Liam had always known that Hitomi was stunning. Ever since he had started dropping Mei Mei home after school, he couldn't help but admire her beauty—something he had carelessly admitted aloud once, not realizing Hitomi had overheard him.
Their brief but teasing eye contact that day had left him flustered, especially when she had smirked knowingly.
So now, sitting in her living room, his hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea she had made for him, Liam was a bundle of frayed nerves.
Because of his promise to Mei Mei to look after her mother and keep her company from time to time, he had come even though he was very nervous.
Hitomi had been warm and welcoming, making him tea.
"Relax, Liam," Hitomi purred, sitting across from him. Her robe, a silky black thing, draped elegantly over her form, the neckline just loose enough to make his pulse thundered in his ears. "You're acting like a boy who's never been alone with a woman before."
"I—" Liam cleared his throat, trying to ignore the way her gaze flicked to his neck as if she could hear the frantic pounding of his heartbeat. "I'm just… a bit nervous."
Hitomi tilted her head, her dark eyes twinkling. "Nervous? But why?"
Because of You... The way you look at me. The way you make me feel like I'm both prey and the hunter at the same time.
He swallowed hard, forcing a chuckle. "Being fussed over."
She hummed, leaning in just enough that the soft scent of jasmine and something deeper—something uniquely her—wrapped around him.
"Mmm… I find that hard to believe," She murmured, her voice low, smoky. "A young man like you… I bet plenty of women would love to fuss over you."
Liam exhaled sharply through his nose, trying to suppress the wild thoughts racing through his mind. "None like you."
The words slipped out before he could stop them, and for the first time, Hitomi faltered.
A brief flicker of something crossed her face—something vulnerable, something aching.
And then it was gone, replaced with another slow, teasing smile. "Flatterer."
But he saw it now, the crack beneath her perfect composure.
He had shaken her.
And God help him, he wanted to shake her more.
Hitomi took a slow sip of her tea, watching him over the rim. "Tell me, Liam… is it true what they say? That younger men have… more stamina?"
He nearly choked. "I—what?!"
She laughed, the sound low and full of mischief. "Oh, don't be so shy. It's a valid question, don't you think? You're young, full of energy… surely you must have had plenty of practice?"
"I—" His face was on fire, and she knew it. She was enjoying this.
Hitomi leaned back, crossing her legs slowly, and deliberately. "Or are you all talk?"
He clenched his jaw, gripping his cup so tightly he thought it might crack. "You're playing with fire, Hitomi."
Her smile widened, but her fingers trembled slightly as she set her cup down.
Because inside, she was unraveling.
She had been alone for so long. She had convinced herself that she was past all of this—that desire was a thing of her past, buried alongside the love she had lost.
But then Liam had said those words. That careless, honest admiration... And just like that, something inside her had ignited.
She wanted him.
She wanted him to push aside this careful, trembling hesitation and take. To claim. To remind her that she was still a woman, not just a mother.
But she was terrified.
Because if she gave in, if she let herself taste this fire—what then?
"You're blushing," Liam observed, his voice quieter now.
She exhaled, shaking her head. "Am I?"
"Yeah," He murmured, his gaze locking onto hers, his pupils dark and blown.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then, Hitomi smiled—soft this time, almost shy.
"Well, that's a first."
Liam set his cup down. Slowly. Deliberately.
"Not the last," He promised.
The tension between them simmered beneath their casual conversation, unspoken but undeniable.
At one point, Liam excused himself to find the bathroom to escape.
However, in his search, he came across a slightly ajar door. Hitomi's bedroom.
He hesitated. Stepping inside would be crossing a line.
But an irresistible curiosity tugged at him—this was her space, filled with traces of her personal life.
The room was warm and inviting, decorated with soft colors and familiar scents. Framed pictures sat on a shelf—one of Hitomi and Mei Mei, another of her and her late husband holding a much younger Mei Mei between them.
Liam exhaled, feeling a twinge of guilt for intruding. Just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye—a box tucked near the edge of the bed, slightly open.
His curiosity got the better of him.
Peering inside, his breath hitched.
Sex toys.
A whole collection.
His brain froze.
He had always seen Hitomi as a refined, elegant woman. He had never once imagined her as the type to own something so… explicit. His cheeks burned as he stared at the items in stunned silence, his mind caught in a loop of disbelief and scandalous images.
Just then, footsteps echoed in the hallway.
"Liam? You've been gone a while—"
The voice stopped abruptly.
Liam turned in horror to see Hitomi standing at the doorway, her eyes flicking from the box to the item in his hand.
A moment of sheer silence.
Then—
"What are you doing?!" She yelped, face flushing red as she rushed forward in a panic.
"I—It's not what it looks like!" Liam stammered, trying to put the toy back, but in his haste, he fumbled.
Hitomi lunged to snatch it away, but her foot caught on the rug.
With a startled gasp, she tripped—colliding straight into Liam.
The impact sent them tumbling onto the bed, limbs entangled. Liam's hands instinctively shot out to steady her.
One landed on her chest.
The other on her bare thigh, dangerously close to—
Hitomi gasped.
A soft, barely restrained moan escaped her lips as her body instinctively reacted.
The sound sent a bolt of heat through Liam. His mind screamed at him to move, to apologize, to do something—but all he could focus on was the way she was pressed against him, the way her breath came shallow and quick.
Their eyes met.
Hitomi's lips parted slightly, her face mere inches from his.
Liam swallowed hard.
The woman beneath him was not just Mei Mei's mother. She was a woman—a beautiful, needy woman who had just revealed a part of herself he had never expected.
And for the first time, she wasn't trying to hide it.
A shiver ran through Hitomi as she felt Liam's warm hands still resting on her, the heat of his touch sending sparks through her neglected body.
Her hesitation wavered.
Before she could stop herself, she leaned in.
Her lips brushed against his—tentative, testing.
Liam sucked in a breath, his heart hammering against his ribs. But he didn't pull away.
The line had been crossed and the gates had been broken.
There was no stopping them now...
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