You're Not The Only One.

Chapter 7

A/N Happy Reading friends. ❤❤🤗🤗Please drop in your feedback.❤

Kerem's Pov

She had opened the door in her cute red flannel pajamas. Her hair messed up , her eyes tired and her cheeks flushed.
This image would forever be ingrained in my memory.
There was a fire in her words. I was okay with her fighting. It meant there was something worth fighting for .
The vulnerability in her eyes soon turned into a whirpool of emotions before shooting daggers at me , as she tried to make me leave by hurting me with her words.
I had promised myself that I'd leave if she wanted me to but not before explaining my side of the story.
I had fucked up in epic proportion last night and the night before that.
So, at one moment we were at an impasse.
And the next moment, my lips were claiming hers while her lithe body was flushed against mine.
I had thought about kissing Hande away from the glaring lights of the set so many times, had come close enough to her mouth on enough occasions when we were alone, that I'd already decided how she would taste ,when we would be stripped bare of our characters and be just ourselves.

Sweet like spun sugar, with just the slightest kick of exotic spice.

As a connoisseur of women, I was good. Good enough that when my lips had finally met hers, and my tongue had slid against hers on a groan of deep-seated need, I'd found out just how close I was.
But not nearly close enough, because Hande Erçel tasted better than any of the sweetest, most succulent treats I'd ever had.

So much better, I thought as I cupped the back of her neck to pull her in closer to brush my lips over hers again and again. I loved each and every one of the little gasps and moans she made as I found the sensitive corners of her mouth with the tip of my tongue, and then the fullness of her lower lip with the very edge of my teeth.

As long as I could remember, I'd been in complete control. With women. And roles. Even, once I'd adjusted to the demands of fame, with the press and my fans too.
But in the span of one kiss with Hande, the passion, the desire, the tension from all these months, the way it spiraled the second my mouth touched hers and my hands met curves that were so much softer than I ever would have guessed...well, I wasn't in control of any of it, not even for a second.
One kiss had been all it took to confirm not only how deep her passion lay, but also that neither of us had a power of fighting gravity, even if I was the only one who had accepted that truth.
When we finally drew apart to drag much-needed oxygen into our lungs, I let myself appreciate the few precious seconds I had left of Hande still being soft in my arms, her eyes cloudy with stunned pleasure.
I didn't claim to always understand women, but I wasn't as clueless as some guys. Hande had wanted that kiss...just as much as she hadn't.
I wouldn't let her regret it. But I couldn't let her overthink it, either.

She kept her hand flat on my chest, almost as if she was bracing herself while her eyes cleared little by little. But then they clouded over again, this time with alarm.
She was pushing against my chest and saying, "Kerem, we shouldn't - " when I gently cut her off.

" I have something else for you."
I forced myself to release her even though the caveman inside me told me that I needed to finish claiming my woman before she could get away. During the past two decades, it had been easy to put love and relationships on the back burner, even though I have my fair share of women but even my longer, more serious relationships hadn't ever been with someone I would sacrifice everything for, were nothing like what my parents or sister had in their relationships.

But I knew chemistry. After all, it was my job to create it with each and every one of my co-stars. Yet, even to me, the chemistry between me and Hande was extraordinary. And, whether she was ready to accept the truth of it or not, inevitable.
"I was going to give this to you tomorrow morning, but now seems like a better time."
I could see the gears in her brain working, questioning why I'd sidestepped our kiss altogether...and, possibly, why I wasn't asking for another one. Or to take things to the next level.
I took out the white envelope from my pocket.This was something I had been planning since last 2 months.
Way before everything went down.
"içinde ne var?(What's inside?)" she asked, the sensual quality of her voice that she usually held back in full force after our kiss. I couldn't stop myself from wondering even though it only made my unfulfilled desire for Hande more excruciating, what would she sound like as she came apart in my arms, her neat and tidy hair messy from my hands and spread out across the pillow?
All of the blood that hadn't already rushed south took a trip in that direction as I imagined the heat of her skin, the sexy rasp of her voice, as she lay sated and sweet beneath me in the few moments I'd give her to recover before I took her again.
"aç onu(open it)"
She sucked in a sharp breath as if I'd just asked her for another kiss rather than to open the envelope to find out what was inside. And maybe that was why she finally took the envelope from me, because it was the lesser of two evils: the gift or my mouth back on hers.
She slid open the flap and pulled out two tickets. I saw the surprise first, and then the pleasure she couldn't hide anymore.
"Cappadocia? When I called they said all the tours were sold out for the next two months."
She looked back down and read the fine print. "These Hot Air Balloon tour tickets are for day after tomorrow."
"I haven't been on a hot air balloon since my fourth grade with Mom, Dad and Melis.Before we left for the United States."
She gripped the tickets tighter. Again, I watched her gears churn.
Up, down. Forward, back.
"That was a long time ago"
"Öyleydi(It was). My memory is pretty fuzzy by now."
"It's funny ..I have lived all my life in Turkey and I have never been there ..Annem o geziye çıkmak istedi (My mother wanted to take that trip) ..ama bu asla olmadı(but that never happened)" A dark shadow crossed her face.In that instance,the happy, cheerful girl was gone and all that I wanted to do was take away her sadness.
I didn't want to force her to take me along with her,she was free to take anyone but I hoped that she would choose me because I wanted to be there with her on this trip, to help her make her mother's dream come true even if she was not physically present.
With the grace and poise Hande radiated everywhere ,she finally asked the question I had been waiting for since the moment I had started planning this," Would you like to see it again?"
"Tabiki. (of course)"
"Tamam.Then why don't you join me."
Her words spread a warmth over my heart and a smile crept up my face.
"Emin misiniz?(Are you sure?)"
"Evet"
"I'd love to Handemiyy."
" Neyse(Anyway) I..I promised Gamze..that I will go to their house today. I need to-" she pointed her hand towards the staircase,visibly flustered since the elephant in the room was taking up too much of space.
"And about that kiss-"
"It was a great kiss, wasn't it?" I inched closer to her and the breath hitched in her throat.
She flushed, but didn't try to deny that I was speaking the truth.
"Yes" . She said in that innately super-sexy voice that put me right back on the edge of grabbing her for another one, "It was a great kiss. Ama(but)- "
"I want to kiss you again, too,Hande-."
She made a sound of frustration ,with her lips puckered up and even that had my body reacting.
"Whether you or I enjoyed the kiss is irrelevant, Kerem. I can't kiss you again. " Before I could do anything more than raise my eyebrows at her emphatic statement that we both knew didn't do a darn thing to erase the heat between us, she said, "And you know why."
" öyle mi? Neden?( Oh really? Why?) Because I really don't know the reason Hande."
"Because..because..."
"Because?"
"Because it is just going to be messy and complicated when things end Kerem..you..
"Bak(Look)," she said in a much gentler tone, "we have to work together for the next few weeks or maybe even months. If we're going to go to Cappadocia together , I don't think it's a good idea for you to be under the false assumption that this," she gestured between the two of us, "is ever going to happen again."

At thirty-three, I had fame, I'd made a fortune,I'd traveled and partied and thrown myself into my work since I had started working. Now I was ready for what came next: to be with a woman I not only desired, but with whom I could share my life, my dreams. A woman with whom I could grow old. I was also ready for kids to play with on the beach, to throw balls with in the park, to let loose with their cousins at a family party.
So even though I'd heard Hande's reasons loud and clear, I couldn't deny that it didn't hurt a bit.She was declaring how we would end even before we began. But something told me that Hande Erçel might very well be the one- the woman I had been looking for throughtout my life..and that if I didn't fight like hell for her, I'd never stop cursing myself for being a fool.

"How about this? I won't kiss you again until you ask me to."

She barely hesitated before saying, "Hayir.I'm not going to ask you to kiss me again,Kerem."

"Yes," I said softly, "you will."

She blinked at me. Once. Twice. Three times before saying, "I still don't understand why you're trying so hard when I've given you every reason to let me go."

I wouldn't kiss her until she asked, but I'd said nothing about putting limits on touching her. I moved closer again, close enough to reach for the tip of her ponytail that had come loose and run my fingers through her long, soft hair, cupping the back of her neck. I could feel her body react to this mere touch.

"Ask me to kiss you again, and I'll remind you of one of the reasons."

The look she gave me said, Nice try, even as she said, "You must have shared plenty of hot kisses with other women.Kisses with..N..Nilperi.." Hande looked away as she uttered those words.
She was jealous of Nil.If only Nil got to know about this she would be laughing her ass off .Nil was like a sister. A friend. A very good and old friend who was happily in love with her actor boyfriend.

"Not that hot. Not even close." I paused just long enough to let my fingers slide from her hair down to the exposed skin above the collar of her flannel shirt. She shivered beneath these barest of touches. "And neither have you."

"Keremmm" she gasped my name and nothing was sexier than this but if I stayed any longer,things would go to the point of no return.
Also, Hande needed to decide , to think over things without having me crowding her space.
I walked away from her and reached the door before deciding to leave her with something else to think about.

" Nil is a very old friend of mine.And she is happily in love with someone else. And I am sorry about that night ,sorry for not mentioning about Aynen aynen and for not being there at Mavi's birthday party because the meeting turned into table read and then the promo shoot. I couldn't back out of contractual obligations. Sorry for not calling you back that night, because it was late and I thought you had fallen asleep. Her şey için özür dilerim,Hande(I'm sorry for everything)
So yeah..I fucked up..sorry for making you think like you are not important to me Hande.. çünkü sen önemlisin ,sen çok önemlisin(because you are important, you are very important). I never thought that it would matter to you but I really forgot to mention.Hepsi bu kadar.(That is all.) Ve kıskanmana gerek yok,
çünkü ben sadece seni istiyorum.(And you don't need to be jealous,because I only want you).