Book 3 of the undone series. Kim Taehyung is the best , the best at his job at head of security for the Kim SongDae startup, best at seduction. But a forced vacation leaves him adrift and questioning his life choices and direction. Then he stumble...
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Once again, she reached for the silk of his hair and tugged him as close as possible.
She was lost. She could feel her body pulsing in time to the erratic beat of her heart. She intimately remembered every trace of his beautiful face as he kissed her. Her hands roamed his body, holding him, pulling him closer. Everything else was fading away except for the currant thrumming between them.
Tae gave up rational thought as she pulled him into her. He could only feel the way their bodies fit and the unexpected connection threaded between them, binding them together.
She heard it first, registering subconsciously, but dismissing it as anxiety. But them the sounds grew less subtle until a huge crack of thunder sounded right above them.
Tae drug himself away from her lips, the rapidly cooling air clearing his head enough to notice the storm rolling in. A flash of lightening followed by another boom had him scrambling to move her to safety.
In his haste, he failed to see the terror, then the guilt that flooded Sky's face.
He stood and gathered the blanket beneath them to wrap around her. He did not see her roll to her feet and grab her coat almost like a lifeline, rapidly pulling the hood to cover her, retreating again.
She reasoned with herself that this was nothing like the maze and that he was an honorable man, even now moving to protect her.
That made matters even worse. He was a good man, he would never hurt her, he wanted only to cherish her. She knew that with a certainty. But none of that could be hers.
Her only gift to him would be a broken heart. She would not do that to him.
She had silently moved toward the gate as he was gathering things, his quiet reassurances drifting to her on the rising wind. He turned to repeat a question to her and felt a bolt of dread as he saw her heading for the gate.
“Wait…it's not safe. Let’s go inside. Or let me drive you home,” he coaxed. He was worried. He could immediately tell she had buttoned herself back into her shell. “Please…”
She smiled at him and his heart flipped. There was a melancholy about her that perfectly matched the coming storm.
“No need, really. I have to go. It has grown late. I will be home before you can even bring the car around. I promise I'll be fine,” she said, the wind carrying away the break in her voice as she uttered the lie to him. She would not be fine at all.
She used his hesitation to slip out the gate and disappear into the maze of narrow streets. She heard his deep voice calling as she slipped away.
She was glad the pounding in her ears made it impossible to make out his words. It would be easier to live in her world if she did not hear his sweet promises.
Tae stood in the courtyard trying to grasp what was happening. He was struggling to shift from the heat of having Sky in his arms, both of them in a senseless haze of touches and kisses, to standing in the chill of the gathering storm, alone and missing everything about her.
He had run through the gate, trying to find her, to make sure she got home safely. He stood staring until the rain began to fall, praying she was home by then.
Before he crossed the courtyard, the storm began to rage, torrents of rain pouring, soaking him as he made the last few steps into the café.
The crowd had cleared as the first signs of the storm appeared and Nev had sent the young staff home too.
He gave Tae a glare as he came in, trying not to drip water everywhere and failing. Nev threw him a towel and scowled, but left the lecture for another day.
“I have to go. I need to check on my sisters in this storm. Are you leaving too?” he asked, completing the final tasks of closing up.
Tae thought of the warm fireplace upstairs, the food and drinks Hobi had left in the kitchen. It was much more enticing than going out into the cold, wet night.
“No, I think I'll stay upstairs tonight,” he responded.
Nev nodded, his concern for his family his priority just then.
He called “I'll see you tomorrow,” as he scurried out the door in a break in the downpour.
Checking everything one last time, Tae turned to the stairs and headed up to the studio.
He stopped at the small entryway and kicked off his shoes, sighing at the feel of the cold hardwood beneath his feet. Somehow being barefoot made things fall into sharper focus for him, he felt more grounded, connected. It drove Dae crazy and Jimin angry. He lost count at the number of times either of them had tripped over his carelessly discarded shoes. Jimin had resorted to throwing them at him. Turns out that was not a deterrent at all. It was just one of his quirks.
As he walked further in the room, he found the small lamp on the entry table. It cast a welcoming glow as he switched in on.
Deeper inside the room he shivered at the chill, realizing then just how wet he had gotten in the rainstorm.
He lit the gas fireplace and stood with his back to it, trying to absorb its warmth.
He watched the lightning streak like fireworks out the windows, completed by the loud BOOM of thunder. He worried about Sky. Had she made it home safely?
He shivered again and his eyes fell on the chest Dae and Lyra designed for him. He stripped off his clothes as he walked toward it, the glow of the firelight and flashes of lightening illuminating his honeyed skin. He threw long shadows on the wall, the silhouette outlined there perfectly sculpted art.
He rummaged in the bottom drawer of the chest, pulling on soft sweatpants and a white tee shirt. He smiled as the shirt pulled tight against his chest. Dae had underestimated him, remembering the boy he had been, not the man he was now.
That thought made him ponder and his hands idly touched the items on the top of the dresser.
His hands lingered on the new tubes of paint. He selected a brush and tested its weight in his hand. It felt like an extension of him. It always had.
He sighed and returned to the fire as he felt the flames begin to dry his hair and warm his body, he realized he still felt the flush of desire for Sky.. His body still ached from wanting her. He felt the remnants of her still thrumming through his blood.
He pushed a hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated sigh. He felt an energy building in him that he had almost forgotten.
He paced the floor trying to settle himself. He missed her. He could still feel her delicate fingers caressing him. He could feel her breasts crushed against his chest, her legs wrapping around his dragging him to the cradle of her thighs.
A sharp clap of thunder startled him, bringing him back to focus.
Without being aware of it, he had wandered back to the paint and palette. He carefully picked through the brushes, admiring the weight of each, the delicate bristles of this one or the bold stroke that one would create.
He looked to the brick wall and saw the large, blank canvases Dae had leaned there He was drawn to the clean space. He felt the need to expend all this pent-up passion, the emotion threatening to overwhelm him.
Driven by that need, he stepped closer and stroked one long brush of color across the pristine white of the canvas.
