Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 98

C H A P T E R 2 7 : H E R M E M O R Y A N D T H E T H U N D E R S T O R M

E L L A S T A N F O R D

“What?” Ella asked, doing her best to shake off the sensual haze that still held her in its grip. She tried to concentrate on breathing normally again which was not an easy task considering her body was feeling all tight and tingly and her mind seemed to have turned to jelly.

A frown slashed across his face. “You had a smear on your face and now it is gone,” he repeated, his voice still sounded hoarse.

Ella’s fingers went to her mouth, still warm and wet from his kiss, and she could feel the blush crawl up her cheeks. She felt really embarrassed that a part of her wanted to duck beneath the table and hide while another part of her wanted to climb on his lap and have him kiss her again. In the end she did neither and decided that both reactions were absurd. Javier was her fiancé, surely he had kissed her like this before. So why on earth did she not remember the thrill of his kiss, the heat of his touch, and how passionate the way he ravished her mouth?

“I should clear the table,” he told her, and began staking the plates.

“Let me help,” she said, starting to get up.

“No, it is alright. You just got out of the hospital and you need to stay off that ankle.” When she looked like she was about to protest, he added with a smile, “Do not worry about it. I am fine on my own.”

Ella watched him made his way to the kitchen sink and decided to get some fresh air. She rose to her feet and walked towards the balcony. There was a wooden bench there and she sat on it. Looking up above, she took note of the brilliant gold and orange sky that had greeted her when she had just gotten out of the shower had disappeared. Instead of the sinking sun filling the horizon, a sliver of moon struggled valiantly to shine through a forest of black clouds rolling across the skyline. As far as she could tell, the stars had gone into hiding. If there was one thing that did not seem to change, it was the busyness of the Washington streets downstairs. No matter what time and day, it was always crowded with cars and public transportations.

Suddenly uneasy in the encroaching darkness, Ella rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She glanced back through the glass door and watched Javier rinsing the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. Even though they were only some feet apart, she had an unreasonable urge to run to him and have him near. Thunder grumbled, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

All of a sudden, she wanted to find a place to hide. She needed to hide. Without any concrete reason, she somehow knew that something terrible would come when the rain arrived and thunder roared. The thought came out of nowhere, making her heart race. Despite the damp chill in the air, sweat beaded across her forehead, down her neck and between her breasts. For a second something tugged at her memory, something frightening and suffocating that sent fear and despair climbing up her throat. Instead of reaching for that scrap of memory, she shrank away from it, afraid of what she would find. Fear developed rapidly inside of her together with the urge to hide, to find some place where she did not have to hear the thunder or saw the lightning. Her arms hugged her stomach and she bit her lips nervously.

Then right there and then, Ella decided that she had to get away from here. She had to go to a place where she would not hear the roar of the thunder nor see the flash of lightning. She scrambled to get out of the chair, ready to flee.

“Siri just gave me a reminder to bring umbrellas if I plan to go out. I think she knew that I need to leave in a bit. Anyway, you should probably get inside before—” Javier caught the sight of her, and cursed under his breath. He rushed towards her and was already beside her, catching her when she would have fallen flat on her face in her haste to untangle herself from the chair and run. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her back into the living room, closing the glass door using his knee and drawing the curtain, before he finally sat on the couch with her.

He did not say a word, not a single one as she clung to him. All he did was rubbing her back up and down. Long after he sat down on the couch with her wrapped around him and trembling like a leaf in the wind, he remained silent. He asked no questions. He did not try to reason with her that she was being foolish. He simply held her, his hand rhythmically stroking over her hair and down her back in a soothing motion.

Ella was not sure how long she had been sitting there plastered against Javier before the terror that had ambushed her out on the balcony began to fade away. It could have been minutes or hours that passed before the shaking inside her finally stopped. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was that as if knowing that she did not want to see the lightning, he had drawn the drapes closed. The next thing she realized was that she no longer could hear the drumming of rain against the windows or the echo of thunder and instead she heard Park Jimin’s soulful voice singing ‘Serendipity’ and the steady beat of Javier’s heart beneath her ear.

Love me now. Touch me now. Just let me love you, let me love, let me love you.

Curled up in his lap with her head resting against his chest, Ella gradually became aware of him as a man. There was no mistaking the strength in the arms that cradled her. He felt solid, safe, strong, and somehow gave her the impression that he was the kind of man that would slay dragons just to keep her safe. Surprised by the romantic analogy her brain had conjured up, she took a deep breath to clear her head. As she did so, she caught his scent, that mixture of woods and citrus — the same scent that she had found earlier in the bathroom and later onwards on her pillow and bedcover, except that this time, she could smell some male sweat. As she was no longer in the grips of the fear that had nearly paralyzed her, her mind brought her back to that kiss they had shared earlier after dinner. She felt that pull at her memory again. She could see herself in his arms, feel his mouth and hands on her body, taste him on her lips as their tongues were involved in some kind of dance that she hoped would never end.