Smiling, Mia waved to them and came into the house, where Korum was already sitting on the couch, studying something in his palm.
Hearing Mia come in, he looked up and gave her a smile. “You were very quiet on the way back,” he said, regarding her inquisitively. “You didn’t like the movie?”
She approached and sat down next to him. “It was entertaining,” she answered, shrugging.
“Then what’s the matter? Are you still upset about what happened earlier today?” He reached out and took her hand, lightly massaging her palm in a way that made her melt a little inside.
“No.” Mia stared at the large hand cradling hers so tenderly. Her fingers appeared tiny and delicate in his grasp, the pale color of her skin contrasting erotically with his darker hue. “Well, maybe. I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it too much. The movie was a good distraction, actually . . .”
“So then what?” He clearly had no intention of letting it go.
Mia raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “I was just wondering about the future, that’s all. I know I should focus on the present and enjoy what we have right now, but I just can’t help it sometimes –”
He leaned toward her and kissed her lightly, his lips stopping her next words. “We’ll talk about this when we’re back in Lenkarda,” he murmured, pulling back and looking at her with a rather enigmatic expression on his face. “Don’t worry about anything right now. It will all work out, I promise.”
Surprised, Mia blinked at him, and then she remembered that he’d mentioned something similar a few weeks ago, when they were still in New York. Unbearably curious, she opened her mouth to ask him another question, but Korum kissed her again and all rational thought left her head.
Picking her up, he carried her upstairs to their bed, and Mia didn’t have a chance to think for the rest of the night.
Chapter 22
The next morning, Mia woke up in Korum’s arms. It was such an unusual occurrence that her eyes flew open as soon as she realized what was happening.
She was lying on her side, cradled against his body. They were both naked, and she could feel his semi-hard erection prodding at the curve of her buttocks. Startled, Mia turned around to look at his face and saw that he was wide awake.
At her sudden movements, he smiled and brushed his lips against her forehead. “You’re awake, I see.”
She nodded, blinking at him sleepily. “What are you doing here? You’re usually up much earlier . . .”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone,” Korum explained softly, caressing her cheek. “You seemed to be sleeping restlessly, crying out every couple of hours, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Touched, Mia burrowed against him, holding him tightly. “Thank you,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “I think I must’ve had nightmares after yesterday.” She vaguely remembered some dreams involving guns and blood, and she was surprised that she’d actually been able to sleep through the night. Undoubtedly, Korum’s presence beside her had helped in that regard.
He slowly stroked her hair. “Of course, my darling. It’s entirely understandable.”
“Do you ever have nightmares?” she asked, pulling back, the psychology student in her suddenly curious about the topic.
“Not typically,” Korum admitted, his hand now playing with her long curls. “I usually sleep very deeply for a couple of hours, and then I wake up. I can’t remember the last time I had a dream of any kind. It can happen for us, but it’s rarer than for humans. Our sleep cycle is somewhat different.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What do you want to do today?” he asked. “We don’t have any plans right now.”
“I was thinking we could have dinner with my parents again tonight, but I don’t know about the day . . . No beach, though – I don’t think I’m ready to go back there yet.”
“Of course.” His body tensed for a moment. “Why don’t we do something else entirely? How about a trip to Orlando? We could visit one of those theme parks with roller coasters and all –”
“What, like Disney World?” Mia gave him an incredulous look.
“Sure,” he said seriously. “Or maybe Universal. That’s the more adult one, right?”
Unable to help herself, Mia burst out laughing. “Really? You want to go to Universal Studios?” She pictured the two of them standing in line for the Incredible Hulk, and all the tourists freaking out at the sight of a K near their children.
“Yeah, why not?”
Why not indeed. Still giggling, Mia said, “Okay, I’m game. We can go to Islands of Adventure – that’s the part of Universal that has more roller coasters. How are we getting to Orlando? Driving?”
“Might as well. I don’t mind driving – it gives me a chance to see more of the area.” He grinned at her, looking so charming and carefree that she couldn’t help but kiss the dimple on his left cheek.