A/N: Missing them and this scene was hanging around in my mind. I really appreciate all of you that have read / commented on my story!! Means so much
Ozgur was certain he had to be trapped in some kind of surreal dream or perhaps some sort of prank-based game show, because never in a million years could he have imagined he would find himself battling a tiny, drunk woman who had decided to blame all male sins on him while simultaneously endangering her life – and that he would be tasked with stopping her.
But, here he was, wrestling a stranger to prevent her from jumping off the hotel balcony. That he had brought her to. For less than pleasurable reasons.
"Woman, can you just relax." He grunted through clenched teeth as he dragged her away from the edge, pulling her into his lap as he took a seat on the balcony lounge chair, letting out a deep sigh as he sunk into the cushion. The woman continued squirming and screaming nonsense, her ass writhing against him in ways that reminded him too acutely of her beauty, even as he wanted to kill her.
"Relax!" He spit out more forcefully, causing her to go limp in his arms and turn around to look at him, her face immediately crumbling into a gaze so full of sorrow he felt an immense, irrational amount of guilt.
"Don't yell at me!" She shouted, swiping her hands at his face half heartedly, the strength sapped from her after their battle.
Ozgur thought it wise to remain silent, having long given up arguing with this woman. Either her natural temperament or current situation seemed to make it impossible for her to make any sense. But her huge, brown tear-stained eyes, tugged at his heart, her obvious pain piercing through him for some reason he could not explain.
If anyone didn't deserve heartbreak, it was her. She was clearly just too naïve to protect herself and it frustrated Ozgur how open she was, how obvious everything about her was. Did she not have any sense of self preservation?
He wanted to yell this question at her, urge her to hide her heart away and never let anyone see it, let alone a stranger like him, and especially not a man that would walk all over her. But her doe eyed expression made the words die in his throat.
They held each other's gaze for what felt like a long time. Ozgur couldn't bring himself to look away. His arms wrapped gently around her as he brought her closer, both to keep her securely in his lap and to comfort her, his instincts screaming at him to make this better for her in whatever way he could.
It made no sense. He should have left while he could and not let her sobs stop him, not let her spill her heart out, not confessed how beautiful he found her, not let her kiss him –
That kiss. So soft and unexpected. It was all he could do to push the memory out of his mind. He couldn't remember the last time he had received a kiss that pure. These days, kissing a woman was full of fire, passion, and possession. It was about his desire for her body and her desire for his, for mutual, carnal satisfaction.
Never so sweet as she had given him, his face held between her delicate hands.
She finally broke away from his gaze, laying her head to rest on his chest, snuggling into his neck to his shock. This woman never ceased to surprise him. The sudden intimacy of being curled up on this lounge chair, her legs tangled in his, her nose running along his neck hit him like a freight train.
Something about this woman had gotten lodged in his head since their run-in earlier today, the little boy in him taking over, needling her just to capture her attention. Delighting in the way she snarked back at him if only because it meant he got under her skin.
"I lost my job." She whimpered, her hot breath tickling his neck.
"What?" He asked, stroking the hair out of her face so he could try to make out her facial expression. Her hair was so soft he found himself transfixed, playing with the ends of her hair almost as if in a trance, unable to move away.
"They didn't give me my promotion..." She mumbled into his chest, turning her head to snuggle further into him. "So I threatened to quit and then my stupid boss – he didn't even blink."
Ozgur was struggling to follow as the details spilled out of her in a rush, but he understood the gist. He couldn't help but find her disaster of a day amusing. She really was a mess. He leaned forward to press his lips against the top of her head, trying to offer her comfort as she continued to tell him about her day.
He was content to sit there all night if she wanted to keep talking, oddly enough, the weight of her body against him so comfortable, the feel of her hair through his fingers strangely relaxing. And she did keep talking, this pixie of a girl, all bravado and words apparently, seemed to have no problem dumping all of her problems on him as he held her close, the cold night air the only reason he was drawing her closer and closer to him, he reasoned to himself.
It took him longer than it should have to realize she had stopped talking. She had been stroking his beard absentmindedly, as if he belonged to her, driving him out of his mind, that it was likely many seconds before he looked down in confusion only to find her previously angry face softened with sleep. She looked fairly angelic like this, sprawled across his body, her lips pouted slightly.
Ozgur allowed himself a moment to watch her, swiping the stray strands of hair out of her face. He smirked slightly, the spitfire that was attacking him for being a typical, lying male now sweetly asleep in his arms without a care in the world.
He scooched forward slowly, checking to make sure he had not awaken her, until his feat landed on the ground and he could lift the both of them, cradling her in his arms as he re-entered the hotel room. Ozgur placed her gently down, huffing as he dropped her for the second time that night.
There was no reason for him to stay. He wasn't too tired to return home, nor was he too drunk or far away. And yet, he found himself shedding his clothes and climbing into bed next to her, tentatively crawling under the covers as he waited to see if she would jump up suddenly in alarm at the intrusion.
Instead, she turned towards him as the bed dipped under his weight, her eyes inching open slightly. A smile broke over his face at her sleepy expression, as she scooted slightly closer to him, almost unconsciously.
How could he have left and missed this?
"Your smile does nothing for me, I know how you all are." She grumbled before closing her eyes. He almost laughed out loud. Sweet one minute, fiery the next.
"How are we all?" He asked softly, reaching out again to stroke her hair. He wished he could understand this new preoccupation, but it was all he could do to stop himself from burying his nose into it and taking a deep breath.
"None of you love me. You all just use me." She whispered, tears forming in her eyes again to Ozgur's alarm. "And I let you. Why do I let you?" She looked up at him as if she was really asking, as if she was hoping he would have some insight into her, a woman whose name he didn't even know.
For a moment, he allowed himself to feel deep hatred for every man this tender soul had come across. He may not be an upstanding gentleman, but he was honest to a fault. Women who got into bed with him knew exactly what he wanted and often wanted the exact same thing.
Men like this were so much worse, the ones that could cheat on a good woman that loved them, the ones that could take advantage of a sweet soul.
"You won't anymore though, right?" Ozgur prompted. This girl didn't need his pity, she had proven herself perfectly capable of standing up for herself.
She smiled at him and nodded forcefully. "Never again." She agreed, her voice finally steady. Then, with that resolved, she closed her eyes again and fell promptly asleep.
Ozgur settled in, peering at her sleeping body occassionally as he stretched out on his side of the bed, his arms finding themselves reaching for her before he could consider what he was doing. Scandalized, he turned away from her, hoping that this night was an abberation. He didn't want to think about the implications of wanting the warmth of this woman near him, just to sleep. It ran antithetical to everything he thought he was so it had to be a fluke, a strange consequence of the pain in the ass she had been all night. The last thing he wanted was his life to change.
Famous last words.
