Chapter 30

When the impact never came, he propped himself up and warily opened his eyes. Relief filled him when he saw Emily alive and lying comfortably on her bed. Miraculously, he had managed to get her there in time amidst all that tumble. But he didn’t have time to congratulate himself for this impossible feat.

Belatedly, he realized he was now holding himself directly above the girl, who was, just a few moments ago, feeling him up. Her face was, literally, just an arm’s length away from his, so close, that he couldn’t look anywhere else but at her.

It was a peculiar feeling, having this girl underneath him, so utterly entrapped in his territory; so utterly……... his. Perhaps she too felt the vulnerability of her position, for the black of her eyes has almost fully eclipsed the lighter brown of her iris.

Her lips parted in a barely audible gasp, drawing his attention to their trembling fullness. When she licked her bottom lip, he gulped nervously, and flitted his eyes back to Emily’s.

But… she wasn’t looking into his eyes anymore! She was…. Is she?? Is she staring at his lips?! Gabriel could only stare back at her in hopeful astonishment.

Emily internally berated herself for that display of…… wanton curiosity when she noticed the physical distance Gabriel has thrust between them. What has gotten into her? Why had she reached out to touch Gabriel like that? What if he thinks she’s weird? What if he freaks out? What if he didn’t want her near him anymore?

Oh God, what has she done?

But Emily didn’t have time for further irrational lamentations before her world swirled violently. Instinctively, she knew she was falling, and so she reached out to grab the only form of support she could lay hands on, her eyes shut tight.

She had prepared herself for a hard landing, but all she felt was a soft, cushioned crash. She glanced up to see what happened. But she couldn’t find anything conclusive, for she could barely see anything else other than Gabriel’s face.

Which is mere centimeters away from hers.

Where she could look right into the depths of his eyes and delineate the edge between black and white. Where she could see the texture of his sharp nose and wonder what it would feel like against her own. Where she could trace the curve of his lips and imagine what they would taste like.

What they would feel like.

Would it be sweet but intoxicating? Soft yet demanding? Would it be passionate, or gentle? What ever it might be, she knew kissing Gabriel would be perfect and…... highly inappropriate!!!

Emily jarred her senses back. What the hell was she thinking?! Or rather, why the hell was she thinking about kissing Gabriel? What will he do if he knew she was having such unseemly thoughts? She diverted her gaze away from his lips before he realized something was amiss.

But the look in his eyes…. the subtle hick in his breath….

Oh God, he knows!!

She reflexively reached out to push him away, but stalled suddenly, feeling terrified of touching him. She looked away.

“Can I get up now?” she winced. There was just no way of phrasing that to prevent drawing attention to their current positions.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Gabriel bounced up immediately, “I tripped on your carpet just now. Are you alright? Er… your leg, is it alright? did I crush it in the fall? Are u in any discomfort? I mean, is your leg painful? Do I need to….”

“No, I’m fine.” She interrupted his tirade, concentrating on that accursed bump in the carpet.

For a long moment, no one spoke. And no one dared to look at the other.

Then, Gabriel glanced discreetly at Emily. Her shoulders were tensed. Her cheeks were a burning red. Her bottom lip was caught in a nervous nibble. And, her eyes were forcefully averted away every time they drifted towards him.

He hadn’t imagined it.

She had been staring at his lips.

She had wanted to kiss him.

He couldn’t stop the grin that was making its way across his face.

On hindsight, perhaps the lack of foresight and the resulting series of events weren’t that unfortunate after all.

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