Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 79: Curb a Craving

A few minutes of silence lingered as Seher awaited Maximilian's response, yet he remained motionless. Fearing she had pushed too hard with her ultimatum and desire for information, she worried he might withdraw from her life, failing to respect the boundaries he had requested. In the absence of a response, she rose, seeking solace in a glass of water, feeling suddenly overwhelmed as she downed one glass after another.

Behind her, a looming presence emerged. Bracing herself for an anticipated rejection, she closed her eyes, only to be surprised as large hands gently gripped her shoulders and turned her around. Maximilian's stormy eyes bore into hers, intensified, devoid of expression except for the heat within them. With hands on her shoulders, he posed a slow, deliberate question, as if careful not to shatter the moment.

"Do you honestly feel that strongly for me?" he inquired. Seher, wide-eyed, opened and closed her mouth, struggling to find the right words. Finally, she regarded him with narrowed eyes, "From everything I shared, is that the sole takeaway for you? Is that the only thing etched in your mind - my feelings for you? Nothing else?" she asked incredulously.

A smirk played on his lips as his hands gracefully transitioned from her shoulders to her waist. With a decisive pull, he brought her closer, eliciting a gasp from her. Swiftly placing her hands on her shoulders to steady herself, she found herself drawn in by his commanding presence.

"No, baby, I heard it all, I remember it all. But first, we are going to discuss the most important part," he declared. A faint blush adorned her cheeks, a realization dawning upon her that while revealing everything, she had inadvertently exposed her true feelings. The intensity, only now acknowledged aloud, resonated as the undeniable truth.

Maximilian, with one hand tenderly caressing her cheek, remarked, "I love it when you blush for me, baby. But I truly need you to tell me. I am a desperate man here, help me out," he implored, his voice husky and pleading.

As Seher locked eyes with him, she admitted, "Yes, I feel something for you - something very strong." A nervous gulp preceded her continuation, "This feeling makes my heart race, Ian. There are butterflies in my stomach, and it seems like my mind has momentarily stopped functioning. I probably shouldn't be confessing all of this, but here I am."

Continuing with a sense of urgency in her words, she expressed, "It's as if my heart might burst out of my chest, and I feel breathless. Yet, I can't resist inhaling you. Did you know you smell like soil after the rain mixed with lemongrass? It makes me want to capture your scent and spray it in my room because I want to drown in it. I've always loved the smell of lemongrass, but on you, it's even more intoxicating, and I find myself liking it even more. I'm still not even entirely sure what I'm saying," she admitted, almost in a dazed manner.

Maximilian's smirk widened, and his hand caressed her cheek as he leaned towards her left ear, whispering, "Do you know what's going to happen now, malyshka?" Glancing at her from the side, she shook her head in a timid no. In an even lower tone, he continued, "Now, I'm going to kiss you. I'm going to kiss you so passionately, like you've never been kissed before. You have three seconds to tell me if you don't want it. If you don't do that in three seconds, then I won't allow you enough oxygen to say the word no. Time starts now, baby."

Maximilian concluded, gently tapping her cheek once, saying, "Three." Closing the gap between them, he tapped her cheek again, saying, "Two." With a hairbreadth distance remaining, he tapped her cheek once more, stating, "One."

"Time up", he said as his lips met hers. He kissed her hard and deep, her hands on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat through the thin fabric of his t-shirt and he could feel hers. She didn't know how to react, how to kiss him back, so she followed his lead and their tongues met and danced in a frenzy of passion. She had never felt this way before and didn't know what to do. Her body was betraying her and she couldn't understand why it was happening.