Elysian Secrets

Kabanata 47

What now?

Nakipagtitigan si Lia sa sariling repleksyon sa kisame pero wala siyang natagpuang sagot roon. Just visible evidences of her wild, wild night with Raphael Mondragon. 

Raphael Maximilian Mondragon. 

Lord Jesus Christ, how could she have been so stupid?!

Wala ring sagot ang salamin sa kisame para sa tanong na iyon kaya napahugot na lang siya nang malalim na hininga. Agad namang lumipad ang tingin niya sa mahimbing na katabi nang umangat ang palad nitong nakasakop sa kaliwa niyang dibdib. Bumaba din naman iyon kasabay nang dahan-dahan niyang pagpapakawala ng hininga. He nestled closer,  his five o' clock shadow gently brushing against her shoulder, tickling her, before drifting back into a deep sleep.

Pinigilan niya ang sariling huwag bumuntong-hininga ulit dahil ayaw niyang tuluyan itong magising. Huwag muna. Lalo na't wala pa siyang malinaw na plano kung ano na nga ang mga susunod niyang hakbang.

They planned to have the talk last night bago pa sila na-distract nang kalibugan ng lalaki. She had insisted on it. But now, in the harsh light of day, she had changed her mind. She no longer wanted to talk. She wanted to slip back into her clothes, find Niccolo, and run away to hide. And she would, if only she could escape from beneath Raphael without waking him.

Muli niyang sinilip ang lalaki at napaikot na lang ang mga mata nang makitang mahimbing pa rin ito. Walang kahit na anong inaalalang makapagpapanatili ritong gising. Ang sarap ng buhay. Sarap ding tadyakan para kahit papaano magkaproblema naman kahit saglit lang. 

She reined in her penchant for violence and stared at her reflection again, trying to distract herself from the sensation between her legs. But the dragonman's visible marks on her body made that a challenge. The dried trails of their mingled cum on her inner thighs should have grossed her out, but instead, they brought back vivid memories of how much she had reveled in being dominated, pounded, and seeded to within an inch of her life last night.

Seeded. Sumikdo ang puso niya. Oh, God. Nakainom ba siya ng pills kahapon? For the life of her, sa dami nang nangyari kahapon, hindi na niya maalala! Isa pang alalahanin ngayon. 

She glared at her bedmate, fighting an overwhelming urge to smack him. It took every ounce of self-control to keep it in check. Pinaalalahanan niya ang sarili na hindi rin naman siya umangal kagabi. She couldn't place all the blame at his feet if another accident happened.

Yet another reason to get out of The Elysium as quickly as possible: she needed to get to her pills at home. She prayed the Yuzpe method would work for her, just as Amber had sworn it had for her.  What were the politicians thinking when they banned emergency contraception in the Philippines? Maybe the question wasn't what they were thinking, but who. Malamang puro mga lalaki ang pumirma sa legislation na iyon. Only male arrogance could have made that happen.

Why Amber knew about Yuzpe was a worry for another day. Wala siya sa kundisyon para isipin kung ano ang pinaggagawa ng kapatid niya that would require the woman to know about that method of emergency contraception. Malamang katulad niya, her twin had been an idiot. 

With a plan in place to avoid another accidental pregnancy, muli niyang ibinalik ang tingin sa kanyang katawan. Sinalat niya ang markang iniwan ng ngipin ni Raphael sa puno ng kanyang dibdib at napapiksi. Hindi niya maalalang masakit ito kagabi. Marami pa siyang nakikitang markang iniwan ni Raphael sa katawan niya. Marka ng pagkagat, paghimod, pagsipsip, at paglamas nito sa kanya. When he said she'd feel him for days, he wasn't lying. He had stamped his claim on her, inside and out.

Dahan-dahang gumalaw si Raphael na ikinatulos niya naman sa higaan, parang kunehong inaasinta ng isang mangungubat. Pigil na pigil ang paghinga niya at taimtim na nagdasal na bumalik ang lalaki sa mahimbing nitong pagkakatulog. She just knew God must still be sleeping and oblivious to all her prayers, when Raphael's hand crept to her right breast, squeezing it before trailing down her stomach and settling possessively over her mound.