Chapter 29

He couldn’t stop that unidentifiable feeling from expanding in his chest. The feeling that surged through him every time Emily’s friends accosted them with a sly, knowing smile and a “are you two together?” It would have been more wonderful if Emily hadn’t denied all those claims with such vehemence.

Still, his efforts have paid off. Those guy friends of hers have been sufficiently “informed” of the “new” status quo between him and Emily, and would probably keep their hands off his property from thence forth.

Save for one remarkably thick individual. While earnestly wishing Emily to get well soon, he had the guts to run his abominable fingers along the seam between bandage and leg, completely dismissing the hard look Gabriel was sending him.

When they parted, Gabriel had accidentally stepped on his foot and carelessly placed all of his weight, combined with that of Emily’s, on that point of contact. Perhaps now, he could stroke the seam between bandage and toe at his own leisure and to his heart content.

Besides the aforementioned benefits of serving as Emily’s crutches, there was of course, the ultimate gift – an armful of Emily.

Granted, Emily proved to be very heavy in some areas, particularly those punches of hers. But generally, it had been a pleasant experience. He loved the way Emily just FITS in his arms, as though his arms were tailored for her and her for him. He loved the way Emily slung bonelessly against him in defeat, when he threatened to do something more inappropriate in public to silence her if she continued her verbal abuse on his eardrums.

Most of all, he loved the exciting discovery that Emily’s pulse actually speeds up every time he held her close.

Wait a minute; could that be due to over-exertion from all the punching and kicking?

No, that can’t be it. That wouldn’t explain why Emily’s heart is beating so…... excessively at the present moment, when she had been unusually pliant and complying throughout the whole course of the day’s “service”.

Gabriel was starting to get worried about the bizarre silence that had fallen upon Emily. Had he, perhaps, accidentally caused her bandaged leg to be bent in an uncomfortable position?

He was about to look down at the girl in his arms when he felt cool fingers glaze tantalizingly over his Adam’s apple. His inhalation got caught in his throat, and for a moment, his reflexes battled between gulping and aborting a gulp.

What is she doing?!

Gabriel tried to focus on something other than the feel of wandering fingers against the sensitive skin of his throat. He counted his footsteps, and measured his breathing. He calculated his BMI and mentally recited the Psalms. But damn! Those slender fingers have snaked their way up and were now toying with the hairs that caressed his ear lobe. Every unintentional brush against his lobe sent shivers down the side of his neck.

He determinedly switched his attention to the surroundings; and realized he had nearly walked past Emily’s apartment. He jerked to a stop, and backtracked a few steps.

The sudden jerk must have rocked Emily out of her trance, for she had withdrawn her arm awkwardly and is now spotting a lovely blush on her cheeks. Gabriel smiled indulgently and gently reminded her that the door will not open on its own. He has no idea what came over her, for she had never touched him like that before. But he fervently hoped that it was a good sign.

After a few moments of fumbling with keys, they stepped into her home, and Gabriel carried her towards her bedroom, like he did for the past few days.

This time, however, there seemed to be something intangibly intimate about carrying her to the bedroom, but Gabriel refused to dwell on that thought. Instead, he widened his gait, and held Emily a little distance away, so that they no longer connected at the thorax.

He didn’t think he could handle another lapse of unconstrained exploration of any part of his anatomy, no matter how enjoyable it was on hindsight.

And if his foresight had been as useful as his hindsights were, he would have known to pay more attention to where he puts his foot when walking. But seeing how his attention isn’t all in the right places now, he tripped on an unfortunate bump in the carpet on her bedroom floor.

And in his unfortunate attempt to ensure the girl in his arms landed safely in her bed and not the hard ground, he unfortunately held Emily further out, towards the bed. This, unfortunately, caused his equilibrium to experience an unfortunate tip that nothing obeying the Laws of Nature could ever correct.

He braced himself for an unfortunate, painful impact.

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