He looks down at it as though the thought had never even occurred to him, with some surprise. His knuckles are a little reddened, but they don’t seem to be damaged at all. “It feels fine. I guess he had – what is it you say? A glass nose?”
I laugh. “I’ve only ever heard of a glass jaw, but I guess it makes sense with a nose too.” I reach out and take hold of his hand as if I want to assess the damage for myself. Really it's just an excuse for me to hold his hand. I hope he can't tell how obvious I'm being, but I really want that extra point of contact with him. He doesn't pull away or stop me, so I guess my ruse is working. I rub my thumb lightly across the top of his knuckles, and he doesn't wince or groan. I think he's telling the truth about it not really hurting at all.
So, then we are there, me on the bed, him above me. I guess we make a kind of funny picture. It looks awkward, even from inside the situation. I pat the space beside me and make a gesture for him to sit down, not quite trusting my voice at that time, and he does. To my surprise, he turns to me without hesitation, and I realize we're sitting so close together that it makes me blush.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his voice little more than a murmur. “You must have been so frightened.”
“Really, I’m okay now,” I tell him, and I find that I mean it. His warm and strong presence made a world of difference. I might think twice about going somewhere in the evening on my own, now, but with him, by my side, I’m not afraid at all. “Though you’re right, it did shake me.”
“We should get something to drink,” he says, reaching for the room service menu. “I’ll order some herbal tea. That will calm your nerves and help you to sleep.”
“Alright,” I agree, because that will keep him in my room longer, and anything that will make that happen is a good idea to me.
Fernando scoots even closer to me, reaching for the phone as our knees touch. He takes it from the receiver and dials quickly on the cordless phone, inputting the code for the front desk. He speaks down the line in rapid-fire Spanish and then puts the phone back, leaning against me again. I don’t want to breathe for fear that it will make my body move away from his contact. Then he sits back, and I think he will move back to where he was before – but he doesn’t. He just sits, so close I can feel his body heat, so close that I can feel the presence of his knee next to mine without even looking.
What do I do now? How do I make the first move? I've never been in this situation before, at least never with someone that I actually wanted to go all the way with. But now we are here, and I feel a little frozen. I want to say something, do something, anything to let him know that I want him to kiss me. To touch me. But instead, I just look up at him, hoping that he can read it in my eyes.
Oh god, I think, please read it in my eyes.
Chapter Eleven
Fernando
We are sitting so close that I can feel her, feel every single breath that she takes. Even though she claims that she’s alright now, I feel a little trembling in her, a silent shaking that sets me into concern again. But there is something different about it this time.
My eyes travel from her hands, clasped in her lap, all the way up her shaking body to her face. She’s looking back at me, her lips slightly parted, in a way that only makes me desire her all the more. I have to hold myself back, make sure that she is alright. It wouldn't be right to prey on her right now, even after rescuing her from those boys who clearly wanted only one thing from her.
But then I look into her eyes, and I can see something else there. Something very different to a victim indeed. I see a woman who knows what she wants, and it sends a thrill through me to realize that the thing she wants is me.
From there I move quickly, snaking my hands up to lay along both sides of her face as I draw her up to kiss me. The moment our lips touch is the sweetest thing I have ever tasted, the heat and urgency in her becoming all too clear as that point of contact deepens between us. I press my mouth over hers, claiming her entirely, kissing her deeper and deeper as I feel her relax into my touch. I slip my tongue out of my mouth and slide it across her lips, and they open deeper for me, letting me inside.