Adalia
I was frozen in my spot, motionless, as my heartbeat helplessly fluctuated. My chest began to rise and fall. He was somewhere behind me. I could feel it. But I don't dare look back to discern his exact location or distance.
"What's the big fuss? I'm just trying to chat a little." The playboy said to Donna.
He was clearly oblivious to what was going on, as he just kept talking. Everything he was saying now sounded like nonsensical babble as my attention was no longer on him.
I was more focused on my crazy heart rate that showed no sign of leveling out, and on the sudden still atmosphere that seemed to seize me in its grip.
An arm wrapped around my shoulder, jolting me out of my daze. I looked to my side to see that it was the arm of the Playboy, and I instantly recoiled.
"Okay big boy, you gotta leave now," Addy said with an attitude.
"Why? Your friend here isn't complaining, so why are you?" The playboy smirked, trying to pull me closer.
"Well, you've done it." Donna shook her head. "I tried to warn you, but you'll be lucky if you only get away with a broken arm."
"What?" the guy asked, dumbfounded.
"Get your hands off me, " I snapped, finally coming back to my senses... or maybe not. I still feel a bit disoriented. But as I tried to shrug his hands off my shoulder, he just kept pulling me closer.
Gritting my teeth, I decided to swat his hand off. "I said, get your hands off me—" I began to say when I felt the weight of his arm instantly lift, followed by an agonized scream piercing the air.
"Argh!!" the playboy wailed, slumping over the booth's countertop.
My eyes rounded in shock as I stared at the scene in front of me. Zayn had the man's arm clutched in his grip, his flesh twisting, and his wrist dislocating into an unnatural position.
"No one," he said in a cold, authoritative tone, "no one touches her. She's mine."
Shudders racked my body at the words "mine," and his husky, cold voice only intensified the feeling.
He's here. He's really here.
"Do you understand?" Zayn snarled at the playboy, twisting his arms further till the crisp sound of bones cracking resounded.
The man let out another wail while flailing his arms in pain. "Yes! Yes! I hear you! I'm so — argh!! I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to her," he snarled again.
"I—I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry ma'am, please forgive me!" He sobbed, the tears streaming down his face.
A devious smirk crept onto Zayn's lips, and his voice grew colder. "Hmm? She hasn't said that you've been forgiven. So I guess you'll have to apologize harder."
Another crack resounded, prompting a broken wail.
I could only stare blankly at the scene before me. The dark evening clouds were casting a shadow around Zayn, eliciting a side of him I'd never seen before. Cold, angry, devoid of any empathy. But I couldn't say that I hated it or that I was scared. Instead, something twisted in me found this...amusing?
"Oh my gosh, Adalia, tell him to stop." Addy shook my shoulders in panic. "That man would seriously lose an arm."
Her shaking snapped me out of my daze. "Oh! I—uh, Zayn, please stop," I pleaded in a whisper, and his body stilled.
A few seconds passed before he let go of the playboy's arm, prompting it to drop with a thud on the counter.
I vaguely registered the playboy stumbling out of the chair with a shaky body. He dragged his limp arm and wobbled away, leaving behind trails of whimpers.
My eyes were on Zayn, watching him as he rose to his full height, sucked in a sharp breath, then exhaled slowly before turning to me.
Our eyes clashed, and my breath hitched. His eyes were golden. Beautiful, alluring gold. His black, wavy hair scattered in all directions like he had been tugging on it. Instant relief washed over my body as I felt myself getting lighter and more alive, like the fog within my head was dissipating. It felt like I could finally breathe again after several days of drowning.
"Ada," he called before leaning in close to me, his breath fanning my face.
"Hm?" I hummed, enjoying the crazy feeling running through me.
"I missed you," he lightly brushed my cheeks, causing me to lean further into him.
I missed him, too. It feels like I haven't seen him in forever since he...left. He left. That's right, he disappeared on me without a word. I'm supposed to be mad at him right now, not drooling over him like the damn simp I was.
I felt the anger that had been bubbling up in me finally reach its brim. And before I knew it, I was smacking Zayn's hands away.
His eyes rounded in surprise, and so did mine. But I caught myself before I could regret it.
"You claim that you missed me, and yet you disappeared on me without so much as a word of goodbye or I'll be back?!" I snarled.
I could hear Addy chant a low, "Yeah, you tell him, girl!"
Zayn looked like he was about to say something, but I wasn't done yet. "Then you waltz in back here to call me yours?" I yelled, sounding louder than I had meant to.
"Adalia, calm down, let's let him explain..." I heard Donna start to say, but I waved her off.
"No need. If he cared this much, he should've left an explanation from the start." I chuckled dryly before hopping off from my seat.
"Adalia wait," Addy said, but I ignored her as I began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Zayn's cool voice called over this time, and like always it froze me to my spot.
"Walking back to the house and away from you, duh," I answered dryly and resumed my steps.
When I was a good distance from them, I started to feel the panic kick in. Mother of all creations, why did I do that?! Wasn't the whole point of me being here so that I could see Zayn? But here I am, just walking away from him. But should I have ignored the emotional hurt he caused me and just accepted him like that?
I was still racking myself with panic-stricken questions and almost out of the festival site when I felt my view tip upside down and my body hoisted into the air.
"Ahh!!" I shrieked in surprise. "What the hell!" I yelped, finding myself getting thrown over Zayn's shoulder.
"I don't care if you're mad at me, but I'd be dammed if I let you walk home alone in the dark."
"Zayn put me down." I kicked my feet in protest.
"No love I won't," he said adamantly as his hand tightened around my waist, causing goosebumps to prickle my skin.
Ah, there it was, his sweet scent. Because of our proximity, his scent was hitting me in waves. It was gradually becoming overwhelming, killing my will slowly.
"Zayn..." I grunted.
"Yes, love."
"Put me down," I demanded. However, it wasn't as resilient.
"No love," his voice was soft.
I groaned and gritted my teeth. I was supposed to be mad at him, yet right now my body and heart were screaming for him.
I bunched his shirt in my fist. "You don't intend to listen to me?" I whispered.
"I'm sorry Ada, but not this time," he said as he lowered me a little so that we were face to face and my legs could wrap around his waist.
I instantly burrowed my face into his neck, inhaled a lungful of his scent, and hummed in satisfaction.
"Zayn."
"Yes, baby."
"Zayn," I muttered again.
"Yes, my queen," he answered, as I felt him start moving.
In a matter of minutes, he opened a car door and slid inside while still holding me.
He positioned me so that I was straddling him.
"Drive us home," he said to the driver, who immediately complied.
Zayn held me protectively to his chest, but in reality, he didn't need to, because I was already clinging to his shirt so tight that my knuckles hurt.
"Zayn," I sighed, rubbing my face against his chest.
"Yes, my Erasthai," he hummed as he kissed my temple.
"Zayn..." I couldn't help myself from chanting his name over and over again.
I was an addict, a hopeless one.
I missed him, his smell, touch, voice, everything. I felt thirsty. I was starving. I needed Zayn; I needed to touch him. With that thought, my hand wandered to the hem of his shirt and slowly slid under it. Zayn did nothing to stop me as my hands traveled further into his shirt, up his chest.
With every part my palm slid on, I could feel his skin tremble gently.
"Adalia," he whispered, as he brushed his finger through my hair, "gorgeous, how are you feeling? Is your body okay?"
Hm? Is he asking me something? I think he is, but I can't hear anything right now.
My attention was on his Adam's apple, the way they bulbed as he spoke. On his lips, the way they parted, exposing the pointy edge of his canines. On his hooded eyes, filled with affection. His messy hair, begging to have my fingers thread through it.
"Bellissima, please answer me hm? I need to know if you're okay." He nuzzled my forehead with his.
The more I stared at his moving lips, the more the urge to feel them became potent. Before I knew it, my lips had crashed against his.
"Fuck Ada!" Zayn groaned, grabbing my waist to pull me deeper into the kiss. My back involuntarily arched, pushing my breast against Zayn's chest.
Our tongues entwined helplessly, without a moment spared to breathe. His tongue would wrap around mine, release it, and then he'd nip at my lips.
Everything was explosive. My body was tingling with a raging burn, and I felt sparks erupt all over. Everything just served to scream just how much I missed him.
All attention to my surroundings was instantly lost, to the point that I forgot we had a driver in the car with us.
I barely registered when the car stopped moving, and only noticed that we had arrived when Zayn pushed open the door and carried me out.
My legs wrapped around his waist and my hands slung over his shoulder as he walked us to the front door, his lips never straying from mine.
When we got to the front door, he pushed me against it and broke the kiss. I instantly inhaled a lung full of air, panting like I had been running.
"There," Zayn breathed. "Now we can continue from where we stopped."
"Huh?" I asked, still gasping for air.
He stuck the tip of his tongue out, glided it across my lips, then left a peck. "We were exactly like this last time, your lovely thighs wrapped around me," he slid his palm up my thighs, and I began to wish I was wearing a dress or skirt instead of my jogger pants. "Your back pressed firmly to the door." He grabbed my ass, squeezing it, "and my lips all over you." He bit my shoulder blade, earning a tremble from me.
It is indeed as he says. Everything was just the same as the last time.
I cupped his face in my palms and lifted it so that I was staring into his hooded eyes. "You... aren't going to leave this time, are you?"
His body stilled, and his eyes laced with shock. "No, no, of course not, baby." He wrapped his palm around mine. "I'm so sorry that I left you like that last time, but never again. It would quite drive me insane if I were to part from you right now."
"Then," I burrowed my face into his neck, "why don't we just go inside and continue?"
Like a flash, I barely registered the thumping on the stairs, followed by another door cracking open before my back crashed into something soft.
I blinked back at the white-painted ceiling, my brain struggling to catch up on what had just happened.
Looking around, I tried to get a read on my environment. We were now in a room, one that smelled strongly of Zayn's scent. It was dimly lit by the lamp on the nightstand. The Ivory colored curtains were drawn, covering whatever light came from the already darkening sky. Intriguing abstract paintings hung on the wall. Some of nature, and some just beautiful brush strokes.
How did we get from the front of the door to the bedroom in seconds? I had barely even registered the doors opening or the thumps on the stairs. It was almost like we teleported.
Zayn's face closed in on mine, stilling my darting eyes. I brought my thumb to his face, tracing the line beneath his eyes. "You have eye bags," I whispered.
He sighed and brought his forehead to mine. "I haven't been able to sleep without you gorgeous. Every night has been restless."
Me too.
"Then you shouldn't have left in the first place."
"I know. That was dumb of me." He chuckled, then slid his palm to my jogger string, twirling it between his fingers, "Although, now that I have you in my arms," he pressed his lower waist into mine, causing me to feel his hard erection, "I doubt I'd still get much sleep tonight."