Volume 3, Chapter 19: To Love or Not to Love?

I'd never known that a kiss could be so wild and intense, feeling like life and death.

And when he let me go, I needed to lean against the wall to stay on my feet. His hands supported him on either side of me, enclosing me within his arms, his breathing heavy as if he'd been drained of all strength and needed to lean on something to stay upright.

I dared not look up, feelings of shyness, embarrassment, or maybe fear swirling inside me, scared that if our eyes met again, something genuinely scandalous might happen. He didn't speak either. We just stood there frozen, then simultaneously tried to move, ignoring the car left at the bar's entrance and directly hailing a taxi back to the hotel.

The trip was utterly silent.