She shook it off quickly, and smiled at him.
“Let’s eat.”
She stopped in front of a stall selling bowls of warm sopas—the kind that was so fancy it had bits of Vienna sausage—but Gab’s eye gravitated to something else. Something almost fluorescent pink in the dark of the early morning.
“Oh my God,” he said, walking towards the cart like a moth to a flame, completely forgetting that he and Sari were still holding hands. “Pink popcorn.”
“Really?” Sari laughed, following him to where a man was selling popcorn from a makeshift stall, a bright yellow lightbulb showing off the shiny pink candy layer on his wares. “Gab, there’s pancit! And lomi, and bibingka! You want pink popcorn?”
“Think of the things we could put this on, Sari. I want it on everything,” Gab exclaimed excitedly, buying two little paper bags each for them. “My dad would buy a few paper bags for me and my brothers and sisters, and we had to share, of course. You ate and ate and ate, waiting for that lovely morsel of neon pink sugar that gets clumped in the popcorn. And then just when you think you’ll never experience it again, it comes back.”
A pang hit him with the memory. And it was one of those moments where he thought, Screw it, why don’t we just go home? It’s Christmas, it’ll be fine. A moment of weakness, his father would say. But he pushed it aside, kept the smile on his face, because he was determined to let nothing ruin this moment with her.
“You okay?” Sari asked, wrapping an arm around his as if to remind him that she was still there. “You looked like you went somewhere else.”
“No, I just—” He took a chunk of popcorn and started to chew. It was warm and sweet, the perfect thing for this time of day.
How odd that the most random thing would remind him of how far away from home he was, how far he was from coming home, really. Standing his ground was great and all, but it did make one very lonely.
If you were home, Dad would tell you off for exclaiming over pink popcorn, the darker corners of his head reminded him, and he remained resolute. Resolute but sad, and much happier that Sari was here with him.
If she noticed that he’d abandoned the rest of his sentence, it didn’t show. Gabriel recovered quickly, though.
“I think I need bibingka. And tsokolate. And sleep. Are you hungry? We should eat.”
“Or. We could skip the food and head straight to your place.”
Gabriel felt his jaw drop to the floor. Seriously, someone had to come along and mop it up, he was so surprised. He didn’t think Sari was...that she...but did he...?
“I’ve got protection.”
He couldn’t help himself. Gabriel lowered to kiss her, pulling her close and squeezing tight. He felt Sari’s warm hands reach up and rake her nails lightly over his scalp, tugging slightly at the curls there.
“Is that where we are already?” he asked.
“Progressing exactly as expected, yes.”
“Okay. But can I buy suman and latik first?”
“Make it two.”
* * *
When he first moved to Lipa, Gabriel would have been content with living in the warehouse. He didn’t need much in his life, really, just a bed and bathroom, as long as he had his kitchen. But all of that changed when Kira showed him the little house they had for rent in Bolbok.
Tucked into a subdivision a hop, skip and a jump from the main highway, the little green house was on a slope, under a huge Narra tree that had capiz lights and a swing. It was detached enough from the city to be completely quiet at night, but near enough that he could be in the Laneways in twenty minutes. He loved this about Lipa—the city was as big and busy as any metropolis, but it took very little to find a place to completely escape from it all. Lipa still had its quiet places away from the mad crowds. And here in his quiet little corner of the world, he had Sari Tomas with him, and he couldn’t have asked for anything more.
He and Sari burst through the door, walking into his open plan living room, heat radiating off both of them as they kissed like there was no tomorrow. Gabriel found himself holding her tighter, closer, burying his face in the crook of her neck where she was warm. Sari laughed as he exhaled, twirling away from him.
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“Nothing, it’s a tickle spot,” she explained.
“Oh...really?”
“Gabriel, don’t—” she began, but the rest of her sentence was lost as Gab took her in his arms, making her laugh as he kissed her neck. She squirmed, but held on to him anyway, and they both danced backwards and collapsed onto his couch.
“Why does your couch still have plastic on it?” Sari asked, lifting her head to confirm that yes, Gabriel was a loser who had plastic wrap on his couch like he was afraid to tear into it.
“I’ve never had to fill such a big space by myself before, so I haven’t really used this couch,” he reasoned. “But the bed’s pretty used.”
“Oh really?”
Gab only grinned in response, hooking his arms on the backs of Sari’s knees and he lifted her up with zero effort. Sari gasped, but wrapped her arms around his neck.
“What?” he asked.
“I have a book cover that looks exactly like this,” she laughed. “Except the heroine’s thighs weren’t quite as big.”
“Oh hush, sweetheart, I love your thick thighs,” he said in a British accent, and she just laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He loved that sound, the way it filled the entire house, making it seem a little less empty. Be still his beating heart.
“Lakas ka ga?”
“Aba oo,” he winked at her. “Now, milady. To the bedchamber. I’m going to rip the bodice right off of you.”
She put her hand over his mouth as she continued laughing. She was actually spasming in his arms.
“Was it something I said?” he asked wryly from underneath her hand. Sari took her hand away from his face and lightly tracked circles with her fingernails on the nape of his neck, twisting and untwisting her fingers into his curls.
“Yes. Remind me to lend you one of my books sometime,” she said into his ear, taking a tiny, playful little nibble of his earlobe.
Gab didn’t hesitate and walked up the small set of stairs leading up to the bedrooms. His curtains were still open, so he had just enough time to notice that the sky was getting purple. Dawn was about to break.
He put her on the bed and pulled off his shirt.
“Woah woah woah,” Sari exclaimed, her eyes wide as saucers as she took in his body. Gabriel never had a reason to be shy about it, and he wasn’t. He was the kind of brother who went to the kitchen without a shirt in the summertime. So what if he stood a little straighter, flexed just a little bit? “Your brazo, my God.”
“Thank you,” he grinned. “Your turn.”
She pulled at the hem of her dress, but hesitated.
“Sari?” he asked.
“Just...don’t laugh.”
She was firm, and suddenly very serious. And damn it, Gabriel was never good at things like that. His siblings knew better than to ask him not to laugh, because he almost always did.
But she lifted her dress over her head anyway, and he could see her hold her breath when the dress was tossed aside. It was so quiet outside that he heard the fabric drop to the floor, heard her suck in her breath. He saw the way her stomach dipped in when she did that, too.
She was beautiful. He loved the shape of her body, the way her skin was soft against his hands. Every little scar, every mark on her, he liked. He ran a hand through his hair, and didn’t realize he was biting his lip until he bit too hard.
“Ow,” he said.
“Oh stop.” She rolled her eyes.
“No. You’re beautiful.”
“Gabriel, you don’t have to—”
“I’m serious,” he said, fixing her with a gaze that he hoped
showed her how much he wanted her, how much he desired her. “May I?” he asked, reaching out a hand and taking a step forward.
Sari gave him a single nod, and inhaled sharply when he touched her hip. He felt ridges under his fingers as he moved against her skin, and when he looked down, he noticed that dark brown stretch marks traced up Sari’s curvy waist, the ones on the sides almost white when he pressed the skin. She had some around her breasts and arms as well.
“Don’t look,” she told him.
“I want to look,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers as his hands brushed her stomach.
“Don’t hate them.”
“They’re a part of you. And I would never hate any part of you.”
As if to demonstrate his point, Gabriel went down on his knees and placed a kiss on her stomach, tracing the marks with his fingertips.
“I’ve been told that I shouldn’t like this,” Sari said, her words slow and possibly carefully chosen as Gabriel continued to kiss her everywhere she gave him access. “That I shouldn’t display certain parts of me.”
“Whoever told you that is an idiot.”
“And you know this how?”
He paused, his lips hovering near her hip. Gabriel looked up at her, saw her pupils wide and her breath getting short.
“Because of the way you kiss me.” He trailed his hands from the outside to the insides of her thighs, and he saw goosebumps rise up her arms at his light touch. “I made a promise to pleasure you, Sari, because I knew that you would like it. A lot.”
“Oh.” Sari seemed to relax, and Gabriel brushed his thumbs against the waistband of her underwear.
“May I?” he asked, and he was sure that this was what he wanted. He’d told her that this was what he wanted. He wanted to give her pleasure, make her skin flush and her body twist and writhe.
“Yes,” she breathed, and Gabriel’s entire body hummed in delight. But he took his time, slowly sliding her underwear down her waist, onto the floor. As if to mimic his moves, Sari reached behind her and snapped off her bra, revealing full, gorgeous breasts, begging for his touch.
He couldn’t help it. He laughed.
“What the hell?” Sari asked, taking his pillow and thwacking him upside the head with it. “Bastos!”
“I’m sorry!” he said, putting the pillow aside and leaning over her, kissing her to placate her. “I just saw your boobs and remembered all the wonderful words you can use to describe them.”
He lowered his face and kissed the top curve of her right breast, almost like he was apologizing to them. Which he was, a little bit.
“Like?” Sari’s perfect eyebrow arched. He tried not to think about how the early morning light was making her skin glow, making her look softer somehow. This was not the time.
“Boobs,” he said instead, his voice low and husky as he kissed another spot.
“Breasts.”
And another.
“Tits.”
He took her right nipple in his mouth and swirled it with his tongue, making Sari moan.
“Dibdib.”
“That’s chest.”
He moved to her left, keeping a hand on her right, coaxing and feeling Sari’s skin in his hands. She was blushing fiercely, shamelessly enjoying his ministrations too much to correct him.
“Décolletage.”
“That’s cleavage,” Sari managed to say.
“A thousand apologies, milady. But you’re just so...” he said, unable to stop himself from kissing her lips, taking her face in his hands, rubbing himself against her. He cupped one of her breasts with his hands, loving the way his fingers didn’t quite cover them, the way her nipples pebbled with a few light touches against the cool morning. They weren’t perfect, but they were hers, and that was what turned him on.
“So impatient,” Sari finally giggled, her hands moving to the waistband of his jeans, expertly unbuttoning his fly before pulling them down along with his boxers. “Condom?”
“Yes. God yes.”
What was it about early morning sex that made him feel like he had all the time in the world? Even with the condom already on, Gabriel was in absolutely no hurry, making good on his promises to Sari, her cries of pleasure cutting through the silence of the dawn.
Her back arched and he slipped his fingers deeper into her, his tongue laving at her clit. She showed him how she liked it, and there was nothing more erotic to him than the sight of her own fingers showing him how to pleasure her. It was better than any sugary, candy treat, and it was all for him.
“Oh my God,” Sari gasped, one hand gripping the sheets, the other playing with her nipple. His cock stood at attention at the sounds he elicited from her, and he was so ready for this that he was actually shaking when he nudged her legs open.
“Don’t go slow,” she gasped, and they both hissed when he first entered her. It was always an adjustment, the first time with someone, but sweet tension built between them, so delicious and tangible that Gabriel could probably frost a cake with it.
Sari licked his neck, following it with a tiny suck.
“You taste like sugar,” she managed to say before he sank deeper into her.
“Fuck, you’re delicious,” he said back, and she raised her hips in return. Gab didn’t stop to breathe, what was breath when he had to go this fast, this hard?
They moved and shuffled and rocked, and there was nothing in the air but the sounds of their sighs and groans, the “yes, yes, yes” from him and the “fuck”s from her.
And when he came, it was like there was nothing at all. The whole world fell away in white-hot light, and he was completely spent. He didn’t even know when Sari got her second orgasm, but he felt all his energy drain out of him, and sleep finally catch up. He gave Sari one last kiss, as if to thank her after he was done thanking God for this.
He noticed her eyes drooping, and he slowly started to slide from underneath her. He highly doubted a hug and roll was the best course of action at the moment.
“Where you going?” Sari’s words were slightly muffled by her own face, pressed into his chest as it was.
“Can’t sleep naked,” Gab reasoned. “I’m just going to put my briefs on really quick.”
He saw Sari’s shoulder shake, felt her laughter vibrating in his body, and he squeezed the skin on her waist in retaliation.
“Don’t laugh, it’s a thing. I’ve had brothers and roommates most of my life.”
“Okay,” she conceded, slowly moving to the spot beside him, and Gab leapt off the bed, putting on his boxers before he crept in again. Sari immediately curled around him, her fingers and toes cold, and he shuddered.
“Go to sleep,” she said behind closed eyes.
“Yes m’am,” he said before he slid his arm under her, pulling her close. She fell asleep on top of him, and he fell asleep just as the roosters started to crow at the morning.
Chapter Nineteen
December 20
As much as Sari loved reading historical romance, she didn’t much like romantic comedy movies, mostly because there was always a particular scene that she hated. You know, that scene when the heroine wakes up and finds herself in bed with a complete stranger? There was always screaming, and sheet pulling, and she would have no idea how it happened or why, and oh, wasn’t this mystery guy surprisingly ripped?
No, just...no. It was portrayed as cute, almost comical, but it sounded like a terrifying situation to Sari. It didn’t sound fun at all, having no idea how you ended up in bed with a stranger and waking up next to them naked. Nope, no thanks.
But this morning, with the sun beating down through her window, and her body and feet warm, she woke up and found she wasn’t scared at all. She knew who she was with, what they had done the night before, and she was sure of where they were.
He looked at her and smiled, and her entire
heart filled with joy. There you are, his gaze seemed to say. I’m happy you’re here.
Sari wriggled her toes, and Gabriel squirmed underneath her.
“Your feet are cold,” he complained, his eyes still closed. Sari wriggled her toes against his warm leg in retaliation, making him squirm again. His squirming was enough to press a bad case of morning wood against her hip.
“And you are really awake right now,” she teased him, pushing her hip against his erect cock and making him groan.
“May I just say,” Gabriel said, his voice still sleep-hewn as they snuggled together in bed. “You went on a date with me.”
“I asked you,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but still. After asking. And asking. And asking. We’re finally on a date. I win.”
“Not for long,” she laughed, wriggling out of his arms to sit up, and dropping the sheet that was over her chest. Then she kissed him, sweet and deep.
“Oh, sweetheart, you make me want you so bad,” Gabriel sighed, his voice still rough with sleep, and Sari kissed him again. And again. She found she quite enjoyed it. Even more so when Gabriel opened his eyes, looking into hers as his hand lazily made its way between her legs. The boy was a fast learner, and by the time Sari had come down from her early morning Os, she was perfectly content to sleep again.
When they were done, and a proper mess was made, Gabriel nuzzled his nose against the spot underneath her ear and said the one thing she was hoping he would say.
“Are you hungry?”
* * *
“Any diet restrictions I should know about?” Gabriel asked over his shoulder as they walked single file from his bedroom to his kitchen. “Allergies?”
She really liked his house. The size and the open layout was perfect for a small family, and that tree swing in the yard was just beautiful. Had Sari had a choice of where to live, she would maybe live in a place like this.
“No allergies. I can eat anything,” Sari said, waving a hand in front of him as they walked in. She quite liked his kitchen—it was bright and sunny, and at the front of the house, so it had a view of the driveway, with little purple flowers growing underneath some window boxes. “Where’s your coffee?”
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