In A Lifetime ( KBTBB : Eisuke Ichinomiya )

Chapter 19

The next morning, Grace was back to making Eisuke's coffee again. She'd woken up earlier than him and stared at his sleeping face for a short time while contemplating whether she should wake him up or not. Of course, seeing his adorable face with none of the usual iciness had convinced her that the latter would be most amusing so she'd let him be.

"Don't get out of bed without my permission."

She spun around to look at the direction of the voice to find Eisuke fully clothed and his face lacking any of the earlier cuteness while he had slept. Inwardly sighing, she turned back to the cup of coffee in her hands and finished stirring it. Seriously? That was all he had to say? Had the good morning gone to the north pole or something?

"Good morning, Eisuke. Yes, I slept very well, thank you. It was nice of you to ask."

She answered, turning around to face him with a meaningful look.

"Don't get smart with me."

She laughed. "Stop being so grumpy, it's first thing in the morning. Here," she grinned, holding out the cup in his direction, "your coffee."

He quickly closed the distance between them, took the coffee from her hands and placed it on the table behind her. Next, he placed both his hands on it, one on each side of her so that she had nowhere to go. He stared at her with cool intensity but she simply grinned at him in defiance. He wanted to wipe that smile of her face so that's exactly what he did-- he pressed his lips against hers.

It was light and fluttery, barely above a small peck and he'd pulled away just as soon.

Though the kiss was nothing compared to the passion of last night, it still brought on memories of it and she blushed. He smirked, immediately knowing what she was thinking about. Bringing his hand up from her side, his fingers softly brushed her left cheek that was now dusted with a rosy hue before cupping the side of her face. His other hand had already wrapped itself around her waist as he kissed his way up her jawline until he reached her right ear.

"You may only get out of bed after you've asked. Understand?" he whispered huskily, gently sinking his teeth into her earlobe, eliciting a quiet moan from her.

"Mmm..." He took that as a yes.

She couldn't believe herself, giving in to him like that. Normally she would've made some sarcastic remark and remained stubborn but all he had had to do was kiss her and she was his puppet. He had her completely wrapped around his finger.

With a satisfied look on his face, he lets her go before picking up the coffee and slowly sipping it as if he were savoring every last drop.

"I can't drink the room service coffee anymore because of you."

"Well, I wasn't the one who pushed you away, Eisuke." she paused. "I didn't get to ask you yesterday but why did you break up with me that time?"

"Because I knew that Nikaido was nosing around. I knew he'd target you if he thought you were my girlfriend."

"So that was you trying to protect me?" she asks, but he only looks away away from her. "See? I knew you weren't a bad person."

"Stop rambling and hold out your left hand."

Grace wasn't sure what he intended to do with her hand but held it out anyway. He took hold of it.

"Choosing him was your last chance at a normal life."

"What?"

"Not that I would've let you get away, of course." He smiles teasingly, as he slips the ring on to her ring finger. "Don't ever take it off again."

She was about to nod when suddenly, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, "I'll think about it."

"Excuse me?" He looked scandalised.

"I said that I'd think about it."

"Oh, you will, will you?"

"Sure. As long you can convince me that it'll be worth my while."

"Convince you?"

"Yeah," she nodded with a sly smile, taking her bottom lip between her teeth, "Kissing me again would be a start."

He quirked an eyebrow at her sudden boldness. If she thought that she would be getting what she wanted so easily, she was sourly mistaken.

"Maybe you heard me wrong," he answered, trying his best to look as uninterested as possible, despite kissing her being the exact thing he wanted to do as well. God, she looked so tempting like that, lip between her teeth, talking back to him without a care in the world. "Keeping that ring on, that wasn't up for negotiations."

It was her turn to smirk now. She took the coffee cup from a reluctant Eisuke and put it back on the table before wrapping her arms around his neck and using it as leverage to help her rise up on her tip toes.

"I wasn't negotiating." she whispered into his ear before quickly taking his face in her hands and planting a quick peck on his lips. It was even shorter than when he'd kissed her a few minutes ago but she could do with that for now. However, her unexpected daringness had woken something within him and that certainly wasn't satisfied with just that.

A wicked smile tugged at the corner of his lips and Grace knew that she was in trouble then.

"You still kiss like little girl. Looks like you still need some training. I'll teach you how to kiss like a woman."

"What?"

"First ... is this." He paused for a second as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You kiss me. Properly this time."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't get 'properly'. How am--"

"Too late." Lifting her chin up, he claims her lips once again. It was not as passionate as those before it but more slow and tender as if he was trying to teach her. The intoxicating kiss his slightly cold lips gave her matched his kindness, hidden behind the cruel facade.

They had kissed so many times by now and she'd completely lost track but she cared little for that.

She thought about how much she wanted him as she tightly wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him even closer to her. The good things and the bad things, she wanted it all. Maybe she was being greedy thinking like that but she didn't care.

She was caught up with this dangerous, powerful and unpredictable man and it was far too late to even think about turning back now.

Did Grace care? Not one bit.

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And that's the end for the main story! Don't worry guys, there's a lot more to come as I don't plan on quitting this here. Also, sorry for the short chapter but thank you to everyone who's read this and supported me so far. I love you all and your comments and votes are very much appreciated and don't go unnoticed, even if I don't always reply to them c:

All my love

- Aliieva