Falling, Fallen | ✔️

13

~Ayla's POV~

I scrambled to get out of bed when my alarm went off on Monday morning, my eyes still feeling heavy even though I had slept close to seven hours. I needed to be at work by eight AM and it was now six AM, but I wasn't sure how far the drive was from here.

After I grabbed a change of clothes I left my room and went to the bathroom, starting up the shower so the water could heat whilst I peed. I did my business and then hopped in the shower, trying to be as quick as possible. Once I was done I got out and got dressed, pulling on my black jeans and cropped black shirt over my undergarments. I left the bathroom and shut off the light as I did so, tiptoeing down the hall and then down the stairs. All of the lights were still off downstairs, so I naturally assumed that Soren was still asleep. I quietly made my way towards the kitchen, letting my hand feel around along the wall until I found a light switch and flicked both of the switches up to turn the lights on.

The living room lit up and then the kitchen, a sleepy smile on my face as I turned back towards the kitchen to get something to eat. When I turned around, I screamed and jumped back in fright, stumbling over my own feet.

Being greeted by the unexpected sight of a tall man leaning casually against the island had, naturally, more than surprised me just a little. I let out a breath when I realized it was just Soren, who was smirking in amusement as he sipped from a coffee cup, placing a hand on my chest as I gazed at him with brows raised. "Oh my god, Soren." I breathed, rolling my eyes. "What are you doing? Were you just trying to scare me?" I asked, and he licked his lips as he lowered the cup, setting it behind him on the island counter.

"No," He hummed, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "But it was pretty fun to watch you stomp around the house, thinking you were being all quiet and sneaky." He admitted, causing me to flush in embarrassment. Was I really being that loud?

"How long have you been down here? Did I wake you up?" I asked, deciding that it was best to just not say anything in response. With my luck, I would probably make an even bigger embarrassment of myself. I ran a hand through my hair and headed over the to fridge, intending to find something to eat for breakfast. "Mm, no." He muttered. "I've been down here since before you even came out of the bathroom." He told me, causing me to glance over at him. I held the fridge door open and could faintly feel the cold air on my cheeks from the coolness in the fridge. "Oh," I couldn't help but to let out a breath of relief. "Well, then good." I said. I'd have felt bad if I woke him up.

"So..." I turned back to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice and a container of strawberry cream cheese, letting the door swing shut afterwards. "Do you have to work today, too?" I asked, assuming that was the only reason for him being awake this early. During our honeymoon he had usually woken up before me, but I doubted that he had ever gotten up this early while we were there. "No, not yet." He murmured, picking up his coffee cup before he took a sip of it. I set down the orange juice and strawberry cream cheese on the island, being sure to grab the bag of bagels from his pantry. "Not yet?" I repeated, arching up a brow. I had figured that he had a lot of work he needed to do before the company's merger, wherein he would then become the new boss. "That's what I said. I don't really have anything I need to do so I'm essentially just waiting until my dad retires so I can take over." He explained.

Soren turned to face me, watching as I used a butter knife that I had grabbed from the utensil drawer to spread some of the cream cheese thickly onto the bagel. "What do you even do for work, anyways? I never asked." He wondered, eyeing me with curiosity. I bit my lip and set the butter knife in the sink, hoping that he didn't think my job was totally lame. "Um, I actually am just a senior executive assistant." I said with a sheepish chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck. My job probably seemed super lame to a man as powerful and important as him.

For some reason I had almost been expecting him to mock me or make some type of joke about my job, but he didn't. "All jobs are important jobs." He simply murmured, avoiding eye contact by sipping from his coffee cup some more.

I relaxed, realizing that he wasn't going to tease me or anything, and smiled to myself as I put the bagels and cream cheese back where I had gotten them. After I had finished eating my bagels I opened the orange juice and, since there was barely any left in the container at all, I drank straight out of the bottle. If my mom had seen me doing this, she would have had my head but I didn't see the problem when it was practically empty already anyway. "God, you can sure chug that down." Soren remarked as he watched me, his brows raised when I set down the bottle with a loud content sigh. "I was thirsty." I said defensively, putting my empty plate in the sink and the bottle in the trash.

He chuckled and then began to walk around the island towards me, setting his assumedly empty coffee cup in the sink as he did. When he stopped before me I felt my heart rate spike and leaned back against the island a little more, trying to maintain some distance from him. However, he just pressed even closer in on me, setting his large hands on the counter on either side of my body to cage me in so I couldn't escape. "Say, Ayla," He had a wicked look on his face as he smirked down at me, which just made my heart race even faster. "What do you say to a kiss, hm?"

My eyes widened in surprise and I felt my face burn as I stared at him, caught incredibly off guard. It was not even seven in the morning, and he was already up to his shenanigans! "N-No way!" I squealed, shaking my head wildly. "We're not even around anyone! Why would we kiss?" I asked, trying to give him a bit of a better answer. Though I knew that Soren was quite obviously a ladies man and could have any girl he wanted at his feet with just a glance, I didn't at all understand why he would want to kiss me. It wasn't like I even knew how to kiss either, which was information I was going to withhold from him until he had figured it out himself, if he ever did. We'd probably never kiss enough for him to figure it out, honestly.

The smirk on his face deepened. "I know, but practice makes perfect. Shouldn't we get used to kissing each other before we have to do it in front of people?" He hummed, ducking his head down towards me.

Flustered, I placed a hand on his chest and shook my head again. "That isn't a good idea." I gasped, swallowing thickly as he leaned close enough that I could feel his warm breath of my skin. His lips brushed my jaw and I shivered with anticipation. "You're hardly making me believe that you don't want me to kiss you when you react like this." He murmured into my ear, playfully nipping at my earlobe. I swallowed a whimper and pushed him roughly, knowing that I must've been a sight from the way he stumbled back and then wore an amused look on his face. Of course he thought this was funny!

"I don't know what you think I'm here for, but I can guarantee you that it's not to be one of your girls. Don't trick yourself into thinking you can get me out of my clothes." I snapped, knowing that I needed to set him straight. Surely he was only making moves like that on me because I was here and it was convenient, but it didn't matter regardless. "The only time you and I will ever kiss is when I have to kiss you." I finished, huffing to myself angrily.

This man had the nerve to smirk at me, after all I had just said to him. He fricking smirked!

I was just about ready to pull my hair out of my head, I was so frustrated with him. "You sure?" He asked, raising a brow. "Because I seem to remember that you have ogled me many, many times since we've met. I know you're attracted to me." He taunted, taking another step towards me. My face burned but I stayed quiet. "Like when I was at the pool with you, or how about just last night? I know you were staring at me then, too." He said, surprising me when he reached out and grasped my wrist suddenly, yanking me right up against him. "Or how about my favorite, when you would check me out every single night before bed? You even avoided turning out the lights before I'd come out, because you knew I would be shirtless."

I was absolutely fucking mortified right now. I hadn't known he had picked up on any of that! "Y-You're just letting your massive ego get to your head. I'm not attracted to you, and I don't ogle you." I told him, making his brows shoot up. He looked amused. "Oh, you don't?" He hummed, mischief sparkling in his eyes. I shook my head and he snorted, releasing his hold on me. "Fine, then." He said simply. "I guess we'll see how long you can pretend like that's true." He added in a tauntingly casual voice, beginning to walk away. Stunned, I stared after him, feeling incredibly confused.

He glanced at me over his shoulder as he headed upstairs, a smirk on his lips. "See you when you get off work, Ayla."