then drive you home.”

She stared up at him.  “Sounds blissful,” she breathed.

“It would have been.”  He buried his nose in her hair again as a smile curved his lips.  “But not as wonderful as holding you in my arms all night.”

She gasped and gazed up at him.  His words were provocative, but as she gaped at his hooded eyelids, he admitted in a whisper, “I really enjoyed holding you in my arms last night.  Can we marry before we accomplish five dates?”

She gasped again.  “What?”

His eyes caressed hers.  “I know what I want.  I want you and Ajin.  And your Harmony to be my Harmony, of course.  The woman’s cooking is divine.  Our chef has nothing on your Harmony.  I would much prefer to sit in her old kitchen than in this grand house.”

She stared at him as he glanced at the ceiling.  “You would?  Truly?” she asked, shocked.

He bent his head to look back down at her.  He nodded as a sad expression flitted across his face.  “My parents have never had any use for me.  My appa worked my entire childhood.  He was rarely home.  I got in so much trouble trying to capture his attention.  But it seldom worked.  And my eomma – she wasn’t like you.  Ajin is a very blessed, little girl.”

Her heart swelled at his words.  She would have kissed him then if her breath hadn’t been so sour.

“I’ve never felt more at home than I do in your Harmony’s house.”  A look of such vulnerability was crashing against the shoreline of his face that she felt breathless.

“Me neither,” she whispered.

He wanted to brush his lips tenderly across hers.  But he knew she was worried about her breath.  So he bent his head and let his lips linger on her delicate cheekbone instead.  

Then he drew her into the bathroom, released his hold on her, and bent to pull a new toothbrush from the drawer.  He stood up and handed it to her.

“Would you like to take a shower too?”

She looked up at him shyly.  

Did the beautiful girl know she was driving him mad with her innocent air?

He wanted to take her back to his bed already and see how she would react to…

He grinned quickly as he remembered her ordering dinner in precise French last night.  He had a feeling this girl would always surprise him.  Pleasantly so.

She glanced down at her dress.

“I’ll find you some clothes,” he murmured.

She quirked an eyebrow.  

“I have my ways,” he mumbled.

“All right.”  She smiled sheepishly up at him.  “Thank you.”

“No.  Thank you.  For spending the weekend with me.”

Her eyes locked with his.  His eyes were speaking to her again.  More than anything in the world, she wanted to allow herself to be wooed by those beautiful eyes.  But, instead, she blinked to break the spell.  

Then she reached for the toothbrush and tore the wrapping off of it.  She tossed it into the trash and looked for the toothpaste.  He was already holding it out to her.  She squeezed some out onto the toothbrush and then glanced questioningly up at him.  

“Are you going to find me some clothes?  So I can take a shower?”

“Oh,” he started.  “Yes.”  Awkwardly, he turned towards the hallway and walked through the doorway.

She shut the door behind him and smiled.  She liked him.  She really liked him.  She leaned back against the door.  What on earth had she gotten herself into?

—

Feeling refreshed after a shower but still a bit like a limp noodle, Minha, wrapped in a towel, stood in front of the bathroom mirror.  She gazed intently at her reflection.  Did Naru really find her beautiful?  

After Beopdung’s rejection of her, she had begun to believe that she was really nothing special.  Just a poor farm girl that a real man would never look at.  Not that she’d wanted any to.  She’d determined that her appa had been the last authentic man.  All the rest were boys.  Playboys.

And she had no desire to be a plaything.

Was it really possible that a playboy like Naru could reform?  That he could fall in love with a tiny girl?  And maybe even with her hardworking eomma?

How her heart ached!  She really, really hoped it was possible.  And that it had, in fact, already happened.  She debated what to do.  She could continue to rest here, returning to his bed overnight.  But wouldn’t that be tempting fate too far?

She didn’t wish to tempt fate.  She should return home after she ate her soup.

Just then, her reverie was interrupted by a knock on the door.  So startled was she that she jumped a mile.  Then, scared that Naru was standing on the other side of that door when all she was wearing on this side of it was a towel, she queried shakily, “Yes?”

“Miss?  Master Naru had me bring you some clothes.”

She closed her eyes in relief.  Could it be possible that Naru really was a thoughtful gentleman?  

She turned towards the door and opened it.  She smiled at the young maid.  “Thank you,” she whispered as she reached for the shirt and pants.

The girl bowed slightly and walked away.

After she’d dressed, Minha returned to Naru’s room.  She found him sitting in bed.  Waiting for her.  His eyes lit up as she entered the room.  And her heart turned over.  

Oh, dear.  

It was already being drawn towards him.  

She glanced around the room, looking for somewhere else to sit.   There was a little sofa on one side of the room.  It ran parallel to the bed and sat about five feet from the window that was situated to the right of his bed.  She cleared her throat and walked over to it.  She sat down awkwardly on it.  But as she seated herself, she realized how weak she still was.  She leaned back and fell against it.  She closed her eyes.

“Come to bed,” Naru whispered huskily.

And her heart picked up speed.  Those were such intimate words.  Only one other man had ever spoken them to her.  With disastrous results.

“I’m fine here,” she murmured.

“Are you really going to make me pick you up and carry you to my bed?”

Her stomach did another somersault.  “What?” she asked, fearful.

“Your dinner is over here.  On the nightstand.  I want to sit next to you while you eat.”

“There’s plenty of room on this sofa,” she murmured, keeping her eyes tightly shut.  

She didn’t want to look at him.  She knew if she did, he’d pull her in.

“Fine,” he huffed.  “Why be comfortable in my bed when we can sit on that sofa?

“If you don’t like this sofa, then why is it in your room?”

That question made him uncomfortable.  He didn’t want to be honest with her.  He did, in fact, want to burn that sofa now as several explicit images flicked through his mind, one after another.  Girls he’d love to brand from his consciousness now.

An awkward pause had followed her question.  Making her curious.  She cracked one eye open.  He had an odd expression on his face.

“Naru?”

“Let’s just say that I engaged in certain activities on that sofa with certain people.”

She had never flown out of a seat so fast in all her life.  Now she stood staring at him.  And something sizzled between them.

“Perhaps we should eat at your dining room table.”

“No.  Please.  Let’s not.  It’s such a cold place.”  He patted the bed next to him.  “Come.  Sit next to me.  I promise I won’t bite. We just spent eighteen hours together in this bed.  Your virtue is still intact, isn’t it?”

She stared at him.  Her virtue hadn’t been intact for five years, and he knew it.  Her lips twisted as she continued to eyeball him suspiciously.  

Suddenly, he sighed.  “Shall I take you home then?”

Why was that question so unwelcome?  The answer scared her a little.  

She didn’t want to leave him.  She found herself loath to walk out that door.  She liked the intimacy of his bedroom.  Not sex.  Just being in the air he breathed each night.  Alone.

She frowned.

“How many nights have you spent alone in that bed recently?” she asked.

“Every single one.  Since I met you.  Except for last night,” he finished with a provocative grin.

“How many days is that?”

“Forty-three.”

“You counted?”

“I had to wait forty-three days for you to join me in this bed.  On the forty-fourth day, you joined me.  You were worth the wait,” he smiled.

She stared at him.  “You relish having to stay awake all night to make sure a woman doesn’t strangle on her own vomit in your bed?”

“I did get to hold you in my arms,” he murmured softly as a smile slowly burned itself into his countenance.  

His eyes were caressing her again.  No wonder she didn’t want to leave this place.  He was heady.  Her heart began to increase its tempo.  Just a bit.  

“Do you miss having a woman in your bed?”

“I miss you,” he murmured, his eyes whispering softly against hers.  “Come.  Sit by me.  Eat some soup.”

She followed that voice.  Even knowing it probably wasn’t wise.  She climbed up in that bed and planted her bottom next to his.  He handed her a bowl of soup.  

“Eat up,” he smiled at her.

She blinked.  The man was too gorgeous.  Was he dangerous?  Of course.  Any man who looked like that had to be extremely dangerous to her heart.

She tore her gaze away from his beauty and put her attention squarely where it belonged.  On eating.  For she suddenly discovered that she was ravenous.

Naru watched with amusement as she attacked her bowl of soup.  His eyes slid along the planes of her face as she slurped up noodles and sipped broth.  Finally, she had eaten the entire bowl.  She glanced up at him shyly.

“Is there any more?”

His eyes held hers.  “There is.”

Those eyes were making her sigh again.

Stop it!  I’m not a schoolgirl to so easily have my head turned by a beguiling grin.  Or smoldering eyes.

She cleared her throat and looked away.

He turned towards her then, bending his body to face her slightly off-center.  Startled, she glanced back up into his eyes.  He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers.  Sweetly.   He wanted to linger there.  But he was determined to tread lightly with this one.  Move slowly.  

She deserved it.  She was precious to him.  She was, in fact, a queen.  And her daughter, a princess.  

And queens were meant to be wooed.  And princesses protected.

—

She gasped into his mouth.  He had shocked her by claiming hers.  While they sat on his bed.  But her stomach was doing those delightful, little flips again.  

She would blame their dance for her response to his kiss.  She felt him withdrawing from her, so she reached up and laced her fingers through his hair.  The man had soft locks and the most heavenly lips.  A girl could get lost in them if she wasn’t careful.

And Miss Choi was very careful.  But she seemed to have disappeared.  Only Minha was left.  Sitting on Naru’s bed with him.  His satin sheets silky beneath them.  

“Am I destined to always repeat my mistakes?” she murmured suddenly against his lips.

She didn’t wait for his response as her lips began to move slightly beneath his own.  His arms slid around her waist then as he focused his attention on her delightful, sweet mouth.  He took his time kissing her.  Soft brushes of his luscious lips across her own.

But he was careful not to invade her mouth with his taste.  He held himself back.  And was shocked when she suddenly opened her own mouth and breathed on him.  His heart began to gallop.  All his old instincts were rearing their ugly heads.  

He pulled back suddenly and gasped, “I should take you home!”

She blinked, staring at him in shock.  “You should?”

He nodded his head vigorously.  “Ajin must be missing her eomma something terrible.”

“Probably,” she murmured as her eyes longingly clung to his lips.  They were so soft.  And they’d been coaxing the most delightful feelings from her belly. “But she’s also probably sound asleep by now.”  

Her eyes suddenly met his, and sparks flew between them.  Making Naru very uneasy.  He really was determined not to hurt this precious woman.  Was she bent on testing his limits?

“Are you prepared to sleep with me tonight?” he muttered suddenly, shocking her awake.

“What?”

“Because if you keep looking at me like that, I’m likely to revert to last night’s agreement.”

Her heart began to gallop as she disentangled her fingers from his hair.  And she faced a shocking truth.  

She wanted him.  She longed to lie down in this bed and let him make slow and sweet love to her.  She knew he’d be good at it too.  His kiss promised things she hadn’t experienced for years.  

She felt a sob bubbling up from deep within her.  All these years she had locked herself away from life.  Trying not to feel anything.  Terrified to again feel what she was feeling right now.

“I’m going to take you home,” he spoke suddenly.  Gently.  Yet firmly.

Then he climbed off his bed and stood smiling down at her.  He reached his hand out to her.  She took it, and he pulled her off the bed.  Her hand still trapped in his, she stared into his stunning, obsidian orbs.

“You terrify me,” she admitted in a tiny breath.

“I know,” he murmured.  “But you really are safe with me.  I’ve no desire to hurt you, Minha.  I’m not Beopdung.”

She closed her eyes, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

He pulled her close to him then and bent his head to brush that tear off her cheek with his lips.  “I’ll protect you from my baser self.  I swear it,” he murmured in her ear.  

His arms wrapped around her, and he held her tightly for several moments.

But who would protect her from her baser self?