When he made a move to take the food back, just to get back on the devious canines, she laughingly dragged him away and urged him towards the shrine. She paid for their lunch, neglecting to tell Luuk that what they were about to eat was a vegetarian meal prepared by monks. She laughed at his pained expression after the first bite.
“It’s not that bad!”
He retorted coolly, “It is when you are used to eating like a human and not a goat.”
Oh, God, she loved this man, loved how he was so genuinely sophisticated about everything that it was both amusing and impressive at the same time.
When she brought them to the foot of the stairs leading to the two-hundred-foot high Buddha statue, he asked incredulously, “You want us to climb all the way there?” There had to be a thousand of steps for them to trek before they would reach their destination.
She beamed at him. “Yes.”
Now was the time to let her know he owned a copter that could take them to the top in seconds. But that would also mean telling her he was not Luuk.
When put like that, the decision was simple.
He took her hand. “Let’s do this.”
It was a spectacular day, ending with Ayah and him kneeling on the ground as she taught him how to pray to Chinese gods. They had bought giant incense sticks that were almost as tall as Ayah, and he had barked in laughter when her face turned red in her efforts to lift the burning incense sticks on her own.
After, when he asked Ayah about her familiarity with the city’s local culture Ayah explained, “My mother was a travel writer, but she liked spending most of her free time here in Hong Kong.”
“When she fell pregnant with me and my dad didn’t marry her, she went back home so she could have help from my grandparents while raising me. But she told me stories about Hong Kong all the time and she taught me how to speak all the Chinese dialects she knew. When I had the chance to come live here, I took it.”
“You weren’t afraid of living on your own in a foreign country?”
“It wasn’t as if I was leaving anyone else back home,” she answered with a wry smile. “They’re all gone.”
Nic had paled at her words, but she laughingly waved his apologies away. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m just happy thinking they’re all at peace. Besides...” She peered at him under her lashes, eyes dancing with mischief. “You kind of remind me of my mom.”
He had a feeling he wouldn’t like her next words, but he said anyway in a dry tone, “I’ll bite, lieverd. Why do I remind you of her?”
“Because she tells the most awesome stories, and you do, too. With you it’s like I have my own Grimm and Andersen and—-”
He shut her up with a kiss, seriously embarrassed at the way she was looking at him. She made him feel perfect, when he very well knew it was Ayah who was perfect. He couldn’t recall a day when he had this much...fun. And certainly, he couldn’t recall a day that he had been this tired or spent less than a thousand dollars. If he was back at home – or with any other person but Ayah – Nic knew what he would have spent on a few drinks would be more than what they had spent as a couple.
Day had turned into dusk by the time they took the cable car back to the city. They were surrounded by blackness, with only golden lights from the airport occasionally allowing them to see each other. For the return trip, she had booked them the standard cabin, and he was thankful for that because it gave him a chance to use the pole in the middle of the cable car for a quite inventive reason.
Before Ayah knew what he was planning, he had already unzipped himself, flipped her skirt up, and entered her from behind. In moments, she was clutching the pole desperately as he fucked her hard, and soon her screams echoed around the cabin.
Even though her mind knew that the darkness of the night completely hid them from view, she still felt thoroughly hedonistic about what they were doing. She felt that, but for the life of her she couldn’t make herself stop thrusting back, wanting more of Luuk’s cock.
After, with her entire being humming with contentment, Ayah could only sigh as Luuk wiped her clean and gathered her in his arms. He was seated at the bench, one leg stretched out, with Ayah draped across him.
His heart felt like it was about to explode, and he had a feeling it would do just that if he didn’t get the words out. “Ayah?”