**Ch 295: New Beginning

Away from the pond, my eyes reverted over to him next to me on the bench. Instantly I bashfully blushed with brightened cherry cheeks.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I lied, chuckling awkwardly, but Kai saw right through me.

So he held up a small wrapped present he had beside his leg. He must've pulled it out of his pocket whenever I fell into a serene daze at the pond.

"Did you really think I'd forget to buy you something for your birthday?" he chuckled, giving me the gift.

"You didn't have to," I replied, doing my best to dust it away, but he still wasn't believing my fake careless attitude.

"You could've fooled me." Kai teased, and I broke apart, laughing.

"Ok, I did want a gift from you," I finally admitted. I never ask for anything in my life, yet for once, I only wanted one special gift from my husband, so I'll admit that only to him.

"Open it up." Kai briefly laughed before I started to tear the purple tissue paper. Once I did, I found a light aqua-blue colored box with a bowtie glued on it. I opened the lid to find a white gold flat heart inside it. It wasn't until I took it out that I finally realized that it was a palm-size locket with a keyhole. Being sneaky, Kai placed the keyhole side in the opposite direction, so it only looked like a solid framed heart. Creative enough, hidden underneath the heart was a small key that was designed into a short-length velvet made necklace. Both the key and heart were adorned with tiny diamonds.

"This is an interesting gift." I awed, opening up the locket by using the key. To my astonishment, I found a picture of the most recent ultrasound of our triplets. Loose diamonds were inside the ultrasound's framed photo, and those tiny cut gems made an icy sound when I moved it. The middle frame was empty, so I flipped the golden slide to another frame and found a recent picture of Kai and me. Now, it made sense as to why he asked me to take a picture of us last week.

"This gift is beautiful." I praised as euphoria streamed into my heart whenever I marveled into his dazzling eyes.

Kai handsomely smiled before he uttered, being softly voiced. "I know you don't love me yet. But I wanted to get you something that gives us both hope for a new beginning. So I had this specially designed picture frame made into a locket to signify us as a growing family and the love we'll share as we tie our hearts as one."

"That is so thoughtful..." I whispered before I was drawn wordlessly. I veered away as shame caught me off guard, but Kai gently grasped my chin, which kept my eyes from drifting anywhere else.

"I know while you are human, it will take time to love me and get over Orlando. I'm doing everything in my power to give you time to get over him," he shared with me, and I felt horrible as he released my chin.

"I'm sorry—"

"No!" Kai refuted. "None of this is your fault. Instead of hiding, I should've been the one who raised you from the beginning. You never should've been raised in that orphanage. You should've been with me. If I'd done things differently, you wouldn't love Orlando. Instead, you would've loved me."

I sighed, frowning more grimly. "I appreciate the fact you are giving me time. We've had our ups and downs, but we've both been fighting to make this work."

Kai took my hand, glowing with a meaningful smile. "I know, and I promise I'm going to keep working on my patience with you," he vowed sole-heartedly before his face moved in much closer.

Exceedingly tender, his lips touched mine, and in an instant, that rotten guilt emptied from my heart. Love replaced the empty depths where that despair would linger for far too long. The kiss magnified, which triggered a yearning to have one another. My mouth opened for the invite to conjoin his tongue with mine. Instead of taking my indication, Kai retreated, leaving my lips cold from his touch while my breath was left panting. Fire burns through my eyes as the heat intensifies a prolonged desire that needed to be fulfilled from its ache beneath me.

Kai took the gift from my hand, and slid it into his pocket when he stood. "Come with me." He urged, extending his hand for me to take it.

My fingers laced with his before he pulled me upward, and started leading me around the paths. Once we found a stone wall, he gently pinned me against it.

"Shouldn't we go somewhere more private?" I giggled as his lips inched near my mouth. Multiple times now, we've tried to have sex, but luck hasn't been on our side. There were way too many interruptions.

"Maybe, or we could spice things up a bit," he uttered while his lips traced along mine before we locked into a loveable kiss.

Right then and now, I melt into his flavorful lips, devouring me whole. Our mouths gaped, and we slipped along each other's tongues as we spiraled into a dance duo. He'd pause for brief breaths between our kisses so he could rotate his mouth's direction. Then our mouths would go at it more hungrily. Each time we'd break for a mere second, the kissing would only get more aggressive as my fingers combed all through his hair. Our breath thickened as our panting got louder. Noisy pecks from our lips and breathing were the only visible sounds I could hear us create. My heart bustled energetically up my chest as this desire kept spreading within my core. Ecstasy quivered every bone in my body as his potent male smell engulfed my senses. My very own knees were beginning to give out on me. I trembled against his built body mass whenever his weight pressed me into the rock-made wall.

Just as I thought I might faint from pleasure, he plucked his lips free with a loud suction sound. I giggled breathlessly as his mouth inched to my collarbone. From there, he feathered light nibbles along my throat. He paused for a breather as I felt the heat of his breath against the sensitive skin on my neck.

He adjusts his face right at the space around my shoulder and neck before he starts to nibble and nip more precious kisses, right there. Right on the spot, he licks his tongue along the wee pulse on my neck. I crooned a glorious moan as he continued to kiss me, and then he'd halt for a moment before restarting again. To satisfy my expectancy, his hands wandered underneath the leg slit on my gown until he reached my panties. Magically smooth, I felt him pulling them off my hips.