Nunew accidentally crashes CEO Zee Pruk Panich's car when working as a valet. He expects Zee to make him pay back the cost of damages but the young businessman has another arrangement in mind.
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His heat was near me, barely reaching the perimeters of my body, close enough to ghost against my skin, just far enough away for me to feel the distance he kept between us. I swallowed against the knot in my throat, shifting ever so slightly against the bed. His breathing stalled for a moment, filling the room with silence before he softly let out his breath. The heat of it crawled over me, teasing my nerve endings. I wanted to reach out and touch him. I wanted him to come to me. To show me that things hadn't changed. That he was still here.
I turned my head against the pillow, watching as his chest rose and fell with each steady breath. Golden flecked eyes were on the ceiling, heavy and unmoving as he lay still. My fingers twitched at my sides, itching to soothe the tense line that had settled between his brows. His lips were pressed together, his jaw tight and strained as he swallowed.
I sucked my cheeks in, pulling whatever strength I had within me, before slowly releasing the air I was holding.
"Zee..." My voice was a whisper as I spoke.
Golden eyes hesitated before slowly turning towards me, circled in dark, hollow half-moons and streaked with throbbing red veins. I wondered if he had slept at all. If he'd even tried.
I knew what he was thinking. I wished he would stop. I wanted him to know that it was okay. That I was okay.
Instead, I stayed still as I watched him, taking in the raw ache I saw reflected in his tired stare.
We lay in silence for another moment, washed in the pale glow of the early morning, desperate to leave behind the darkness of the night.
Still, I was glad it had happened. No, I was more than glad. I was relieved. Thankful. So fucking amazed that he had finally allowed me inside. I was there. I was in his cage, completely submerged in the shadows, huddled next to him while feelings that had been locked away for so long finally broke free. I was with him, feet pressed against his, arms brushing together as we stood in the deepest pit with one another, realizing that we had finally reached that point. The point of no return. Where brutal honesty and unrestrained emotions were brought to the surface, open and bare for us to witness. In all its ugliness. In every form.
Zee had finally abandoned the mask he'd worn for so long. I'd practically forced him to remove it, pushing him until he had no other choice but to show me the face that lay beneath. His face. The true version of himself.
I couldn't deny that it had shocked me. I knew the anger would have been there. I'd sensed it for awhile. Maybe even since the beginning. He'd kept up the calm demeanor for so long yet the chill of another side had trickled through each time I'd ventured deeper into the crevices of his cage.
But every time I'd tried to press forward, he had pushed me back, keeping me just far enough away where the light still permeated the darkness. This time, though, I hadn't let him move me. Not when I was so close.
