"Mmmmph!" Mia moaned and gasped for air as the hot mouth that covered hers plundered beyond her lips. It declared its dominance over her ability to scream her protest against the sudden passion that woke her from her sleep. She couldn't breathe or even think straight.
As Mia used all the strength she could muster to push the hard chest that pressed her body down to the bed, she kept wondering, "How did I get here? What's happening? Is this real? Who is this man?"
***
She recalled what happened a few hours ago, her plane had just landed in New York after over 16 hours of flying. She was going to attend a special training for teachers from around the world. Mia was part of a delegation of 5 educators from her home country. It was almost midnight in New York when they arrived so the hosts took them directly to the hotel to get some rest. After a meal, everyone went back to their rooms. It was the weekend and they planned an entire day for sightseeing the next day before the training starts on Monday.
It was nearly 1 am and she laid on her bed after a call to her parents to assure them that she arrived safely and was about to go to bed but she wasn't sleepy. She was exhausted but she wasn't sleepy. It could be the excitement of being in a strange city alone for the first time. Her loving parents have always been protective of her and accompanied her anywhere. If there weren't any urgent affairs that they had to attend to back home, they would've gone with her to that trip too. Good thing their godchild who they trusted was going to attend the training with her so they finally agreed to let her go.
Mia decided to drink some warm milk and quietly enjoy the view of the city that never sleeps through the window. Fortunately, the hotel room that they were arranged with had a small pantry and mini kitchen with a refrigerator, a microwave, a coffee maker and some basic ceramic and silverware. She got a box of milk from the pantry, poured it in a cup and heated it in the microwave. With her warm milk in hand, she opened the curtain slightly, sat on the carpeted floor and smiled contentedly as she took in the view of the brilliant lights of the city in silence.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She was startled and turned to check on her roommate Dean Rosa. She was in her mid-fifties. The kind woman was exhausted and almost immediately fell asleep after wearing her sleeping mask and turning on her white noise machine. Mia quickly got up and quietly shuffled over the carpeted floor to the door. She looked through the peephole and initially didn't find anyone then the doorbell rang again. She jumped back, a little scared.
Mia nervously looked back at her roommate who seemed undisturbed. It appeared as if nothing could disturb the Dean's peaceful slumber. She looked through the peephole again. This time trying to see more of the outside. When Mia's eye looked down, she saw a head of shiny black hair. "A kid?" she thought and opened the door.
Sure enough, there was a handsome little boy in front of her door. At first glance, Mia figured that the kid was around five years old. He has fair skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, a small high-bridged nose, a heart-shaped face and cute pouty lips. His clothes were neat and they looked expensive. He was alone and he looked lost. Mia immediately felt worried for the child who randomly knocked on a stranger's hotel room door in the middle of the night. What if she wasn't the one the child encountered but a person with malicious intent? Mia shivered at the thought.
She didn't think more about it, Mia has always had an affinity with children. It was because of that that she wanted to be a teacher despite her parents' admonishment to work in the family business instead. They were not billionaires or anything but they owned a well-established and highly popular chain of restaurants that provided them with very comfortable living conditions.
Mia squatted down so the boy could look at her face. She had a gentle smile on her face as she softly asked, "Hello. Why are you here alone?" The little boy did not answer but his eyes looked behind him in panic before he suddenly hugged Mia tightly. He was slightly trembling as he buried his face in her hair.
"Hey… What's the matter? Who are you afraid of?" Mia asked but she didn't wait for his response before she stood up with the child in her arms and went inside the room. She turned on the lamp on the bedside table and made the little boy sit on her bed. She gently stroked his hair and asked. "Little boy, are you in trouble? Where are your parents? Do you need me to call them?"
At the mention of his parents, the boy looked up with a complicated expression in his eyes then shook his head. Mia's heart ached when he saw the look in the child's brown eyes. She began to wonder what such a young child could have gone through to have that complexity of emotions. Why doesn't he want to call his parents? Are they the problem? "Okay. I won't call them for now but can you tell me what happened? What's your name?"
"Aric," the child whispered as he looked down on his folded hands and didn't say more.
"Aric. Eternal ruler," Mia smiled. "That's what your name means. It's a lovely name." It felt strange for Mia to suddenly know the meaning of an uncommon name but she was glad she did because what she said got another positive reaction from the child.
The little boy lifted his head and looked at her with what looked to Mia as joy and expectation but in a heartbeat all that were replaced by the same gloomy and complicated expression in his eyes. He looked down again and mumbled, "My Mommy gave me that name."
Mia once again wondered what could've happened between the boy and his parents. "Well… I think your Mommy must've known you will be a very brave and smart boy when you grow up and be a great leader someday." She held the boy's hands and smiled at him. "You seem to be in trouble. Are you hiding from someone?"
The boy nodded his head but still didn't say more. Mia had some suspicions but didn't ask the child anymore questions. It seemed he was unwilling to tell her anything about his troubles. "Okay." She sighed and gently rubbed the child's head. "Just rest here. I'll call the cops to help us." Mia smiled to comfort him but the boy only looked even more alarmed as he quickly grabbed both her hands. The little boy shook his head vigorously and started crying.
Confused, Mia panicked and her heart broke with the boy's tears. She immediately pulled the little body into her arms and held him tightly. The child clung to her clothes and buried his face in her shirt. "Alright. It's alright. Don't be scared. I won't call anyone. I'll just hug you like this. Do you like that?" Mia spoke softly. The boy didn't say anything but she saw him nod his head although he didn't lift his face from her shirt. She sighed, "Okay. Let's go to sleep first and think about how to solve this tomorrow morning." She conceded.
She fell asleep while she hugged and coaxed the little boy to sleep. She wasn't a very touchy or clingy person. Because of her habit of cleanliness, except for her parents, she rarely hugged anyone let alone a strange child but holding the little boy gave her an oddly familiar and comfortable feeling. That was all she remembered. "Where's the boy now? How did I get here? How did I end up in this situation?"
***
She thought and thought but couldn't figure it out at the moment especially when the man's fiery kiss was slowly burning away her reasoning. She was being kissed by a stranger against her will, she should be scared and angry, but instead, she was filled with a familiar feeling that she couldn't remember.
Every second that passed with their lips and body melded together, she was drawn to him. She slowly welcomed and craved him--his breath, his warmth and the way his form embedded itself into her skin and flesh. It was too familiar, like a passion constantly shared over the years.
Could it be him? The one she had been searching for in her dreams?