Internment

Chapter 26

HAPPY TUESDAY! You guys have no idea how long I've been wanting to write this chapter!! I finally had a day off from work and mom duty so I decided to sit down and take the afternoon to get it written! I hope you guys love it as much as I do! Let me know what you think!

Flipping the page of her book, Reyna cast a side long glance at the chair bedside her's where Phillip had been seated most of the evening. It had been three days since they'd returned from Munich - Since Phillip had kissed her.

She'd thought of little else since. She could still feel his breath against her lips, the beat of his heart underneath her hand as he'd leaned in. She could smell the sweet scent of the tobacco. Taste the faintest hint of vanilla from the whiskey that had been on his lips. Her senses had remained encompassed with all of it. Her mind playing the memory over and over again as if she'd manage to forget if it didn't remain on a constant loop.

They hadn't spoken about the kiss. In fact, they'd hardly spoken at all. The drive back had been filled with silence - She'd expected as much. But during the evenings, when they found themselves seated only a few feet away from one another, the silence had prevailed. The quiet void had only grown with each subsequent evening spent without speaking, and now it seemed uncrossable. She'd wracked her brain for a reason. Every look she'd given him - every word she'd said - she'd picked it all apart meticulously and come up empty.

Closing her book, she turned to face him. His eyes remained on the page he was reading. The page he'd failed to turn for nearly ten minutes now.

"Have I done something?" She asked, unable to swallow down the question any longer.

His eyes rose at her words. "What?"

"You've barely spoken to me since we got back," She began. "If I've done something to upset you-"

"You haven't," He interrupted her.

"Then what is it?" She pressed on. "You won't even look at me ... even now." It was true. He still wasn't looking at her. Not really. His gaze had fixed on her nose, her mouth, the book shelves over her shoulder. But never her eyes. He was refusing to meet her eyes.

"Reyna," He sighed.

"Just tell me." The words had come out more as a plea than a request.

"I shouldn't've kissed you," He blurted out. She blinked, now unable to meet the gaze he'd finally decided to return. It felt like the air had been punched out of her lungs. "It was horribly inappropriate of me."

"It's okay-" She shook her head dismissively. If he thought this was the gentlemanly thing to do, she'd reassure him there was no need.

"No," He cut in. "No. It was a mistake. I shouldn't've done it ... not after everything that's happened."

"I see." He might as well've slapped her. It would've stung less than those last words. Flashes of Lieutenant Muller's hands groping at her body settled over her mind like a frigidly cold blanket. Phillip had seen it. He'd seen what had happened to her. And he didn't want her because of it - 'not after everything that's happened.'

She stared at the fire, fighting to maintain her steely composure. She wouldn't cry - not now. A hand rested itself on top of her own. She clenched her jaw, refusing to rip her eyes from the roaring blaze.

"That's not what I meant," Phillip said gently. She looked down to where he knelt at the foot of her chair, his hand still clasped around her's.

"What did you mean then?" She asked, trying to mask the hurt that was evident in her voice.

"I..." He paused, struggling to find the right words. "I took your choice away. I should've asked you - I should've..." He trailed off again, shaking his head as he grappled with what to say. "Instead I just took what I wanted. And I never wanted to do that."

Wanted. He'd wanted to kiss her. Wanted her.

"Then ask me," She said, cutting off whatever desperate apology he'd been trying to offer her.

"What?" His brows knit together at her words.

"You said you should've asked me," She explained. Turning their hands over in her lap, she intertwined her fingers with his. "Well ask."

His eyes raked down her face, searching for some kind of assurance that he'd heard her correctly. She stared back, willing him to see it. See that she wanted this - wanted him. She sucked in a breath as he reached up with his free hand, brushing against her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"May I kiss you?" He asked, his voice as soft as silk. His gaze dipped down to her lips, then back up to her eyes. She swallowed.

"Yes," She whispered breathlessly. She closed her eyes, waiting with nervous anticipation. His lips found her's in a gentle kiss, and she kissed him back. He didn't pull away after only a few seconds this time. Instead, he pressed into the kiss further, deepening it as he brought a hand up to her cheek.

Releasing her hand, he reached up to cup the other one. His fingers slid into her hair, his thumb grazing her earlobe. She wrapped an arm around his neck, rising to her feet as he stood upright. Resting her other hand against his chest, she ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

He drug a hand over her shoulder and down her back, leaving it to rest firmly at her waist as his lips left her's. Her eyes opened just in time to see his mouth dip down to the hollow of her neck. She shuddered as his lips found the sensitive skin, her eyes fluttering closed once again. Her breath caught in her throat, and her head was swimming in a blinding fog. Gripping his bicep for purchase, she titled her head back to allow him better access. His breath was hot against her neck as he planted featherlight kisses all the way down to her collarbone, then back up again until his lips found her's. He kissed her lips lightly, then her forehead, before pulling away.

She opened her eyes, looking at him properly for the first time since he'd first kissed her. His cheeks were flushed slightly, and there was a dazed, far off look in his eyes as he gazed down at her, a roguish smile turning up the corners of his mouth. His hands were still in their previous resting places. One cupping the side of her face and the other at her waist. She pulled her arm out from around his neck, resting her hand back against his chest. She could feel the steady thump of his heartbeat underneath her palm. Her own heart was hammering inside her chest. She drew in a shaky breath in an effort to slow it. Leaning in, he pressed his forehead against her's.

"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," He said, tucking a strand of hair back that had come loose from her braid.

"I think I've wanted you to for a very long time," She replied.

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*internally screams* Honestly I love them so much! Don't forget to vote and comment to let me know your thoughts! :)