DRAWN (9 page)

          “I’m fine,” I say, rubbing the sore spot on my head gingerly. Bloody hell. I hate how I frequently turn into a klutz around this guy.

          Yuki gently pushes my hand away and starts rubbing the sore spot even as he shifts gears and get the car to move. “I’d rather I drive you to school and wherever we go,
senpai
. You’re going to get sick if you have to constantly wait for me in the rain---”

           “It’s okay, Yuki. If this happens again, I’ll have Lace drive me to---”

          Yuki’s eyebrow goes up. “My house?”

          Mmm…Lace will
not
be comfortable of having me alone with Yuki in his house.

          “Somewhere near there,” I finish. I really can’t afford being seen with him anymore because Yuki was totally right. My life as a happily ignored wallflower ended the moment the rumor mills stringed our names together in one sentence.

          As Yuki negotiates traffic, my gaze drifts aimlessly around the car – and falls on his dashboard compartment. Remembering something I’ve read about
this
part of a car’s anatomy, I ask, “Do you mind if I take a look?”

          “Feel free,
senpai
.” Yuki’s gaze stays with me as I unsnap the drawer open and start rummaging.

          “Maybe if you tell me what you’re looking for…”

          “Contraceptives?”

          He chokes.

          I smile sheepishly. “There’s this magazine article I read and it says that the hottest guys always have condoms in their cars.” I look at him hopefully. “And their wallets.”

          “And you want to know that because---”

           I need it for my research?

But since I can’t tell him that, my tongue starts fumbling for an excuse. “I…just want to know if you practice safe sex?”

          “I don’t.”

          My jaw drops. “You don’t practice safe sex?”

          Yuki rolls his eyes. “I don’t have any condoms with me. The girls I date buy it all the time.” He glances at me slyly. “But if you want to know my size in advance,
senpai---
”

          “I think I’m going to have another nosebleed,” I mumble.

          Yuki slams his foot on the brake, and my seatbelt makes a loud snap, pushing me back against my seat just before my head kisses the dashboard. Cars honk behind us as they swerve to another lane to avoid hitting us.

          “Are you really fine?” he almost shouts. “You weren’t honest with me a while ago, were you? Something’s wrong with your nose and---”

          “I was kidding,” I whisper.

          Yuki pales.

          “I’m sorry,” I whisper in an even smaller voice.

          “
SENPAI.”

          “Sorry, sorry!”

          Yuki’s still looking at me like he’s trying to think if the world’s better off without stupid girls who cry wolf.

          “I was just kidding,” I say again, in the smallest voice I can manage.

          Yuki shakes his head. “Don’t you know how bad I feel about punching you?”

          “Okay, so you punched me---” I stop when I saw Yuki wince.

Oops. I start again. “So you punched me---” Yuki looks in serious pain now.

          Bloody hell.

          I take a deep breath, promising myself I’ll explain it clearly this time. “The thing is, Yuki, it was a good thing you did…
that
. Since it’s the only way…you know…I’d…stop.” Bloody hell, now I’m the one in the most painful throes of embarrassment.        

          The pained expression on his face disappears, which I’m glad to see, until of course he opens his mouth and asks innocently, “I think you lost me,
senpai
. The only way you’d stop what?”

          Lost, my arse. He’s godly knowledge about shagging probably has him seducing girls even when he was a cute blue-eyed baby.

          “Piss off.”

My phone beeps just as we arrive at his home. I take it out, biting back a groan when I realize it’s from Lace. Her message is short but sweet: BOUNDARIES.

          “Who is it?” Yuki asks as he unlocks the front door.

          “Lace,” I answer absently, wondering what kind of reply I can send to her so that she’d stop worrying.

          We go inside his house, and the heavy door swings shut behind us silently. Yuki’s hand is suddenly at the small of my back, and I freeze.

          I look up.

          A secretive smile is playing on his lips, and the familiar gleam in his eyes is back. “It’s time to play with my little toy.”

          Oh, dear.

          Before I know it, he’s pulled us both down. He hits the rug on a thud, while I fall to his lap. I squirm, and something hard presses against me.

That’s when I remember that I’m still not wearing mine, he’s still not wearing his, and…

          I gulp back a moan.

          Yuki arranges me on his lap like a doll and I let him. My mind is a total blank, and my body is like a puppet that only follows his command. Right now, I really am his utterly willing toy.

          “Can you feel me,
senpai
?”

          I nod.

          “I want to hear you speak,
senpai
,” he murmurs, nuzzling my cheek.

          I beg him with my eyes, unable to speak.

          You know how sometimes couples say cheesy stuff like you’re my Romeo to my Juliet, you’re my Rob to my Kristen – well, before they broke up anyway. Well, for Yuki and me, he’s
Ursula
to my Ariel. He totally takes my voice away.

          “I want to make you feel good,
senpai
.”

          I can only beg him some more with my eyes. A familiar tingle runs over my body, telling me that I’m just a few caresses away from my first ever orgasm.

          I can’t wait.

          Yuki’s eyes are dancing. “Feel me,
senpai
?”

          A strangled moan is my answer.

          He is so killing me with this, blast it.

          “I want to hear you answer.”

“Ye---” But I don’t get to finish even that one syllable with Yuki’s lips melding with mine. My lips immediately part and an approving growl comes out of Yuki’s throat just before he deepens the kiss.  I twirl my arms around him, and it is absolute bliss to sink my fingers in his hair. I pull his head closer so our kiss becomes even deeper.

Yuki’s hands travel lower and lower until they reach the small of my back, and I gasp when he suddenly pulls me close to him. Every inch of our body
touches.
We’re still fully clothed, but it doesn’t feel like it. Oh, dear, I think it just moved---

          A moan slips past my lips as Yuki hauls my lower body closer to his.

          “You taste so good,
senpai
,” Yuki whispers between kisses.

          I instinctively arch my neck as his lips trail down. “Y-you, too,” I can’t help saying.

          I can feel him smiling even as he gently nips the skin of the side of neck.

          Wasn’t I supposed to say that? I wish I can think of it some more, but my brain has turned to mush. What little sense I have left disintegrates completely when Yuki starts rocking his hips, alternately deepening and relieving the hard pressure against my most sensitive place.

          Oh, shite.

          This time I’m really going to---

          Both of us freeze when we hear the telltale clicking sound of their maximum-security door being unlocked.

          We’re seated a good distance away from each other when a tall, blonde woman in her forties walks in. Her cream jersey dress screams
haute couture
and plain gold bangles around her wrist jingle as she drops her shopping bags carelessly on the floor. I’ve heard rumors in school that Yuki’s mom used to be a model. Seeing her in person, I know they’re wrong. The woman in front of me is a
supermodel,
the kind who can totally steal Cindy Crawford’s thunder if she hadn’t married a Jap gazillionaire and started playing house instead.

          But weirdly, she doesn’t give off Mom vibes, which even Kelly in her craziest phase does.

Something about her nags at me. She reminds me of someone. She’s…

Oh. Right.

She’s a
Wisteria Lane
mom. Kelly and I watch Desperate Housewives together and it’s a term Kelly’s come up with. Wisteria Lane moms are scary, lovely creatures with more secrets, controversies, and scandals than the CIA.

          “Yuki?” she calls out.    

“We’re here, Mom.”

I’m impressed at how calm Yuki sounds. I hope I don’t have to speak anytime soon. My heartbeat is still a little abnormal and I’m scared that something in my face or voice will give me away.

          Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees me but she recovers quickly enough, an inquiring smile on her lips as she asks, “Won’t you introduce me to your friend, Yuki?”

          “Of course,” Yuki murmurs.

          His voice is flatter than usual, and I look at him in surprise.

          “
Senpai
, this is my mom, Sascha.” His smile vanishes and his tone cools when he adds, “Mom, this is Katerina. We have Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Calculus together.”

          I frown at his introduction even as I get to my feet. He makes me sound like I’m so advanced in being such a know-it-all, too.

          If Sascha thinks the same, she doesn’t show it. “Pretty and smart,” is all she says with a charming smile.

          I find myself half-bowing even though I’m not sure I should. I’m totally unprepared for situations like this. “I’m, uh, glad to know you, Mrs. Himura.” I stumble over the words.

          Yuki’s mother laughs, a tinkling sound that’s just as perfect as her appearance. “Sascha please, and no need to bow, dear. We only stand in ceremony when we’re in Tokyo.” She glances at her watch. “I just came back to drop my things off and swap cars. Will you be all right on your own, Yuki?”

          “Of course.”

          “Wonderful. I’m so sorry to leave right away, Katerina. I hope we meet again.”

          “I, uhh, yes.” I smile weakly, wondering if she’s realized that this is my first time to meet a guy’s parents.

          A guy I’m snogging with.

          Sascha turns away but looks back just as she reaches for the security pad that unlocks the door from this side. “You should have her stay for dinner, Yuki.”

          “If she’s okay with it.”

          She nods, gives us another charming smile, and she’s gone, flitting off like some exotic high-maintenance butterfly you can’t ever catch.

          “So…” Yuki finally breaks the silence. “Want to stick around for dinner?”

          I look at him, and it’s my first time to see his baby blue eyes blank.

          A million questions race to my mind, but I don’t ask any one of them because I remember his words and I keep my promises. We won’t go down that road. Maybe we never will. I have to remember that I’m his toy, not his girlfriend.

          “Sure.” I try to keep my voice as light as possible. “But I have to call my parents first so they won’t wait for me.”

          He nods. “You can use that.” He gestures to the sleek black phone mounted on the wall, next to the light switches.

          My mom is embarrassingly curious when I tell her over the phone that I’m having dinner at a boy’s house.

          “Is he your boyfriend?” Kelly asks.

          “No, Mom. We’re just friends.”

          “Is he driving you back home?”

          “I…guess?”

          “I want to meet him.”

          “Mom!”

          “What’s wrong about that?” I can totally sense Kelly starting to grin.

          “Mom!”

          “I’m going to tell your father about this,” Kelly practically sings.

          I glare at the phone. “Dad’s in
Uganda
.”

          “So? This is worth a long distance call.”

          “Mom!”

Bloody hell, Kelly’s probably grinning like a hyena now. Everyone in my family knows that when I keep saying another person’s name, it’s either a) I don’t want to lie or b) I don’t want to speak about bad stuff that can hurt. But it’s only because I just think it’s not a sin when you take another person’s name in vain. It’s not God’s anyway.

          “Have fun, dear. I have to go and call your dad now.”

          “Mom!” But the phone’s already dead.

          “Everything okay?”

I look up and find Yuki in the kitchen, gazing at me questioningly as he puts something inside the oven.