I was so puzzled, and had no idea of where to run to. I didn’t want to disturb the neighborhood, but what could I do? As I ran with so much intensity, that was when my legs decided to trip against each other. I gasped, and fell to the floor like a dead leaf.
Panting, I managed to sit up. I turned around to face the dogs, shaking my head at them. “Please! Don’t harm me!” I cried.
Of course, they didn’t listen to me. They just ran towards me, and jumped over my body.
“Ah!” I cried. Closing my eyes, I lay on the floor, praying for a miracle to happen.
What were they gonna eat first? My hair? My hands? My legs? My boobs? Or my butt?
I tightened my fist, tightened my eyes. About saying my last prayer, I felt something lick the skin of my face. Dazed, I opened my eyes widely. To my surprise, the dogs were caressing my skin with their tongues. Wait, what? Okay, first, it was gross. And, second, they weren’t eating me?
“Happy one week anniversary.” Hearing that masculine voice, I sat straight. I blinked, and snapped my neck around.
Ryan? He wasn’t dead?
Excited, I pushed the dogs off my body, stood up, ignoring the whine from one of the dogs.
“Ryan!” I hurried over to him, and threw my arms around his neck, cuddling him so tight. “Oh, my! You’re alive!”
“Yes, I— wait, what? Did you think I was dead?”
I pulled away, cupping my hands around his jaw. “Yes.” I nodded. “Not like I wanted to have you killed or something. Well, um, the dogs came out of your condo.”
He chuckled, and tweaked my cheek. “You’re too much. Actually, I planned all this. This is my anniversary present to you. I knew you’re scared of dogs, so—”
“You asshole!” I slapped his arm, frowning playfully at him. “Do you know how scared I was? I’d thought they’d eat me.”
“Nah, nah.” He chuckled for a second time, his fingers playing around my hairline. “Well, these dogs are trained German Shepherd dogs. They possibly can’t attack people for no good reason.”
“Hm…”
“Anyway, you like the surprise?”
“Yeah right. In fact, I love it.” Obviously, I was being sarcastic.
He smiled, those blue eyes glinting so much. “So, you wanna come in and see what I’ve got for you?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’d better not be something dog-ish. You don’t want me to cut your balls off, right?”
“Ah, no.” He threw his arms up, wiggling them in the air. “Please. Not the balls. OMG, I’m scared. Spare me, my lady.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re so silly.”
He winked at me. “Yeah. Silly for you.”
A young man came over to us, and took the dogs out of our proximity after Ryan gave him some money. Afterwards, we walked to Ryan condo, stepped in, and shut the door.
Ryan accompanied me to the living room, then went upstairs to get something. I took my phone from my pocket when I heard it beep, and saw it was a text from Vicki.
“Hey girl,
How’s it going? What’s up with him? Huh? Gosh, I’m hoping to hear some good news!”
What good news was she talking about?
I rolled my eyes. Without sending her a reply, I dropped the phone on the center table in front of me. It wasn’t bad to reply to her text, but, if I did so, she’d only end up elongating the conversation.
“See what I’ve got here.” Ryan appeared. He sat in the space beside me, sighed, and smiled.
“What’s that?” I glanced at the white clothes in his hand, then turned to him.
He gave one of them to me. “I made it for us. Anytime we celebrate an anniversary, I’ll make us some clothes.”
I giggled. “But, it’s only a one week anniversary. How can you be this excited?”
Again, he sighed. His smile became smaller, yet, the beam in those eyes became stronger. “It’s a week for you. But, to me, it’s like a year.”
“Hm… how?” I leaned into the couch, crossing my legs over each other, as I looked intently at him.
“It’s been long since I’ve been yearning to have you. So, this one week has been the best time of my life. I’ve smiled so much in only a week.
Can you see the magnitude of this blessing you’ve blessed me with?” He explained.
“Oh, stop.” I tapped him on his arm, blushing so much. “You make me feel so special, huh?”
He took my hand, squeezed it in his. “I’m happy to be with you. Trust me. That’s the reason I decided to take this first anniversary seriously.”
“I’m glad you are.”
“So now, wear the shirt.” He winked. “We’ll be dining out tonight. It’s a date.”
“Kk.”
His smile grew wider. “Happy anniversary.”
I chuckled. “Though this is weird, well, Happy anniversary to you too.”
He was staring at me, and I did the same. Instantly, I realized how silent the condo was, though I had always known that. I didn’t know why, but my feet suddenly felt so cold. Why did I feel this weird? I guessed I should break the silence.
I laughed weirdly, and stood up. “Guess I’ll go upstairs now. Once I’m done dressing, I’ll let you know.”
Saying that, I turned to leave. But then, he held my wrist back. He smiled at me, a strange emotion and desire running in his eyes. What did he want now?
“Wait,” he said. The lowness and huskiness of his voice made my heart throb against my chest. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be nervous, but I really was. “Come. Come sit here for a while. We’ve got all the time in the world. There’s no need for you to be in a hurry.”
Helpless, I nodded. Though I was quite hesitant, I sat beside him. I clinged my hands to my lap, not looking at him. Particularly, I wasn’t looking at him because I knew his eyes were on me. This was a bit uncomfortable.
Uniformed, he pulled his hand around my jaw, and turned my face to him. “I’m not gonna hurt you. You know that, right?”
I nodded, and swallowed. “You need something?”
He leaned close, and just nodded. Before I could sense any other thing, his lips met with mine. He kissed gently, kissed with a thrust of passion, and kissed with serenity. In a week, I was used to kissing him, so of course, I returned his kiss.
I knew he wasn’t getting enough, so I pulled my arms around his neck. I tugged at his lips so hard, and he did the same. Slowly, his hand crept to my waist, pulled me closer to him, which made him kiss even harder. There was desire, passion, love, tranquility, hovering around us.
This was a mere kiss, but it made me feel completely out of this world. It felt like my body was reacting to this. His hands began moving from my waist, and they moved to my hip. I felt even more desirous, felt tempted.
His kiss became so intense, even to the point that it made me move backwards. Unaware, my back hit the armrest of the chair. My attraction towards him was worsening, and I knew it was time to pull away. But, my desire was almost surpassing my subconscious mind.
He pinned me to the armrest of the couch, and even yanked me closer. It didn’t seem like he would pull away as well.
Wait, what were we doing? If we continued, we would end up—
No. I wouldn’t let that happen. It was only one week since we began dating. Despite the fact that I had dated Ralph for two years, I hadn’t let him touch me. What was I doing now?
A bit alarmed, I pulled away from our kiss, gasping for air. He quickly moved backwards, breathing hard as well.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I nodded gently. “I-It’s fine. Guess we’ll have to learn to control ourselves.”
“Serene.” He took my hand. “When you aren’t comfortable with our closeness, don’t hesitate to say it. Please.”
Again, I nodded.
He pecked my knuckles. “Go upstairs now. Will wait here for you.”
For the third time, I nodded. Not wasting time, I stood up, heading to the staircase. As I walked there, I felt good, yet, a strange thought was running through my head.
I loved Ryan, and I trusted him. But, the thing was, I was yet to differentiate between love and lust. So, till further notice, I wouldn’t let anything happen between us. After my breakup with Ralph, I had vowed to be careful around men. And yes, I would keep up with that promise.
I trusted Ryan. But, everything required time.
Besides, like damn, I loved his lips! They made me drool for him! Ah, men, I had a cute guy! How lucky I was.
***