A Step Closer to Love

Kieran and Arabella stood in front of the door to her room, they had been standing there for a while now. Kieran did not invite her for tea and it was obvious from the way he was clinging to her and the way she could not let go of his hands that they were not ready to be apart yet.

“I guess we should say good night now” Arabella finally let out.

“Good night?” Arabella could not tell if she heard him clearly ask her or if her mind was playing tricks on her. She pressed her lips into a line and nodded her head.

“Or” she began with a squeaked voice as his eyes brightened up with expectations of whatever it was that she was about to suggest.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked. He went silent. He did not know what he was expecting but not her being this forward about the situation. He felt a bit flustered, she had been the only girl who had managed to make him feel that way a couple of times.

“Just for a minute so your legs don’t hurt from standing out here since you have been standing for quite a while, I was just worried” her rambling was cut short by Kieran leaning in towards her.

She felt her breath hitch in her throat and her eyes fluttered close. She wanted to keep her eyes open but it seemed like she was failing so very carefully. She gulped as she waited for any action but it never came.

She felt a gush of wind touch the exposed part of her skin causing goose bumps to rise all over her skin. She opened her eyes to see the door behind her closed.

“What?” she could not help the word escape her mouth before she could control herself.

“Were you expecting something else?” Kieran asked in a teasing tone. He had been tempted to kiss her but held himself back.

“Like what?” she asked feeling embarrassed. Why did she think about a kiss at that time and even give in to her thoughts with the way she fought herself so badly?

“A kiss” Kieran responded with his hand tracing his lips a bit seductively. Arabella could feel the teasing seduction coming from him and she wanted to ignore it as much as she could.

“What” Arabella let out with a slightly loud voice. “Why would I be thinking about that? I can’t even remember the last time I thought about anything like that” she added. She knew she was stuttering and rambling but she could not help herself.

At that moment she wished she had not invited him in, if she had not then she would have gone in and buried her head in a pillow. She turned on her heels trying to act a bit normal as she entered the room. She stood a few feet from the door and tilted her head.

“Aren’t you coming in?” she asked in a kind of cool voice.

“Yeah” he said stepping in and closing the door behind himself.

“Welcome to my…”

She could barely get all the words out when his lips smashed hers with an urgency she could not explain.

Arabella felt herself kissing back as her hand roamed his neck. It had only been a few seconds but the kiss was definitely hotter than the first one they had. She pulled away with all the self-control she had and stood apart breathless as she tried to catch herself.

“Your dad” she managed to let out and he shook his head.

“What does he have to do with this?” Kieran asked confused.

“He is only a few rooms down, we can’t be doing this here” she replied. Her eyes danced in their sockets and Kieran saw them as an invitation.

“Doing what?” he asked closing the gap between them that she had created.

“This” she motioned between each other. She felt a bit bad about the situation. His parents had given her a room and place to stay and the way she had to repay them was by being their son’s girlfriend.

“Is there anything wrong with kissing my girlfriend?” he asked taking a lock of her hair away from her face.

“There isn’t, but…” she trailed off her eyes falling to her feet.

His hand quickly raised her head so he could see her better. “Don’t look down or away, I want to see your beautiful eyes” he said brushing her hair down with his second hand.

Her heart skipped a beat. She could not believe his words found a way to make her flustered as much as she felt at that moment. She tried to look away but his hand on her chin was firm so she was forced to look at him.

She was not complaining because he was quite the eye candy and looking at him was not a bad idea at all.

“I want to kiss you so badly but I would only do so if you are ready and give me the permission. Don’t worry I can wait” he said when he saw the worry dance in her eyes.

“I am just worried about your dad catching us”

“Then what?”

“I am not sure your father likes me very much, he thinks I am a bad influence on your mom. I have seen the way he looks at me and I have also heard the things he said to Everly. I am just worried he would not approve of us” she let out her fears to him.

“I understand your concern and there is nothing I can say to ease your fears now I know that it is valid to have those fears so as I said earlier I would wait for you to ease your worries first then…” he trailed off.

She nodded in gratitude. She was glad he handled her feelings with great care. Other people might have called her delusional or just a scaredy cat for having such feelings but he had validated hers. She felt a bit better. “We can convince him about it later” he said trying to make light of the situation.

“Sure,” she said with another nod.

“Should we go to bed?” he asked and she nodded.

“There or here?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.