Martini Kisses (epistolary)

n a r r a t i v e

Milly follows him all the way to the back office. The door shuts behind her, dimming the loud festive noise blasting from the speakers. She sighs at his tensed form and locks the door.

"I thought we agreed to be civil," she says, watching how his shoulders tensed even more at the sound of her voice. Kai's mouth twitches into a frown when he turns to her, only noticing her presence now.

He's obviously seething and she knows why. She ignores the silent warning in his gaze and walks closer, bridging the gap between them. If looks can burn, she'd be a molten lava now. Kai's eyes are like hot coals, liquid and hot against hers.

She crosses her arms and cuts to the chase. "You agreed to be civil," she says again, "so why are you acting so upset with me again?"

"'Di ako galit sa 'yo," comes his hard, rough answer.

She almost rolls her eyes at the blatant, familiar lie. "Then why are you acting like you are? Everyone can tell you're in a bad mood. Why? Dahil sa 'kin?"

Kai doesn't answer, and Milly's annoyed that he's still playing this dratted game.

"You won't answer again? Fine, then. I'm allowed to make my guess," she fires out, not backing away from the blazing heat in his gaze. It doesn't slip her attention how his hands have balled into fists and are now turning white. "I've been feeling your eyes following me everywhere. Just say you're jealous. It'll be easier for all of us."

Kai looks offended. His jaw clenches and his frown switches into a scowl. "Why the fuck would I get jealous of you and your men?"

Milly throws him a critical look. "I don't know. You tell me. It's always hot and cold with you. One moment, we're okay. The next, you're silently blowing up like this. I can't read your mind, so tell me what's wrong if you don't want me to jump to conclusions. Why are you acting like you wanna strangle all my boys if you're not jealous of them?"

She emphasizes the word to elicit a reaction. And he doesn't disappoint.

Kai tilts his chin up, his eyes burning indignantly against hers. Then he's scoffing and walking away.

Milly grabs his wrist, her own temper flaring. "'Wag mo 'kong talikuran 'pag kinakausap kita."

Then they're colliding. A blur of motion. A sound. A sensation.

One moment she's pulling him back. The next moment, she's backed against the wall, Kai's face hovering over hers far too close than he's ever been before. His left hand is flat against the space beside her head while his other free hand is gripping her hips, keeping her still.

The hunger she's tried so hard to suppress immediately sparks back to life, pooling in the pit of her stomach. He's too close she can feel every rise of his chest with her own.

"Why do you insist on driving me mad?" he's almost grumbling against her lips. Hot, intense, fuming. "What do you want to hear from me?" he slowly says, emphasizing every word like he's both ice and fire combined.

As his eyes cut between her eyes and her lips, Milly flashes back to the last time he was this dangerously close to her. Almost the same time, same place, same scenario.

He'd pulled her to the office then, fuming that she even attempted to flirt with a customer, and then he'd backed her to the corner. Close enough to kiss.

He'd asked her a question then.

Ito ba gusto mo?

She can remember his next words. Pwes ako, hindi.

It was the second time she kissed him.

She can kiss him now. Again. But not yet, not too soon.

Milly ignores Kai's question, her mind half-focused on keeping her hands to her sides. The desire to hook her arms around his neck and just fuck it and throw caution to the wind is making her head spin.

But not yet, not too soon.

He needs to make the move this time.

"But it is them, isn't it?" she says, not dropping her charge. "Why's that bothering you? So what if I'm getting down with boys kanina? It's just casual flirting. Nothing out of the ordinary. They don't matter because..." Her voice lilts to a feather-like breath. "you know who I want anyway."

She bites her lips when his breath hitches and his hand instinctively tightens the grip on her hips. As if on automatic, his gaze drops once more to her lips, and she can feel it. The want. The need.

The resistance.

"You know who I want," she repeats in a whisper before she inches forward, inviting him to do the same.

Kai answers by bridging the gap even more, eyes darkening into bottomless depths. She can feel him even more now. He's only one breath away—

But then he stops. His lips, close enough to make her feel his breath against hers, but far enough to make her lose her mind.

Milly fists the side of his shirt, pressing to get more. But he drifts even further back.

"I told you. Stop. Teasing. Me. Stop. Seducing. Me. You don't know what you're asking. Hindi lahat makikipaglaro sa 'yo," he's saying in that gravel voice. "I'm not interested in your games."

The noise of the edm blares from outside the office as a background, but all she can hear is her heartbeat pounding in her ears and the disappointment nagging at the back of her head.

Kai releases his hold on her body and steps back.

He's not interested is what he's saying, but she sees how his eyes betray his words. The slight shift. The tremor. She can still see how the dark hunger fills his eyes and steals his breath. Can still feel how his want, almost as strong and as vivid as hers, is taking over his sanity.

She's not blind and she's done waiting.

"Liar," so she says, snaking her arms around his neck to pull him back into her space, her breath hitching as his feverish skin makes contact with her own. "Liar."

And then she's throwing all the warning signs aside.

Her lips clash against his own in a fervent storm. Then it explodes. All fire. All teeth. All passion.

She gives him enough time to push her away. But his hands return to her waist, further pushing her back to the wall, body molding against hers in ways that made her spine tingle. She gasps at the arousal pressing against her waist. And then she's sucked into another searing kiss before she can give it another thought.

"Hindi pa rin ba?" she has half a mind to ask in between breaths when they break apart for air.

Kai's frown tells his confusion. His breathing uneven and chaotic, but she's not any better.

"Hindi mo pa rin ba gusto? Will you keep pretending this doesn't exist between us? We can explore this. No attachments. No strings. All physical. Still a no?"

Kai closes his eyes and groans out of frustration, his chest still rising with every pant he's taking, his body still flush against hers. She moves slightly, grazing the hot dent pressing at her skin, and he lets out another groan against her neck. "Tangina, Milly."

His rough voice shoots a tingle down to her core, and she closes her eyes to catch her breath. Gods.

"We won't be playing. It'll be a give or take arrangement. If you want me, I can satisfy that. Because I do. That's the answer to your questions months ago. I do want this. I know you do, too. So why do you fight it?"

Kai's muttering a string of curse, and then his mouth is on hers again, consuming her, tongue fighting for dominance, hand roaming over every skin he can find.

Milly lets him evade the question just for tonight.