CHAPTER 19

After doing the same to her other nipple, he pulled away, took the soap from the tray, and started soaping her legs. When he had rinsed them off, he looked into her eyes. " Ready? "

" Ready for what? " Her tone was bemused.

" This. " He started soaping her pussy.

" Aaaaaah! "

He soaped her quickly but thoroughly and then he rinsed her with equal care. Afterwards, he squatted down and did what he had been dying to do from the start.

He ate her pussy. Above him, he heard her start to scream.

He licked and lapped her up. He thrust his tongue in and out of her folds. And when her hips started thrusting against his mouth, he gripped her in place before sucking on her clit.

" Yuri! "

He heard the panic in her voice and rose up immediately, knowing that it was Kathy's first time to feel an orgasm building inside her. " It's okay. " he murmured soothingly, " It's okay, sweetheart. "

Her eyes remained wide with confusion and terror.

" It's going to be good. Just relax and trust me. " His body clenched at the way she gulped, visibly struggling with her fears before she slowly forced her body to relax. " It will be good, " he promise tautly just before diving his fingers back into her pussy. He found her clit without any problem, and locking his gaze with hers, he slowly pinched her clit between his fingers.

She buckled, and he pinched her again. She gasped, and he pinched her harder. She came at the fifth pinch, her eyes dilating as she moaned his name. Without taking his gaze off hers, he reached for his own dick with his other hand, and in seconds, he was gritting her name out as he, too, came.

It was another half hour before they left the shower, Yuri remembering belatedly to shampoo and condition her hair before helping her to dress. They ate a quick breakfast at the private kitchen in their floor and after, it was time for Kathy to attend her first day of college.

'It would have been a perfect day', Yuri thought grimly. If only Leo Blaze Arlotta hadn't managed to get his damn foot in first.

The two of them stared at each other at the doorway. Leo had offered to take Kathy to class, supposedly as part of his duty as her official guide. Kathy had accepted, and Yuri had to pretend he didn't mind. He hadn't been able to think of any way to let his fianceé know the Italian was a piece of shit without breaking her heart.

Helios joined him as he watched Leo and Kathy walk away. The other man had his golf cart with him again, and he heard Kathy ask if she could drive it one day. His fists clenched at the thought that it would be another man teaching his woman to drive.

" I'm surprised, you're letting her go. " Helios remarked.

Only when Leo and Kathy had driven away did Yuri answer. " I can't keep her caged forever. "

" Fair enough. " As Yuri closed the front door, Helios continued. " But you're forgetting something, I think? "

" And what is that, Ex President? ", he asked politely.

" A cage's not a cage when you have the key to it. " - Helios

Yuri's smile didn't reach his eyes. " I wonder, though. Would having the key matter when one of them is claustrophobic? He might never leave the cage, might even throw away the key so neither of them would be able to leave. "

Both of them knew that this time, Yuri wasn't just talking about Kathy.

Helios said slowly, " You could look at it differently. What happened before...maybe it only happened because you were caged with the wrong person. "

The former president's words remained with him even when lunch had come and gone and he was preparing a bento box for Kathy, thinking it would make a good surprise.

" Oh my God, what are you doing? " Hallie hurried inside the kitchen, unable to believe that Aria had indeed been telling the truth. Yuri Daniel Athanas was in the kitchen and cooking!

She reached his side, took one look at the table, and burst into laughter. It was a complete mess, with bento making tools scattered next to bowls of discarded food.

" Don't worry about that, " Yuri muttered gruffly when he saw her gaze at the mountains of bread and egg he had on plates, all of them imperfectly shaped. " I told Aria I'll be fixing tonight's meal, and no one's is going to dare not eat it when they found out I cooked it. "

'A good point', Hallie thought ruefully. Although it was also openly ruthless, which was rare for her brother. Yuri had always liked to manipulate from behind the scenes.

Taking a seat on one of the stools, she asked curiously. " What are you planning to do? "

" Onigiri at the start, " he said disgruntled. " but it proved too hard so now I think I'll stick with a sandwich. "

She peeked at his latest piéce de résistance and smiled at the design he had chosen. " How romantic, " she teased.

" Shut up. "

She pretended to be offended. " Is that how it is now? You snap everyone's head off except Kathy's? "

Yuri said with charming gentleness, " Shut up. " His sister burst into peals of laughter, and his hands temporarily stilled at the sound of it.

'That', he thought absently, was what he had promised to marry Kathy for. That was what he had pretended to love Kathy for, and knowing that she was now safe from harm made Yuri unable to regret his decision.

He looked at her then. Pretty little Hallie, whose eyes were so like his. Her dazzling feminity hid a strong mind and an even stronger will to survive. She was dressed like a doll again, and he found himself thinking, not for the first time, if there was a more serious meaning behind it.

Hallie noticed her brother staring at her, and she asked uneasily. " Is something wrong? "

Yuri shook his head, " No, I was just thinking. " He started on the bento making again.

Sensing that Yuri wasn't completely telling her the truth, she asked. " Is it because of Dr. Corba? Is he bothering you again? "

" That's one. "

She frowned. " You should just block his number. I mean, you can't really believe what he's saying about Kathy, can you? " She shook her head at the mere thought of it. " It's like what you said. She's different, Special. But she's not crazy. "

" I know. "

She bit her lip, and suddenly it was clear to her. " Oh, Yuri! "

When Hallie's voice caught, Yuri glanced sharply to his sister, and that was when he realized he hadn't fooled her at all. " Hallie.. "

She shook her head vehemently. " You must listen to me this time. " She bit her lip harder, using it to control her tears. " You were never to blame, and more than that, you managed to save me. Now, it's time to let go. "

Yuri didn't answer, but he hadn't stopped her from speaking either, and Hallie knew she should be thankful for that.

Or not.

Because behind the kitchen door was Lily, listening to every word that her vengeful, bitter heart knew could be used against Kathryn Ice Rewis in the future. She just had to find someone who could help her play her cards right.

While Kathy stared at the bento box, Yuri held in his hands like it was a snake in the grass, other people in the hallway stared at them, their heads twisting in their direction as they walked past Yuri and Kathy.

'This', Yuri thought grimly, was getting damn awkward, but knowing Kathy, she wasn't feeling a thing.

Another half minute passed and they remained standing outside her baking class. Yuri had come to pick her up, no different he knew from a nervous parent anxious to see if his kid hadn't been traumatized by his first day of school.

In front of him, Kathy continued to stare at his bento in silence. She was perfectly beautiful and motionless, the complete opposite of a statue coming to life. Instead, she was like a girl turned immortal in marble, with her alabaster skin and exquisitely symmetrical features.

" Are you going to take it or not? " he asked finally.

Violet eyes met his. " But is it really for me? "

He was exasperated. " I told you it is. "

Silence again, and just when he had decided to simply retract his offer even if it did dent his ego like hell, she said simply. " I find it hard to believe. "

" Why? "

" Because no one else has done it for me. "

It was his turn to be skeptical. " Not even Kristina Rewis? "

She nodded then held out her hands.

Placing the bento box in her hands, he murmured. " I see. " But he didn't. How could her grandmother not do something this simple for her? Surely she had known that food worked like some kind of value metric for her granddaughter?

" Do you want to eat it now? " he heard himself ask. " I know a nice spot in the garden at the back of this building. "

A slow nod, but her eyes were shinning like he had told her he could give her the moons and the stars.

Taking her hand, he led her into the heart of the University's gardens, which boasted of award winning landscaping. Once in a while, he would hear her sigh, like the beauty surrounding her took her breath away. Again, it highlighted how different she was from other heiresses, most of whom would have taken such loveliness for granted.

'Differences', Yuri thought, he now appreciated.

" We're here. " He brought her to a gazebo facing the garden's man made pond.

Kathy looked around her and then told him gravely, " It's perfect. "

'And private', Yuri thought. He had his guards circle the perimeter to prevent anyone from interrupting them.

When they were seated across each other, Kathy finally opened her bento box, which contained to pieces of blackened panda shaped toast as well as a heart shaped sunny side up, also badly burnt.

" Wow. " She stopped speaking as one of his guards approached them, handling Yuri and Kathy a cup of coffee each, which had been freshly brewed from a nearby specialty coffee shop. When the guard had walked away, Kathy told him badly. " This is unbelievable bad. "

He burst into laughter.

" But, " his fiancée continued in a queenly voice. " I shall enjoy it because you did it for me. " As she ate, she started telling him about her first day in a class, where no one had looked at her like she wasn't normal and the teacher had not hated Kathy for being natural genius in the kitchen. She said the words so matter of factly it had him laughing again, to which Kathy remarked. " I do not see the humor in it. "

After the meal and the coffee, he patted his thigh and again, she didn't hesitate, climbing into his lap in broad daylight like it was the most natural thing in the world.

'If all women were without a coy bone in their bodies like Kathy', Yuri thought. It would be so damn easy for men to fall in love.

Time passed in peaceful silence. He thought she was sleeping when she stirred and suddenly said his name.

" What is it? " He couldn't resist nuzzling the top of her head as he spoke.

She looked up at him. " What we did this morning... "

He raised a brow.

She asked thoughtfully. " I can eat you, too, can't I? "

Yuri choked.

" Right? "