One Special Night

Chapter 19 : No Arms Can Ever Hold You

TRUST

Napakasarap sa pandinig niya tuwing napapaungol si Mati sa kanyang mga haplos. Napaka wrong timing lang niya, but what was happening between them couldn't be denied. Sinabi pa niya sa kanyang sarili na wala na siyang pakialam sa dalaga, pero nang mahawakan niya ito, hindi niya kayang ipagkaila sa sarili na gusto niyang angkinin ulit ito, right here and right now.

She quivered against his hand, her wet heat palpable through the fragile barrier of nylon and lace, then lower her onto his hard shaft. He was hard and she was ready and it wouldn't take long foreplay to flatten them both.

She was so damn sweet. Sweeter than the dreams he had that could never come true. He pulled her up close against him, letting her feel what she was doing to him, ignoring the sharp stab of pain between his third rib and his spine. Her wide eyes flattered open and she smiled up at him, and in that instant he was lost, body, heart and soul.

"Alam mo kung saan ito patutungo, diba?" aniya sa namamagaw na boses.

She nodded. "You're going to make love to me."

"Mali," bulong niya. "We're going to make love to each other."

With a growl of despair, he reached for her arm and pulled her deeper into the darkness. Cupping her face, he claimed her mouth, plundering it with the voluptuous strokes of his tongue, claiming her the way no man had ever done before..the way no other man ever would.

The pain inside him was great, and growing greater. He had to stop, had to push her away before it was too late. Before she was drawn into something from which there was no escape.

"You belong in there." he said, gesturing toward the country club.

MATI

"I don't know where I belong," desperadang pahayag niya. "I've never known." She felt as if she'd been searching her entire life for this man, and she wasn't about to let him go.

"Never?"

"Only once," bulong niya rito. "but it was long time ago.."

Then she reached up to touch him, napapitlag naman ito nang hawakan niya ang mukha ng lalaki.

She met his eyes. Kahit sa dilim ay nakikita niya ang lungkot sa mga mata ng lalaki.

"Matilda." biglang umalingawngaw ang boses ni Jerson.

The stranger met her eyes. "Wag mo siyang pakasalan." sabi nito. "Ipangako mo sakin na hindi mo siya pakakasalan."

"Sino ka? Sabihin mo sa akin kung sino ka?"

Pero huli na, nasa likuran na niya si Jerson at hinawakan ang kamay niya.

"Nandito ka lang pala, Mati. I thought I heard you out there."

Nakita kaya sila ni Jerson? napapalunok tuloy siya ng wala sa oras.

"Kanina pa kasi kita hinahanap." ani Jerson.

"Well, now you've found me," magiliw niyang sagot at hinarap ang lalaki. "Masaya ka yata, may nakuha ka bang business deal?"

Malapad naman itong napangiti sa kanya. "Yeah, nailed another one." mapapansin mo talaga ang saya sa boses nito. Tas bigla nalang siyang sinunggaban ng halik ni Jerson at hinapit siya nito sa beywang. "That's what I've always liked about you darlin, magkasundo kasi tayo sa bagay na yan."

"Yes." aniya, pero ang laman ng isip niya ay nasa estrangherong lalaki.

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TRUST

Pinagmasdan lang niya ang tagpong naghahalikan si Mati at ang fiance nito. Gustong-gusto na niyang lumabas sa pinagkublihan niya kung hindi lang niya napigil ang sarili dahil tiyak makakatikim talaga sa kanyang matigas na kamao ang lalaking iyon. Susugurin nga niya sana ito at agawin si Mati at itakas.

Lumabas na siya sa pinagkublihan niya nang makaalis si Mati at ang fiance nito.

Napaisip naman siya na napakahaba nga ng sampung taon, and the Mati he used to know wasn't a teenage girl any longer. She was a successful in her own right. Her jewelry designs were the engine that would power Aragon & Daughters into the next century. She had family and friends who loved her, and a man she intended to marry.

Naalala pa nga niya ang sinabi nito noon nang tanongin niya ito sa kanyang pangalan. "Mati, the one everybody forgets."

Don't worry, sweetie, he thought as he turned away from the sounds of celebration. Nobody could forget you now.

*****