Light filtered through the curtains in Yuri's living room, hitting them both in the eyes as they fell asleep in the living room playing their new game. Yuri stretched and then caught Reena from falling off the couch as he did. She woke up as he pulled her to him. she sighed and stretched too. "Couch is comfortable." She mumbled.
"Sweetheart, we fell asleep." He said softly in her ear.
"I see that." She replied as she stretched again. "I'm still tired."
"Me too." He said as he looked at the time. "We have time to sleep in some more, but let's go to the other room."
"Why?" she asked.
"More room." He replied as he got up around her and then picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. "See." He said as she stretched out on the bed.
"I do." She said as she looked at him. "You coming?"
"Not yet, but probably soon." He said with a grin.
"Yuri." She exclaimed at him. he chuckled and then took off his shirt and climbed
Book threeChapter OneGina Akechi had just got off the phone with her dad, who invited her back to the house for her younger brother's birthday, which would be this weekend. She was at school a state over for her baking. She had settled in, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. Gina, the headstrong sarcastic second daughter of Krissy and Mark Akechi, was finally on her own and loving every minute of it. The school was going well, and she had settled into dorm life and was finally happy with her life.Having been in the shadows of her older sister Reena all of her life, she was glad of this new start. She knew her parents understood her, most of all her dad, who had adopted them four years ago, right before the first of the other kids were born. She had loved seeing her mom happy and with a biological child she had wanted for so long, but the fac
Chapter TwoGina sat in her room after working in the cooking building on her recipe for finals. She had three weeks to perfect it, and she would need almost all of the time. She had designed the cake to be five layers of different flavors. She wanted to try something new, something that wasn’t anything she had tried before. She designed the outside of it as simply as she could, but she knew she needed something that would set the whole thing apart from all the others. She continued to look at the design and knew it wasn’t the design on the cake she wanted to think about. It was a certain blue-eyed man who had called a few days ago.She had talked to her mother, who laughed and said it, of course, would be okay if she spent the time over at Maleek’s house instead of the family’s house. Her newest brothers and sister were still so young that she didn’t know how to relate to them. The fact was tha
Maleek had no idea what she had just done, but it seemed that she was perfectly clear with her intentions. She sat in the cab of his truck when he got into it and just looked her over. He was seeing if she was indeed the normally quiet, sweet girl she always was. He didn’t know that she was burning through. She was burning from the inside out from the first touch of his kiss.Gina looked in front of her. She had no idea why she did that, but it seemed like a good idea to do. She really hadn’t wanted to ignite a fire in her skin. The look on his face made her want to do it again and again, though. She tried to sit still, but everything that was touching her sent shivers down her spine. With the added pressure now on her skin that seemed like everything around her was going to combust, she knew she had done something other than what she had wanted to. She was trapped by the feeling as well.Gina knew she was in trouble the second she let her eye
Gina Waited for a moment as they got to Maleek’s house. She was still reeling from the kiss that both he started and then the one that she started. She was the life your life in the moment type of person, but she had never just kissed someone. It was unlike anything she had ever done, and it not only took him by surprise but herself. She began to wonder if Reena was in the same spot, so to speak with Yuri. Everyone knew that he was for her, how he felt in the long run for her as well. This was new to her. She didn’t know if this was one of Maleek’s flings or he was being serious. He was impossible to read at times, and right now was one of those times for her.“You coming?” he asked.“Thinking,” she said as he walked over to the door and opened it for her.“Think inside. It is chilly,” he replied as he took her hand, and she walked up to the steps with him.
The night seemed to drag on as Maleek explained how he cooked the dinner and what spices he used. Normally Gina would hang on to his every word, but she had too much on her mind at the moment. He liked her. That was the number one thing in her brain she couldn’t completely settle. He had feelings for her like she did him. she had to admit it was a great feeling, but at the same time, she knew this was moving beyond her simple one-sided crush. He was not one to drag his feet though it seemed he did until she was old enough to handle this.Gina thought of Reena and Yuri. She wondered if they were having the same situation. Everyone knew how Yuri felt for Reena. The only person who seemed completely clueless was Reena. When push came to shove, she knew her sister also liked Yuri, and that was the reason she hadn’t dated much in the past four years. She used the incident as a cover, but it was the fact Yuri was there in her life on the sidelines. Gina an
“Monkey?” Maleek asked into the Kitchen.“Don’t call me that!” Gina said as she was mixing the ingredients for the pasta salad together.“Why not?” Maleek asked as he chuckled about her reaction.“That was my father's thing.” She replied.“Mark?” Maleek asked.“No, my real dad,” Gina said.“You don’t talk about him,” Maleek said.“Honestly, I tried to forget him,” she said as she looked up into his blue eyes.“Why?” Maleek asked.“He didn’t really want kids, Maleek. he wanted things. He was always high. Always.” She said.“What about your mom?” he asked.“She didn’t even stay in the hospital after I was born. She left me and signed her rights away a few months later. We all have different moms. Reena&rsq
The darkened room was nothing like the Kitchen. That was a state-of-the-art room that had everything someone could ever need. It was kept as clean as a restaurant should be. He took time to scrub every surface and make sure it was exactly as it was when it was brand new. She watched him as he worked and laughed as he cracked jokes about everything.When they moved to a different room, she knew it was not as clean. It was actually a mess like a tornado had been in there. Maleek was serious about two things in his life, and extra cleaning wasn't one of them. He loved to fight. He was good at it. Having trained with some of the best over the years, he was a fighting machine when it came to the battlefield, a force to be reckoned with both as a tactical advisor and one on one. Off the battlefield, he was passionate about food. It was infectious, and Gina, of all people, had caught it from him.This room she assumed was supposed
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Maleek asked Gina as they lay in bed together, and he was tracing a circle on her arm.“Yeah.” She said as she could hardly place any of her thoughts. She was content to lay there in his arms with her head on his chest.“Are you sure?” he asked as he moved and settled in next to her gathering her in his arms and holding her to him.“Yea, Maleek,” she said as she stared into his eyes. This man she knew was not perfect. He was obsessive and playful, but he was not perfect in any way, but he was to her. They may have complete blowups and meltdowns together, but they would always have that spark that could ignite at any time. They were friends. They were almost family. They were now the other half of each other. They were lovers.“I didn’t hurt you?” he asked.“No.,” she re