Chapter 0003

After leaving the engagement party, with the handsome waiter in tow, I went straight inside one of the private lounges of the hotel. A lot of things are overwhelming my head.

The moment we're inside, I shamelessly wrap my arms around his narrow waist like I've known him for a long time. I don't know where my courage came from but it feels right. And I'm grateful that he stood still, letting me rest on his chest.

It's been a while I'm basking in the silence of the room when I heard him heave a sigh.

"I need to get back to work, Madame" While plastered against his firm and warm body, his soft voice fills my ears.

After the charade I threw at the party, I felt so exhausted. But I found comfort in listening to the steady and strong beat of his heart. I'm so comfortable that I almost drifted to sleep. But his careful movement woke me.

"Please, stay" I whisper. Too weak that even I can't hear my own voice.

"I'm... exhausted" For the first time, I confided to a stranger like he had been with me for years.

I tighten my hold around his waist, afraid to let him go. Not wanting to leave his warmth. And thankfully he stayed still. His arms are hung at the side, deliberately showing no plans to comfort me. But I don't mind, I just want him to be here with me.

I don't know what got into me but I suddenly felt vulnerable. I felt like crying but my tears are too stubborn to fall. The night has been eventful and it drained all my strength. Everything was overwhelming despite the feistiness I had shown earlier at the party.

But having the waiter with me surprisingly calms my tense nerves. He was like a tranquilizer for my soul. Why? I don't want to ponder at the moment.

The physical and emotional exhaustion I'm enduring is gradually claiming my resilience. I can no longer pretend to be strong. I felt so alone against the betrayal of my own father and the man I once loved.

"Please, don't leave. I don't want to be alone" softly, I begged.

"I'm tired. I just want to rest. Please...be with me for a moment" Not expecting any response, I continue. My voice quivered as it turned a little shaky.

I'm utterly independent. The entire time I was abroad, no family visited me. I fought my battles alone. I never mind having no one.

But tonight, I felt like I needed someone to be by my side. Someone who will stay with me while I rest my soul. Someone like the man I'm hugging. His presence makes me feel safe and calm.

"Huh...?"

I almost squealed when I was suddenly hauled from my feet. It happened so fast that before I realized what was happening, I was securely fastened in his arms.

"What...?" gaping, I tried to speak but he gently tucked my head in the crook of his neck. Whatever words I was supposed to say were trapped in my throat after I succumbed to the masculine smell of his skin.

"Hmmm..." Uncaring of what he will think, I snuggle closer to fill my lungs with his masculine scent. He smells so expensive for a waiter. Unless he has huge tips all the time.

Whatever perfume he was wearing, I believe it was something uncommon. However, despite how hard I try to name what brand it is, I seem to be nowhere close. It has a familiar whiff that I don't think a mere waiter has the capability to own. Or I might be too muddled to have mistaken it for something. There's no way he could afford such luxury.

With all the thoughts filling my head, I didn't notice he had already brought me to the couch. And like I weigh nothing, he effortlessly took a sit. It was strange but it felt great being in his arms.

"Rest" he mumbles while making me comfortable in his arms. His deep modulated voice fills my ears again.

As he said, I rest while listening to the perpetual beat of his pulse. Being in his arms is like solace to my exhausted soul. It feels ethereal.

I don't know how long we were in our position. It just felt like I was in a trance being enveloped in his warmth. But when I opened my eyes, I surprisingly felt better. The lightheadedness I'm enduring earlier, lessened.

"Did I fall asleep?" my voice cracked, which surprised me.

"Almost thirty minutes" he casually replies.

Thirty minutes? I was asleep for almost half an hour and he hadn't moved an inch. I weigh 110 lbs for my five feet six inches in height and though he seems strong, I suddenly worry for his discomfort.

"I'm sorry. I caused you enough burden for a night" Somehow sober, I apologize without the plan of leaving his warmth.

"How do you feel now?" He asks instead, ignoring my apology.

"Better than earlier. Thank you" Still snuggled on him, I genuinely smile even if he cannot see it.

Silence rules when he doesn't respond. It seems that talking is not his thing.

"Abigail Marie Sandoval. Yours?" I told him my name. I owe him a lot tonight and the least I could do is to introduce myself.

"My family and the Del Castillo owns this hotel" I added after a while of not getting a response from him.

I waited but it took him a while. I don't mind waiting, though.

"L.A.M" he briefly responded after his long silence. But it's too limited, it feels so lacking.

"Lam...?" I'm curious about his name.

In a close-knit and almost conservative community, we are, we could somehow tell apart the natives from visitors.

A family name is also a gauge of a person's significance to the community. Only a few names are considered prominent in this city, and thankfully, we are part of it. That's how it is.

Even I have been questioning such absurdity. But this time, our community's peculiar gauging procedure would greatly help me. By knowing his name, I will have a clue of who he is.

"L.A.M Cartagena" he casually mumbled.

"Cartagena..." I'm trying to familiarize the name but I know no one of such a family name within the city.

"You're not from here?" After my fervent effort, I gave up.

Santocildes City is not so huge as not to recognize a family name. But I know no one of Cartagena lineage. Or maybe it is one of the changes that have happened while I'm away.

"I only came here for a job" he disclosed, suddenly acting distant.

Despite my interest kicking in, I stopped myself from asking more. I don't want to exhaust his patience, hinting at his displeasure.

Never did I feel threatened by someone's mood but seeing his dark look made me anxious. Since the start, I'm quite right about the imposing atmosphere surrounding him. It somehow intensified my interest.

Such a compelling aura no ordinary man possesses, more so an ordinary waiter. Moreover, he shows no intimidation towards me or anyone despite being subjected to an awkward predicament.

All employees of the hotel, even those who are new are required to know and treat us with high regard. That has been my father's ultimate rule. I may say that he has been arrogantly relishing the power of one of the prominent families of this city. I don't agree with it, the reason we are always at each other's throats.

Aside from the distinguished families of politicians leading Santocildes, only a few names were considered prominent. Together with the Del Castillo, Zaragoza, and Fuentebella, Sandoval became a part of prominent names in Santocildes. That is after my father married the heiress of the Fuentebella household. My mother.

But the man with me is quite an enigma. Surely, he has undergone training and orientation. He knows the people he must bow to.

Who is he? Why did he become a waiter when my instinct is telling me he is more than that?

"If you're rested, I will leave you here. I need to finish my shift" While I was busy deliberating his identity, I heard him speak. And every question in my head was thrown into the air. There's no way I will let him leave.

"Please, stay"

Quickly tightening my arms around him, I beg. I wanted to believe I was still tipsy to absolve my audaciousness.

"I need to work. I don't want to be fired" he insisted but he didn't do anything to free himself from my tight grasp.

"You will not be fired. I will never allow it to happen. Just, please...stay" I continue to beg. I'm being shameless but who cares?

Despite my fear of letting him go, I move slightly away to look him in the eyes. Showing him I mean my words.

But like earlier, he was undeterred. He calmly meets my gaze, and surprisingly, I start to waver. I felt anxious under his scrutiny.

His mere look is commanding. Who could do that?

I try to meet his eyes though I'm getting uneasy as time passes by. If he plans to dominate me, then he is succeeding. His mere gaze could burn me alive, stirring something unknown. It's terrifying but at the same time, exhilarating.

I almost blurt out my relief after the door burst open. Interrupting the tension between us.

We haven't heard a knock or maybe we were too engrossed earlier that we failed to notice.

Like a cue, our heads turn at the door. In time to see a figure, holding a tray enters.

"Pardon for the intrusion, Miss Abigail. But your father sent these drinks" While avoiding looking at their somewhat intimate predicament, the waiter politely announces.

Though baffled by my father's initiative, I dismiss my perplexity. I indeed need some refreshments. And the sweaty glass of fresh pineapple juice is timely.

"Place it on the table, please" I smile at the awkward guy while he clumsily puts down the glasses. He looks jumpy for no reason.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome. Miss Abigail. Excuse me" Without waiting for a response, he rushed to the door and left.

"I'm thirsty" I reached for one of the glasses and drank almost halfway to quench my thirst.

"Hmmm...refreshing" While wiping my lips, I mindlessly offer her the remaining juice by putting the glass near his lips.

What he did next surprised me. He indeed takes a gulp. Though I was the one who initiated it, I didn't expect he would have any inhibitions sharing a glass with me. He finishes the remaining liquid while I watch the captivating movement of his Adam's apple. Like a schoolgirl, everything about him fascinates me.

"You want more?" he asks while placing the empty glass back on the table.

"I think, I have enough for now" I smile while glancing at the other drink. But staring at the sweaty glass, the drink becomes surprisingly tempting. And for some reason, I felt thirstier than earlier. My throat seems parched simply by looking at it.

So I quickly reach for the other glass and gulp half of it.

"I'll have the rest" Lam mumbles and finish everything.

And it's the time I realized, that he too, looks parched. What's happening?

"Shit" I heard him mutter under his ragged breath while loosening the buttons of his white shirt. Drops of sweat start to drench his face. Same with me. I felt like burning.

What's going on? I was utterly confused while staring at the two empty glasses on the table.

I felt something bizarre happening to me. My body seemed to be on fire and all I could feel was a scorching heat from inside me.

Drifting my eyes to the sweaty man holding me, his desirous gaze meets mine. And it sent pleasant tingles on my nerves. Not only am I burning but painfully incited. He looks like a feast ready to be devoured. It awakened the ravenous desire I didn't expect my body to be capable of.

By then, I realized. He is the only thing that could extinguish the fire scorching me.

"Shit" he keeps on cursing while his huge hands are becoming restless, pulling me closer to him. Until our bodies are grinding into each other.

"Hmmm...so hot" With a ragged breath, I shakily whisper.

I could not seem to have enough of him, so I swiftly veered. And now, I'm straddling him. But it was a mistake...or not.

With only a few layers of cloth between us, our bodies are intimately touching. And I'm going crazy with the humongous thing firmly nestled between my legs. It brought a heavenly sensation to my already fevered senses.

Seeming to have a mind of their own, my hips started to move against the prominent bump trapped by his pants.

"Argh..."

And I was rewarded by a thick grunt, sounding like an agonized growl of a wounded animal. I'm loving his response.

He too is suffering from the same fire I have. Even his touches were becoming rough but I loved them.

So I'm no longer surprised when I was effortlessly hauled and brought to the ensuite.

There's only one way to extinguish the fire and I'm glad he knows how to.

Everything came in a blur but I truly trust him. He is rough but I don't mind. Not long ago, I felt the cold air touching my nakedness and it felt exhilarating.

The cold felt great on my fevered skin. But it didn't take long when his feverish sweaty body hovered above me. His weight pins me, trapping me to the inevitable.

"You're...mine" he breathlessly mutters before ravishing my lips. He sounded quite possessive and I was baffled.

I don't know what he meant but it felt right. I felt something I hadn't felt before. It's odd but wonderful.

"I'm yours..." A shaky voice surfaced above our ragged breaths.

I tried to focus to discern what it meant but everything was overwhelming my senses. Where did the voice come from?

****tbc****