NINE

There was no way we would automatically act as though we were the best of buddies after that whole conversation. We would be delusional to think that an attempt was in order. I understood Link and he understood me. For now, that was more than I could ever ask for. And I would leave it at that.

"I'm really not in the mood to eat anywhere else expect the hotel." I told Link when we were both strapped in the car.

He didn't look my way as he answered. "Sure."

Although his reply was short, I couldn't help but feel this sharp pang in my chest at what we had become. There was this tug and push at play between us and it left me far more confused than anything. One minute, I didn't want anything to do this with man. And the next, he was back in my life and awakening all sorts of feelings inside of me. I silently berated myself, a quick reminder that I had no right to feel any sort of pang whatsoever when it came to Link. The only thing I was allowed to do was to keep myself a good distance away from him.

Staring out the window, my face blank yet my mind was filled with small thoughts here and there. First, it was as though Link bathed himself in his cologne before he stepped back in the car since that sharp, masculine scent filled my nostrils, almost rendering me delirious. There was something about a man with a signature scent that as a perfectly healthy female, I couldn't not acknowledge. And secondly, from my peripheral vision, I could see Link was struggling with something. The way his hands clenched and unclenched on the steering wheel, how his upper torso couldn't decide whether to sit up straight or lean back gave it all away.

I was half tempted to ask what was going on but opening ourselves to another topic seemed to put me off. It wasn't due to fear, but there was this underlying understanding between us two that normal chit chat would never stay normal between us. 

So I kept my mouth shut and focused on the other things that filled my mind. And gratefully, they were significant enough to keep me occupied until we reached the hotel. He stopped the car by the front and I didn't wait one more second before I dived out the car.

The wide expanse and escape of the tight space in the car was welcoming as I inhaled deeply, letting the air rush into my lungs. I heard Link step out the car behind me and soon enough he was in step with me.

"Damn it Ori," I heard him mutter under his breath. 

Just stay quiet... a voice reminded me. But I couldn't. "What?" I asked him, shooting him a look.

He was scanning the area around us before his eyes rested on my face. "Just because you want to get the hell away from me doesn't mean you have to run in the open like that."

I was surprised at his words and... was that a sort of hurt I could detect in his voice?

We walked inside the lobby of the hotel. "I'm not trying to get the hell away from you." I told him. And I wasn't. Was I? 

I was trying to get myself out of an uncomfortable situation. I pressed the button to call for the lift and waited for it to come, all the while trying my best to seem nonchalant as I could feel Link's eyes burning into me. "Say's the girl who had to scoot all the way to the window to get some space between us."

I snapped my head towards him. "I did not!"

He arched one eyebrow back at me. "You did."

The doors of the lift opened and we both stepped aside to let the people who were in it to step out. Once we were inside the lift, with the doors closed I turned to him again. "I was looking out the window and thinking about things."

Another eyebrow went up. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

I shook my head at him. There was no way I would tell him my own private thoughts. He didn't warranty to know about them so why the hell was he asking for them? I jabbed a finger to my chest. "My thoughts are my own."

He scoffed out, making it clear about his feelings towards the bullcrap sputtering out my mouth. "So you weren't thinking about how to get way from me?"

I let out an exasperated sigh, my hands lifting up then slamming down to my sides. He was infuriating. "What's it to you if I don't want to be near you? You said what you had to say and that doesn't automatically make us besties. We can be civil towards each other but by no means am I going to be all warm and fuzzy towards you so don't expect anything from me. Was I trying to get away from you? Maybe!" I heard the ding in the lift, letting us know that we were at the floor. But I didn't pay enough attention towards it and instead was completely focused on Link.

"But maybe I just wanted to get out the car because it's suffocating. The whole situation between us is suffocating and a part of me knows it's the cowardly way out but I'm taking it." I couldn't believe it when I had lifted my feet slightly off the ground and dropped it back down. Link couldn't either as he glanced down at my feet then back at my face again.

"It's not the cowardly way out." Link said softly, pressing the button to open the lift doors. "And I respect what you think of the whole situation so I promise I'll stay away from you except to let you know the important details."

I breathed out, relief washing over me. He wasn't going to push this any further and I could finally get the space I wanted from him. So why did that sharp pang return to my chest at the thought of Link staying away? I ignored it and marched out the lift just as the doors were about to close.

I could hear him shuffling closely behind me. I felt as thought I had to say something, add on to it to make sure we parted in the most neutral of ways possible. I whirled around before I could talk myself out it, catching the small surprised look across Link's face before he caught himself.

I opened my mouth to say something but snapped it shut when all I could do was stand there and gape my mouth open like a fish. I snapped myself out of it when Link levelled an expectant gaze on me. When I didn't speak, Link started to move, ignoring the fact that I was right in front of him and that if he didn't stop he could walk into me. 

I was still trying to get my words together, whilst watching Link close the distance between us until nothing decent separated us. My head was screaming, my heart taking a massive leap. "I-I just want to say thank you." I wanted to give myself a right smack to the head. 

"You're welcome." He said slowly, his words dragging out as he too was unsure.

"Yeah," I started to say again, my heart taking another leap. I felt a rush of tingles when his masculine scent filled me again and this time, I welcomed the dizziness that accompanied after it. The proximity was causing me to stagger around my senses and I couldn't explain why I was reacting like this. I cleared my throat. "Thank you for-" 

I was silenced by Link's mouth on mine. His hands came onto me as if my body was a magnet, one wrapping itself my waist and pulling me in closer. The other came to my hair and allowed for him to deepen the kiss. It took my body less than a second to respond after the initial shock and I melted into the kiss. And soon enough, it became a battle as to who could take the most from the other. For me, Link was taking my breath away after each touch until I was pressed fully against him, swimming in all the intense desire that awakened inside of me. 

The cravings of being touched by a male, that male being Link who had this power to relinquish all my perception, overwhelmed me to a point where a somewhat animalistic behaviour surfaced. I lifted my hands and wrapped them around his neck, digging my nails deep into his skin until I heard his short gasp. It was one of pleasure since he replied with equally feverish tugs. 

His lips left mine only to trail kisses down my jaw and downwards until his lips pressed feather-like touches in the curve of my neck. I leaned my head to the side, welcoming his touch yet aching for more. 

He pulled away far too soon and I was slightly ashamed at the cry that escaped out my mouth.

The burn that resided down below me was intensifying as Link's dark, hooded eyes landed on my face. I was panting, withering under his hands as I silently begged for more. He didn't seem as affected as me but I know, with his own laboured breathing that the kissed impacted him in some way. 

A rational part of me managed to surface as I inhaled deeply and gather enough to speak. "You promised to stay away." Oh how my words contradicted every vibe coming off my body. I was still pressed against him, my hands wrapped around his neck. We were still tangled into one another and even though we were both done, we still clung onto each other.

"I know." He said quietly. Then he finally stepped away and it took all my willpower to not buckle then and there. "I'll see you in the morning." He turned and sauntered away.

****

LINK

Link held back the need to turn around and look back at her. Because he knew if he did, there was nothing that could stop him from turning around, push her against the wall and finish what he started. Her taste still filled him, making it harder to ignore what he was starting to feel. And man, did his own feelings nearly sucker punch him to the ground.

He didn't play her when he promised to stay away but seeing her so up close to him, her lips that perfect rosy colour and her eyes so determined yet confused he couldn't help himself. It was wrong to force himself onto her like that, but all his morals flew out the window when not one second later, Orianna had responded with equal want and need.

Link heard her door open behind him and when he heard it slam shut, he dropped his head against the wall, his whole body slumping down. He let go of the hold he had over his muscles and just collapsed both physically and mentally. 

Damn... he couldn't ever remember when he felt this drained after sexual contact with any female. And Orianna left him like this from just a kiss.  

"Fuuuck." He breathed out in a ragged voice. 

Link was screwed up. Because he had a promise to keep now and going around kissing Ori was not something that would bode well with his promise. From now on, he was going to respect her wishes and stay the hell away from her.

He scoffed out loud to himself. "If that was what you really wanted." Link said. After that kiss, he would be mad to think he could stay away from her. 

////

> Man oh man, don't I just love moments like these between the two. 

> Quick question! Do you guys want to see Mace's story or Nolan's story? I'm thinking ( or going to force myself) to start one of them alongside this story... Not sure tho :/