Bound by Tension
52

~ IMOGEN~

My phone began to ring, disturbing my eardrums.

"Hey," I answered the call from Nikita.

"Hey, babe. I just called to say 'hi'." Her voice sounded cheerful.

"Hi to you too."

"What are you doing now?"

"Absolutely nothing. I'm so bored right now."

"Why? Where's Hames?"

"He's helping Kade out with his work here in Paris but he promised to be back," I checked the time on the wall clock, "in about five minutes." I pouted.

"Aw, wifey missed her sweet husband." She teased.

"Shut up." It wasn't a lie though, I actually missed Hames' presence and touch. I was feeling out of breath and damn bored from the fact that he wasn't here and constantly reminding me of how much he loves me. "Such a lucky thing. I'll also have a man as sweet as Hames too."

"I thought you already had one. This dude that makes you blush... uh..." I tapped my knee repeatedly, trying to remember the name of the dude.

"Dash?" I heard her chuckle.

"Yeah, Dash Ronan."

"He's fine. We clearly both have great feelings for each other. I guess we're taking things slowly. I'm saving the best part of me for him though. Till then, I'll still hook up with other hot pieces of fire." "Jeez, when will you ever stop your horrible ways?" I laughed and she joined me.

"Never!"

The door opened and Hames strolled in, looking tired but still had a bright smile on.

I automatically returned his smile, every form of boredom disappeared by his presence and I internally danced in joy to see him again.

"I have to attend to a customer, bye." She said.

"Bye."

"Wait! I miss your cooking so bad so please promise me you'll cook one of those delicious meals with your magical hands."

"Nah, no promises."

"That's unfair!"

I got distracted from the call when Hames wrapped his arms around me from behind, planting soft kisses on my arm. "Sorry for taking so long," he whispered into my ear. "Imogen? Please promise me."

"Uh... I—I—" I didn't know what to say to her, I was focusing my attention on the wonderful feeling of Hames' gentle kisses. "Why?"

"Why? I already stated why. Promise me now,"

Hames let go of me and started taking off his shoes then his shirt, distracting me completely. Why on Earth couldn't I stop admiring his body every time? "Imogen!" Nikita snapped.

I flinched and almost dropped my phone. "What-what?"

Hames chuckled at me. "Distracted by me." He flexed his arms.

"Promise me."

"Fine, I promise."

"Great! Thanks, love you!"

"Bye." I ended the call and dropped my phone on the couch.

"I was going to plan a surprise for you but I got scared of you not liking it."

I frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know. You seem to have different sides of you everyday. Today, you might be sweet, the next day, scary."

"Scary?"

"Yeah, like being so unpredictable. Then you can be angry, jealous... you're just so unpredictable."

I walked closer to him. "I'd like every surprise from you, as long as it's good."

He remained silent, glancing at me from head to toe multiple times till his face contorted in a very strange way. "Imogen, touch me."

"Uh?" That was so unexpected.

"Touch me," This really felt weird.

"Touch you? How?" I lifted my eyebrow in confusion.

He pulled me to sit on his lap and made me hold his shoulders. His eyes were filled with an emotion I was unable to describe.

"What's wrong with you?" He frowned, increasing the level of my perplexity.

"I... don't understand you."

"Why won't you love me back? Please tell me what I need to do to make you love me back. I feel like I'm going crazy without hearing those three words from you. I'll do anything for you, I can die for you, sweetheart. Is that really what you want?" He was speaking with aggressiveness.

"I make you go crazy?" I smirked. "You don't have to die for me,"

He looked frustrated and confused, an expression that made me smile.

"Then what should I do? I've expressed my love for you multiple times but you're not giving me enough positive response yet." His worry amazed me. I watched his lips interestly, wishing I could give it a peck. What was wrong with me? "I'm going-"

I cut him off by smacking my lips against his.

He looked surprised at first but kissed me back, sucking on my bottom lip hungrily. He parted my lips with his tongue and slid it inside my mouth, exploring every inch of my mouth.

I shut my eyes, feeling my internals swimming in excitement. It was so annoying that his kiss was making my heart throb faster and causing a tingling sensation to occur in me.

His kiss was becoming hungrier at every second but I broke it to avoid it leading to something else, and to catch my breath.

He threw his head back, panting to catch too. "Okay. What was that for? You start the kiss then cut it off when it gets so interesting?" He locked his eyes with mine.

"You don't have to die for me." I answered his question before the kiss. "Of course I can't say I love you yet," I said and he frowned with disappointment plastered on his face, "but I like you now. I don't hate you like I used you, I agree you have your good side, you're a good husband I don't wish to lose. You have the qualities in a man I like, and we're both stuck in this marriage. That means I'll have no other option than to love you too, if I want to be happy. Right now, I like you, and I feel attracted to you already. Your presence makes me happy, are you happy now?"

He nodded. "That's progress. So do you really really like me? You'd like to kiss me everyday, and wouldn't have a problem with spending the rest of your life with me?" He asked slowly.

"Yes, as long as you don't return to your grumpy ways, I shouldn't have a problem."

He grinned. "She likes me a lot."

"You sound so excited."

"Definitely! You kissed me, I feel like I'm in heaven right now. I know you'll admit that you love me very soon."

How could someone be this excited over what I felt about him?

"Do you agree that our marriage isn't such a bad idea after all?"

I rose from his lap. "I guess so."

"Please make me a promise," he wrapped his fingers around my wrist, automatically stopping my movement.

"A promise?"

"Yes,"

"What promise?"

"You'll grant me five requests,"

"Five requests? What are they?"

"You'll first have to promise me that you'll grant me the requests."

"And what will be my benefits?"

"You'll derive a lot of benefits from it, I promise." He sounded desperate.

"Hmm..."

"Please. It's one of the fifteen chances you've given me so please, promise me."

"I'm curious to know what your requests are so I promise I'll grant them." I reluctantly answered.

"Really?! My first request is for you to promise to never leave me. I know there's a contract behind our marriage but what if you still choose to leave me? I won't be able to live without you." He rose to his feet and held my hands. "My second request is for you to love me, it doesn't have to be now but soon, I hope you'll love me as much as I love you."

"My last request,"

"Last request? What's with the third and fourth request?"

"I'll save them for later." That didn't make so much sense to me. "My last request to you is for you to bear me a child. I want to be the father of our child or children in at least nine months."