I turned towards Jasamina, my heart racing with emotions that I couldn't quite describe. My fingers trembled as I reached out and cupped her delicate cheeks. She looked up at me with wide, questioning eyes, and I felt my throat tighten with emotion.
"I wonder what I would have done without you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you so much, Jasamina."
She nodded her head once, giving me a small smile. I dipped my head and kissed her lips so tenderly. The feel of her soft lips against mine made my heart skip a beat, and I knew that I had to tell her how much she meant to me.
"Because of you, I'm ready to face the past again," I said, pulling away from the kiss. "I'm ready to go back, make amends and continue my life. You gave me back my life, Jasamina, and for that, I'll forever be grateful to you. I owe you."
Jasamina's eyes filled with tears, and she took a step closer to me. "You don't know half of the things you did for me, Tann," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You gave me back my own life. You saved my life and my baby's life repeatedly. You don't owe me a thing, Tann."
I stared into her eyes, using my fingers to brush back the strand of hair on her forehead. "I opened a new account for you," I said. "I'll give you the details to it. Whenever I can, I'll put in money for you."
Jasamina's eyes widened in surprise, and then she was shaking her head adamantly. "No. No, you've already done so much for me. No, I can't accept that-"
"Don't reject it, Jasamina. Please, I want to do this."
She hesitated for a moment, her eyes flickering with uncertainty. "But-"
"I want to do this for Jaimie," I said, nodding towards the bedroom where the baby was sleeping. "Think of the money as child support."
"But, you're not his father!" Jasamina wailed. "You can't just take on a big responsibility like that for stra-"
"Don't say strangers," I growled, meaning it. "I care about you and Jaimie. Let me do this."
Jasamina took a deep breath, and the fight went right out of her. "Sorry... It's not my intention to make you angry...." she whispered.
"Then, let me do this. I want to do this, alright?"
Seconds passed, and then tears filled Jasamina's eyes. She threw her arms around my neck, and I held her tightly, my heart swelling with love for her.
"Thank you so so so much, Tann!" she cried. "I don't know what I did to deserve this! I don't know how I ended up here with a man like you.....!"
I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her gently. Compared to me, she is so small...so fragile. All my protective instincts reared up, and I held her like porcelain that might break if handled roughly.
"You're welcome," I breathed into her hair, staring out of the window to the moonless night. The blackness of the night was pitch but somehow, it was reassuring.
It was reassuring because in the blackness of this night and moment, the past didn't matter. Just the present and the future.
"I will miss you when you leave tomorrow," Jasamina whispered to my chest.
"I will come back for you, Jasamina. Here,in this moonlight night, I make this promise to you. I am going back to sort out my life. Somehow, I feel like it's something I have to do alone. But I will come back for you. When the time is right, I will come back for you and Jaimie." I promised.
She shuddered against me, and then, she nodded. "I will wait for you, Tann. No matter how long it takes. I will wait for you."
With the whispered words thickly between us, I joined our lips again and kissed her like a starving man would eat a twelve course meal. My lips demanding and passionate on hers, my tongue tangled with her inexperienced ones.
The kiss went on and on, and I never wanted to stop. Kissing Jasamina is like drinking from the goblet of life. One can easily get drunk....like I am now.
A cry of the baby from the bedroom drew us apart. She pulled away from me, and reluctantly I let her go.
"Good night, Tann." She whispered breathlessly, her lips swollen from our kiss, her cheeks marred red with her blush that make her look so damn cute and very innocent.
"Good night, Jasamina." I returned, reaching forward to kiss her forehead before I let her go completedly.
.
.
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4 THE SURVIVORS. THE FITTESTS.
XAZIX
The moment had finally arrived, and we were ready to go. I held Anya's hand tightly as we walked into the sitting room, my duvet bag making a cross from my shoulder to my back. Mark stood up when we walked out of the room, and his lips twitched into a small smile as he stared at me. He even spared a smile for Anya, which made me feel happy that he had warmed up to her.