Boundless

제 19 장

      The moment the door clicked open, I was airborne—gravity forgotten, reason abandoned. I leapt into his arms like a wave meeting the shore after too long adrift. My legs wrapped around his waist, and my arms flung over his shoulders like ivy clinging to home.

"You're home," I whispered into his neck, my voice breathless with longing.

He caught me, laughing against my skin, his arms wrapping tightly around my frame. "I was barely gone two days."

"Too long," I replied, and kissed him—firmly, hungrily—until the ache of missing him melted into the press of our mouths. He set me down, but I wasn't done. My fingers explored him, brushing over his arms, his chest, checking for bruises like a soldier inspecting battle wounds.

He squirmed under my touch, grinning. "I'm ticklish. What are you doing?"

"Are you hurt? Did your father say something to you? Do I need to get my Vaseline?"

He threw his head back and laughed, that deep, golden sound that always made the walls feel warmer.

"You're ridiculous. God, I missed you."

He pulled me close again, resting his palm against my growing belly. His eyes softened, turning solemn as he knelt before me.

"I'm home, baby bear," he murmured, pressing his cheek to the soft curve of my stomach. "And I'm terribly sorry for the disruption I'm about to cause. So very sorry."

Before I could speak, he swept me up, hoisting me over his shoulder with ease. I shrieked, giggling as he carried me down the hall and into the bedroom like I was light as a sigh. He laid me on the bed like a prayer.

He discarded his blazer, unbuttoning his shirt with fingers that trembled slightly—not from nerves, but from urgency. I reached for his belt, fumbling, needing him closer, needing to feel the weight of his desire pressing against the ache of my longing.

He peeled his shirt off and stood above me—chiseled, breathless, bathed in the warm lamp light like a marble sculpture come to life. My hands found the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head. He pushed me gently back against the pillows, eyes dark and burning.

"Can I taste you?" he asked, voice hoarse, hungry.

I hesitated, breath caught in my throat. His hand slid beneath my shorts, fingers deft and knowing. I squeezed my thighs together, blushing at the intimacy, the intensity. He laughed softly, eyes still locked on mine.

"Open them. I'll ask nicely only once."

I didn't move. A challenge.

So he took what he wanted.

His hands pried my legs open, rough and deliberate. His gaze never wavered, dark and drowning. I gasped as he dropped to his knees, his mouth kissing trails down my thighs, whispering promises into my skin. My back arched instinctively, my voice caught somewhere between a moan and a prayer.

He moved like he belonged there.

And just as the world narrowed to the feel of his tongue tracing fire against my skin, we heard it.

Glass shattered.

He froze. The sound was unmistakable—urgent, wrong. He rose in one fluid movement, tossing me his shirt.

"Put on your shorts. Wear this," he said quickly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes already scanning the door.

I barely had time to fix the buttons. And then—

Chaos.

I ran into the living room just in time to see fists flying—Jae's knuckles connecting with a stranger's jaw, another hand gripping his hair, pulling him back. My scream sliced the air.

"Let him go!"

I lunged forward, throwing punches blindly, hitting whatever I could reach. A man grabbed me by the wrists, slammed me against the wall. My head cracked against it—I saw stars.

"Athena!" Jae roared, voice laced with fury and fear.

He elbowed the man holding him and dodged another strike. I tried to fight, to scream, but another man grabbed me by the shirt, yanking me close. My head throbbed. My heart thundered.

Then—a slap.

So hard, my nose burst open. Blood ran over my lips like a curse. I crumpled, dazed.

"Get rid of the baby problem," one of them said in Korean.

My heart stopped.

One of the attackers wrapped his arm around my neck from behind, holding me like a shield. The other moved toward me, eyeing me like prey.

"Check out the breasts on this one," he sneered. "I've always wanted a Black girlfriend."

He tore open the buttons of Jae's shirt that I wore, exposing my bra, my body, my shame. I struggled, kicking, screaming into the hand covering my mouth. I heard them laugh.

Jae screamed my name, his voice hoarse and desperate.

I saw him on the floor, covered in bruises, blood leaking from his mouth. He tried to rise, but a boot pressed him down. Another man raised a steel pipe.

"Time to end this shit."

"No," I begged, my voice broken, "please... please don't..."

Jae staggered to his feet, bloodied but unbowed. He stood on trembling knees, defiant even as he could barely breathe.

"Shut up, bitch!" one of them roared—and then struck me across the mouth.

My lip split. The taste of iron and rage filled my mouth.

"I wonder if you can fit me in that big mouth of yours. Bet you're used to the big ones, huh?"

"Fuck you!" I cried, spitting blood at his feet.

His arm rose.

I shut my eyes, bracing for the blow.

But it never landed.

Crunch.

I opened my eyes.

Jae was at my feet.

A pipe in his back. Blood pooling beneath him. His body crumpled like a broken hymn.

"JAE!"

My scream tore through the room.

"Shit!" one of the men shouted.

They ran. Cowards fleeing like rats from a fire. The sirens blared outside. The apartment flooded with red and blue.

My attacker shoved me aside and vanished into the night.

I dropped to my knees, hands cradling the back of Jae's head. His blood was everywhere—on my fingers, in my mouth, in my soul.

"Stay with me. Please—please don't leave me," I begged, pressing against the wound.

His eyes were closed. Too still.

The paramedics burst through the door, everything spinning into sirens and shouts. They wheeled him away, his blood trailing like ink across the floor.

And as the stretcher disappeared into the ambulance, the world collapsed.

My knees gave out.

The darkness came for me like a tide.

And I let it take me.

⸻