Instead, I’d just pulled her close and kissed her forehead, because words had felt inadequate for what I was feeling.
Now, lying here in the dim light filtering through my bedroom windows, I couldn’t resist pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. Her skin was warm and soft beneath my lips, and she stirred slightly at the contact, a small smile curving her mouth even in her half-asleep state.
Her arms tightened around me instinctively, and I felt something in my chest crack open at the simple gesture. She was holding onto me, and I didn’t know how to reconcile that with my fear that this might not last.
For a moment, I let myself pretend this wasn’t temporary. That she hadn’t mentioned an arranged future waiting back home, that this wasn’t borrowed time.
Maybe this was real. Maybe she had walked into my life for a reason. Maybe I was allowed to have her, even if only for a little while.
But the thought didn’t comfort me. Instead, it scared the hell out of me. Because somewhere between that first meeting at the airport and tonight, somewhere between her shy smiles and breathless responses to my touch, I had started liking her in a way that wasn’t casual.
I wanted her in a way that could wreck me.
And lying here with her breathing against my skin, warm and heartbreakingly close, I realised something I didn’t want to admit.
I was afraid of losing her, and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do about that.
“M…Marley,” Kelechi breathed, her voice thick with sleep as I sucked her breasts, my tongue flicking across her dark nipples. I had woken up to the smell of her skin, the heat of her body pressed against mine. It had started innocently with me kissing her face, her sleepy little sighs, but as the memories of last night surged back, I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted her again.
More.
Deeper.
I had pushed her shirt higher and latched onto her chest, greedy for the taste of her, greedy for the way she writhed beneath me.
“Oh, Lord… Marley,” she gasped, her voice breaking, and I lifted my head just enough to watch her. My hand replaced my mouth, kneading her breast as I stared at the expression on her face, her eyes fluttering shut, lips parted, like she was barely holding it together.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful like this.” I hovered over her, brushing my thumb along her waist, tugging lightly at the hem of her joggers. “I don’t think I want us to attend class today,” I murmured, half-teasing, half-serious. “I want you with my whole body. I don’t know how to want you halfway.”
Her breath caught as I hooked my fingers under her joggers, ready to strip her bare, when I noticed she wasn’t looking at me. Her gaze darted away, her whole body stiffening.
“Princess?”
She didn’t answer.
I brushed my knuckles over her hip, softer this time. “Don’t you want it?” My voice dropped, low and serious. “Because I do. I want to make you feel good.”
Her chest rose and fell, and finally she whispered, “I’ve never… uhm… had sex before.”
If you asked me what I expected to hear, this wouldn’t have even made the list. Hell, it wasn’t anywhere close. I froze, my hands slipping away from her joggers.
“Wait, what?”
She bit her lip, still refusing to meet my eyes. “Never,” she repeated.
I sat back on my knees, staring at her in disbelief. My pulse was still racing from how badly I wanted her, but suddenly I felt protective.
I pulled her shirt back down gently and shifted to lie beside her, propping myself up on my elbow so I could see her face properly. The morning light filtered through my curtains, casting soft shadows across her features, but I could see the vulnerability there, the way she was trying to make herself smaller.
“Hey,” I said softly, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Look at me.”
She finally looked at me then, her eyes wide.
“I know I must seem so inexperienced to you, so naive.”
“Princess.” I waited until she met my gaze fully. “There’s nothing wrong with being inexperienced, nothing at all.”
Her fingers twisted in the fabric of my shirt. “It’s just... I’ve been so focused on my studies my entire life. My parents, they have such high hopes for me, and I never wanted to disappoint them. School, then university, then coming here for my master’s degree.” She took a shaky breath. “At twenty-four, there are so many things I’ve never done.”
