HIS PROMISE

Ava opened her mouth at a loss of how to reply to his words, she scratched under her ear and turned into her bedroom.

"Do you mind spending the night with me, huh?"

His next words halted her pace halfway while she allowed her mind to reel in the last night they spent together. That night she had voluntarily given her innocence to him.

Recalling this moment, her heart blistered, searing up her arm and spreading like a flash fire through her chest.

Her throat tightened, and she struggled to swallow around the lump that gathered thick.

"It's quite late now, Zac," the words were hard when she pushed them out.

"I'm right outside your apartment,"

Her eyes instantly opened wide with disbelief.

She then inhaled a shaky breath before turning around slowly to see his dark frame pressing against his car across her own house.

Lips quivering and heart drumming widely, she skipped over to where he stood but stopped just an inch away.

Her breath hitched as soon as her eyes struck on him. He wore both of his hair and beard longer tonight, giving him an extra look of edge and roughness.

His dark hair touched the collar of his shirt and Ava's fingers itched to run over his covered jaws and smooth hair while his stormy eyes remained the same, intense on her, dark and dominant.

Reaching out his hand and holding hers, Zac lunged her into his chest. It sent another rush of chills skating down her flesh, sloping with a sensation; like every nerve ending in her body had suddenly sparked to life.

He plastered his body against hers and he angled in so close, their nose touching.

"Why do you keep screwing with my concentration lately, Tinkerbell?" his voice dropped to a lure. His lips suddenly at her jaw, touching, igniting, destroying something inside her.

"You've got to make it stop, kitten. Will you please do that?" his heady sharp cologne with his signature smell of a hint of smoke tingled her nostrils.

Something tugged in her lower region as she filled her lungs with him.

Forehead pressed against his, noses touching, stormy brown clashing with her turquoise blue.

Strong arms clutched her to them in a possessive grip and her eyelids threatened to shut, drunk in his intoxicating warmth.

"I want to sleep with you, Zac," her breathing was heavy and strained when her words tumbled out.

A grin spread across Zac's face as he mumbled out around her neck, "Of course, that's why I'm here, honey,"

And like that, he guard her to the passenger side, opened the door for her, and made sure she had settled down carefully before he rounded the front of the car and then slipped into the driver's seat.

Long minutes later, they were found in one of Zac's exquisite penthouses.

"Let's have something first," Zac notified, holding her hand and strolling into the kitchen way.

Spotting the not-too-tall oak white table with like four covered dishes sitting on it in the middle of two chairs at an angle of the kitchen, a small smile covered Ava's lips.

She had missed dinner and with the way the tiny smell of sweet and sour pork, fried spicy shrimp, and braised fish was lingering around her nostrils, her stomach began to churn hysterically.

Getting there, Zac scooted a seat backward for Ava and she carefully sat down with a mumbled, "Thank you"

"It's been a long while since I last cooked, Tinkerbell, but I hope I can still win your heart with these," Zac said his words in a low voice while uncovering the dishes and sitting in the chair opposite Ava.

Batting her eyelashes, "You cook?" Ava asked, jaw-dropping.

A frown set between Zac's joined brows, "What do you take me for? Why exactly are you surprised?"

Ava closed her mouth and wet her lower lip and blurted out her mind, "Never have I heard of a billionaire in the kitchen before,"

A genuine chuckle left Zac's lips while he dished out every part of each meal for Ava who in turn was still watching his movement with shock.

"Billionaires are human beings too, honey. Moreover, Genevieve never gave me a break until I learned various dishes to some certain point," Zac elucidated. His eyes went to Ava every few seconds.

However, annoyance had pricked Ava's skin upon hearing another girl's name in his mouth. Her hands on the table were tight in fists and her hunger immediately died down.

So, Genevieve was his lover in the past? He would have loved her so much to the length that she made him learn how to cook. Disappointment filled her chest at this thought.

Wow... What was she thinking? Zac was much older than her, so it was much more appropriate for him to have engaged in a lot of relationships in the past.

"Tinkerbell?" his voice snapped her out of her trance and flames ignited in the spot where his hand was resting on her hand.

"Are you okay? Don't you like any of the food?" Zac asked with troubled eyes, peering into her soul.

"Yes. Of course, I'm okay," Ava replied half-heartedly and retracted her hand from his.

"It's just that, since you are so much older than me, who knows how many relationships you have had and I wondered if you're sincere about me," she said, with as much confidence as she could muster- not looking at his face.

A wide grin tugged at the corners of Zac's mouth as he carried the plate and dropped it in front of Ava.

He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest and eyes touching every inch of Ava's face.

"Genevieve is my mother," he let out in a small voice and he watched as Ava's eyes and mouth opened in awe.

After being stunned for a few seconds, "Your... your mother?" she sputtered and this answered Zac's guess.

He'd reckoned that Ava was being jealous and he was right.

"Yes, baby. Who were you thinking Genevieve was?" Zac leaned over on the table and asked with his dark eyebrows raised high.

Ava just chewed on her bottom lip and lowered her head timidly, she wished the floor could open and swallow her whole.

You're so silly, Ava. She screamed at herself internally.

"So, will you eat now? You wouldn't like my effort to go to waste, would you?" Zac said with a self-mockery, grabbing a fork and handing it to her.

Without raising her head high, she collected the fork and uneasily dig into the delicious meal very slowly.

When being stared at, she twirled her hair to gloss over her awkward moment.

**

"Here," Zac turned around from his closet and handed out his shirt to Ava. "I like it when you wear my shirt,"

Ava collected the white shirt without meeting his intense gaze on her. To be honest, she also liked being in his big shirt, especially without any underwear.

"I'll be outside," Zac informed, angling his head in the direction of the outdoor.

Ava nodded and then stepped aside for him to pass. She had become much more vulnerable around him since the moment she had said those words to him at the table.

There in the adjoined balcony, there stood Zac, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette through his nose. His void gaze stared into the dark night with over millions of stars shining above him.

Ava walked into the balcony and came to stand beside him. Soft night breeze blowing across the open meadow ahead of them. Ava took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the sweet fragrance of the environment.

"There was none, Tinkerbell"

Heeding his words out of the blue, Ava tilted her head to look at him but he was still looking onward. She waited for him to continue anyway.

Right then, he dropped his half-smoked cigarette and stepped on it to terminate the flame.

He then turned his whole body to face Ava, watching her as if he was looking at the most precious and beautiful thing in the world.

Edging closer, eclipsing her in his towering frame. He spiraled one of his arms around his waist, his brown eyes sparkling as he watched her.

Ava's head spun and her knees knocked, mouth going dry.

"In my past life," he began, moving his hand from her waist to her hips. Shivers raced down Ava's spine and spread to throb between her thighs at his touch.

"I must have been a nasty person who committed wrongdoings. In this life, God just brought you to me to punish me," Zac concluded, his intense look not peeling off Ava's for a second.

Meanwhile, Ava couldn't tell if it was his hot breath or the words that took her off guard and made her feel like burning up all over.

"You're my present and future, Ava. You're mine alone... just mine, and nothing in this world can ever separate you from me. Never," he said and sealed his promise to her with a kiss.