"Seatbelts," Kai tells her seconds after she gets into his car. Didn't even bother with pleasantries.

A smile curves her lips. Typical Kai.

"Hello to you too, sir," she says in a toying inflection before snapping to the right to find the seatbelt

Kai reaches over before she can get it. His arm brushes against her as he pulls over the strap and locks it for her, his manly scent invading her senses at once. She instinctively breathes in to take in more.

She holds back a grin.

Damn, this is what gets her so obsessed in the first place. He always smell so good. So much that he's starting to become her favorite scent now.

Kai's face twitches in confusion when he notices that she's biting the grin threatening to spill onto her face. "What? Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm just excited to see you again."

He looks at her weirdly at first until an amused smirk slides onto his face at her honesty. Her smile widens.

She likes that, likes it when she brightens his face like that.

It's not the first time she pulled that kind of reaction out of him. The first had been in Marcelina, when he watched her sing, and she threw a wink in his direction to tease him. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing she did, but his reaction had been priceless. Instead of being irritated, a half smirk tugged at his lips, and gods, did he look so good then that she also caught herself bursting into an exhilarated smile.

He looks intoxicating like that.

"I should add another rule," Kai says, lightly stepping on the gas, left hand expertly maneuvering the wheel to pull them onto the main road. "You need to stop talking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that."

"Saying what's on my mind? Or aggressively pining for you?" she says, turning cheeky. "Are you the type to fall for sweet words?"

"Sweet nothings, you mean."

"Sweet nothings are for liars," she counters. "I'm only being honest. What's the point of hiding my feelings when it's true that you're the one I think about a lot most days. Specifically, how you pin me on the bed."

They join the heavy flow of traffic on the road and eventually reach a red light. Kai turns to her.

"You flirt as hard as you work. Don't you get tired playing with me?"

"No? We've only just started."

Kai only shakes his head, shifting into drive again.

"One of these days, I'll figure out a way to shut that mouth for good," he says. "I almost never know how to deal with you. You keep me on the edge most of the time."

Despite the frustration in his voice, his shoulders are loose, relaxed. Unlike how he'd been before everytime she was around. Like he was always ready to leave or snap at her.

Milly reaches for his right hand and locks his fingers with hers. She presses his knuckles to her nose, memorizing the dark spicy flavors of his perfume.

"You live rent-free in my head most of the time too," she whispers to his skin.

Kai skirts her a sidelong glance, and to her delight, he pulls their intertwined hands and places it on his lap. He slides his fingers further into hers and squeezes her hand.

Her heart skids.

"Where are we going?" she asks after a while.

"My other place."

"Another condo?"

"Yes, now stop asking. I want to drive in peace."

"Rude ass," she says, and the smirk slides back onto his face.

"Turn the music on nang malibang ka."

"What if I play my own songs?"

"Too confident," he criticizes, yet his thumb's grazing across the back of her hand in gentle, soothing motions.

"I dare you to tell me my music isn't good."

"Your words, not mine."

"So you think they're good."

He lifts a brow. "Did I ever say they're not?"

Milly laughs quietly. "Alam mo? You have an odd way of making a lady feel special."

He doesn't bother responding to that. Using their intertwined hands, he turns on the sound system of his car, and the radio instantly comes on, filling the car with the melody of an old opm song.

"I never write about the men in my life. But maybe I should make one for you after all. How I've never met someone as... frosty are you are. Cold one moment, sizzling fire the next. You're a walking contradiction."

"Frosty," he repeats like he finds amusement from her choice of words. "If I'm a contradiction, then you're a fucking wild fire."

His break of character sparks a fuse of desire to light up in her chest. Gods. It's sending her back to those nights when he was breathing silent curses to her ear as he came, her body pinned down by his rough hands as he pounded into her with careless abandon until he's completely sated. He sounded so hot and eager for her then that she started rippling through her own so soon after he finished.

"Don't curse," she cautions immediately, fighting off the urge to grab his face and kiss him senseless. "You're turning me on."

Kai steals a quick glance at her, and then he's chuckling. His thumb's still playing across her skin, sending little tingles of electricity shooting up her arm. "You're insatiable. I've never met a woman as straightforward as you are. I probably never will."

"But you want it. You want me like this."

Another glance, and the smirk on his face melts into a half smile.

"That's the problem, isn't it? We're here now because I do."

***

His hand is still on hers even as she follows him all the way up to the highest floor. He stops at the only door available and instructs her to watch as he punches in the code.

"Anniversary ng WYLD," he tells her as he opens the door for her. Only then does he let her go.

She instantly feels the absence of his warmth at the sudden disconnection.

She steps inside and makes a quick inventory of the suite. The place is long as it is wide, more than enough to fit in a garden balcony and three bedrooms. There's a vast kitchen, an even more expansive living room, and a dining area linking the two.

It's as big as her other condo, but as much as hers is carefully curated and well thought-out, his is bare, reflective of his plain, simple tastes.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asks.

"Do you remember how to get here? Simula ngayon, dito na tayo. Nang 'di na tayo pahanap-hanap ng ibang lugar."

Now she gets it.

She runs her gaze over the suite again and pads closer to the living room where she can easily see the line of potted flowers in the balcony, visible through the glass sliding doors.

"Why not in your condo?"

"Delikado do'n. Nando'n si Evander at walang respeto sa personal space si Tripp."

Ah. That's right. Malee's there, too. She sees his point now.

"Ayaw mong mahuli tayo?" she says, a grin quirking up her lips as she looks back at him. "Why does it feel like we're having an affair?"

His expression doesn't waver at her quip.

"Water?" he asks, making way to the kitchen.

"Yes, please." Milly watches him grab two glasses and a pitcher of water from the refrigerator. "Why do you have a second place though?"

"Why do you?"

"Gift 'yon sa 'kin. Our family owns that tower kasi. Lolo wants to hand over the management of that entire tower to me so he made sure I'll have a suite there."

Kai nods. "This one's for emergencies."

"Such as?"

He pours water into the glasses and hands one over to her. "Masyado kang maraming tanong."

She approaches him and takes the glass from his hand, mischief plain on her face. "What I really wanna ask is, how many women have you brought here before. You don't look like the type."

Kai puts the glass down, directly meeting her playful gaze. "And what's my type?"

Seeing an opportunity, she tiptoes and whispers to his ear. "My type?"

Kai steps back from her, and she laughs. So uncooperative as ever. One second, he's holding her hand. Now, he's avoiding her like her very touch can burn him. What a deliciously frustrating guy.

She drinks the water in long sips and deposits the empty glass into the sink. "So this is an emergency to you?" she says, returning to his statement when she turns back to him. "I'm an emergency?"

Kai leans against the counter, facing her, arms now crossing across his chest. "Aren't you?"

"Your hot emergency though, right?" She winks at him and then her eyes are roaming once again. "But really, how many people have you brought here? It still looks unused. And so massive. It's bigger than your condo. It takes what, the whole floor?"

"Si Kylie pa lang. At ikaw. I bought this for her eighteenth birthday sana."

She stops short at what he said. "Kai, what the fuck. Why did you bring me here?" she said. "I don't wanna fuck you in your sister's future flat! That's just rude and so horribly wrong!"

At her reaction, he starts chuckling. "I'll get her a new one," he says and tips his head to the living room. "Sit down. Kumain ka na ba?"

"Not yet. Kakauwi ko lang din when you texted."

"Sige. Sit down. Watch a movie."

"Ikaw?"

"I'll be busy."

She takes it to mean that he's going to order food for them, so she crosses over to the living room and turns on what looks like a 98" TV.

As she sinks into the grey cotton-linen sofa, a hot cloud of haze envelopes her chest at the thoughts of what they can possibly start doing at this place.

There's a shuffle in the kitchen, and she turns to see Kai pulling out ingredients from the cupboards and the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

He places the ingredients neatly on the kitchen island. "What does it look like?"

"You're gonna cook?"

"Malamang. Wala namang nakahanda dito."

"We can just order something. No need to do that for me. Actually, you don't need to feed me. I'm not hungry. I just want to drink wine."

Kai lifts a brow at her. "Iinom ka pero walang laman tiyan mo?"

"Why not? May store ba nearby? I can get us wine."

"You can make your Martini here. I stocked up yesterday."

True enough, there are different bottles of Gins, Vodkas, and Vermouths sitting inside his cupboards when he opens them to show her. Kai opens the refrigerator again, grabs a packet, and walks to her close enough to throw a pack of chocolates to her.

She catches it with both hands. And blinks. Huh. Kisses.

"There's more inside, but don't eat a lot or you'll ruin your appetite," he says and then he's turning his back to her.

Milly watches him don his apron on, the cool surface of the chocolates sitting on her palm. "You prepared what I said."

"Baka may masabi ka pa kung hindi. Don't want to hear you say I lagged behind."

She pokes a tongue in her cheek, stopping the flutters rising in her chest. "What's this competitiveness I'm hearing? It almost sounds like you're saying, 'If I'm gonna be one of your lovers, I'm gonna be the best one among them.'"

He only gives her another one of his trademark deadpan stare before he starts to work.

Popping one kisses into her mouth, she crosses back to the kitchen and sits on the stool at the island, watching him with undivided attention as he cuts onions on the other side.

Seeing him like this, so different from the guy she came to know him as, is sending shockwaves of desire through her.

Gods.

Kai furrows his brows at the way she's staring, like he's warning her to behave. If he's bothered by her attention though, he doesn't say anything. He keeps to his work with rapt focus and expert hands.

Gods. She's tingling and he's not even doing anything.

"What are you making?"

He points at the box of thin spaghetti, and she nods. Her eyes then trail down to his toned physique as the chopping sounds resonate throughout the suite, blending with the sounds of the movie she didn't bother turning off. She bites her lips. He's right.

She's insatiable.

He's really driving her mad.

"How good are you at multitasking?" she asks.

He throws her a suspicious look before he looks down again and starts cutting the celeries and carrots into thin slices. "Whatever it is you're planning, don't."

She shrugs. "I was just wondering if you'd like me to prep you while you're preparing that."

She knows he understood what she's saying because his forehead creased. "Wala ka pang isang araw dito. Baka makasunog pa tayo. D'yan ka lang."

She props an arm on the counter and rests her chin on her palm, watching him closer. "Can you really stop me if my hand wanders elsewhere while you're busy cooking? You can continue cooking. I'll do my thing and play."

"Milly," comes his warning voice. "I care about my food and the sanctity of my kitchen. Whatever it is you're entertaining in your head, you can forget it."

"Sanctity," she laughs as the word rolls off her tongue. "I think fucks are best done in the kitchen table though. Plus points if there's a mirror coz I'd love to watch you fuck me like that."

He stops his business to frown at her. "Your mouth."

She knows she's affecting him though, and a hot thrill of heat flashes through her stomach and seeps up to her neck when she sees how tight he's gripping the knife now. She notes the sheen of sweat forming in his neck.

Her heart skips a beat.

She grins and jumps out of the stool, approaching him in short, deliberate steps. "Okay, last offer. You'll boil that pa naman after. Make out na lang?"

Kai stops her with a pointed stare. "Distansya," he says, gesturing at how close she's gotten. "We agreed no sex tonight."

He looks so hot and ridiculous when he says that, looking at her with an exasperated frown, while he's got that sexy apron wrapped around his body, the knife still wedged between his fingers. A domestic sight she never thought she'd see on him, ever. So far from the intimidating, intense guy that she met many months ago.

She bites her lips, tamping down the insistent urge nagging at her head.

"Right. Bawal nga pala."

Chuckling, she steps away, hands up in the air in surrender.

"Bumalik ka na ro'n," he's instructing, pointing at the couch.

She returns to the stool instead. "I'll behave if you give me a good show."

"Ano na naman?"

"Mm," she hums, darting her tongue over her lower lip to tease him. His eyes follow her movement, and his brows twitch in frustration even more. "Take off your top, chef. I think you'll look sexier with only an apron on."

When he sighs in surrender, and resorts to completely ignoring her, she lets out a peal of laughter. Gods.

They've fucked three times now. How is it possible the air between them is still as charged as it was the first time?

"Can I stock this place up? I'd hate to have you feed me each time," she says minutes later to divert her attention. She watches him as he turns the stove on and pours the olive oil onto the pan, followed by the ingredients, which he seasons with pepper.

The smell immediately wafts into the air.

"Bahala ka. But don't ask me to take you to the groceries."

"Okay. I'll bring my friends na lang."

He pauses to shoot a look at her before he grabs two cans of crushed tomatoes and adds it onto the pan. "Your Ollie and Spiro."

She didn't miss the shadow of irritation passing through his eyes. She snickers inwardly. So possessive.

Another burst of excitement blazes in her chest. "I have girl friends, too."

"Ah."

"Do they bother you? My Ollie and Spiro?

"No," he answers none too quickly. "Do they know about us?"

"Not really. Not entirely." She corrects herself, "I mean, yes. Somewhat. Not everything though. I wanna keep you to myself first."

"Pero ayaw ng exclusivity," she hears him mutter in a dark voice.

"I don't like getting my freedom pinned. I'm sure ikaw din. That's why you can be with others too. It's fine with me."

"You think I have time for that? When you're taking too much of me as it is?"

Another wave of urgent need steals her breath, and her eyes fall to his lips.

She grins. "Happy to hear I'm your only happy hour then."

"You mean my nightmare."

Milly rolls her eyes playfully. "Please. You keep coming back to me. Just admit I feel good. I won't judge you naman."

She sees a curve tug up at his lips when he checks the boiling water.

"You're not bad."

"That's it? That's the most I can get from you? Just not bad? When you're the one who fucked me til sunrise until I'm completely breathless?"

His mouth twitches into a frown again, no doubt because of her light teasing. He ignores her again, and with careful ease, adds the pasta into the boiling water.

She takes a long breath.

Images of him doing this everyday in his condo starts to play in her imagination. Now she can't stop picturing how he spends most of his day. How he looks at work. At the gym. In his free time.

How he'll look if she rides him senseless, and he finishes underneath her hands.

Milly shakes the thoughts away. Gods, she's losing it.

She really needs to do something about this obsession-and fast.

"Kai, aren't we a little too early into this to start going all domestic on each other?" she says instead, to take her mind off.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're feeding me homemade food."

"'Di ka ba nakinig sa sinabi ko sa 'yo? I don't like ordering out. I make my own food most of the time."

"Ah. Because of that girl. It still sucks that she did that just because you rejected her," she mutters, remembering what he told her days ago. "You never told me what happened to the girl after."

"Expelled. Her parents took her to the US. They found out she wasn't mentally sound."

She hums. But of course, she's not. Only someone sick will think of hurting the one they like.

Milly's eyes then flicker up to his face, drinking in the way his brows met as he goes back to stirring up the Italian sauce he made.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like your mom? Your sister looks like your dad," she catches herself saying out of nowhere.

"And you're a carbon copy of your mother." He adds, finally looking up at her. "How many are you again?"

"Four kay Dad. Two kay Mom."

"Three sisters if I remember correctly."

"Yes. Although..." she trails off. "Can I tell you a secret? One of them is not really my sister by blood. She's my dad's wife's daughter. She had her before she met my dad. He took care of her since she's young."

"How old is she?"

"Close enough to my age."

His brows arch up, no doubt putting two and two together, but he says nothing else. She can tell exactly what's on his mind.

"You can say it. I'm sure you heard the whispers during that party. They think my dad cheated and that's why they got divorced."

"Wasn't that why?"

"No. It's more complex than that."

"How complex?"

"Complex complex. Open marriage is what they call it these days. Cut the story short, Dad was married to her. She was married to her music. So she let him find someone else during the duration of their marriage. Odd, isn't it? You loved each other but not enough to stay together."

He doesn't respond. His eyes are set on hers, searching. What he wants to find, she doesn't know.

"You're close to your sisters?"

"Kinsley and Lia, yes. Clea, not really. It's still awkward. Alam mo kasi, while I knew about them. I found out early on by accident... They didn't know about me. Dad kept everything under wraps even from us."

"Do you hate him for that?"

"No. I just wish he handled it better."

"Come here."

Her brows shoot up at the sudden command. He turns away to grab a wine glass from the display.

Milly approaches him again, quietly now, watching him with curiosity as he takes a wine out from the refrigerator. He fills the glass and hands it over to her. "Don't drink too much. Wala pang laman tiyan mo."

Her chest flutters. Milly takes a deep breath. She takes the glass and places it down on the island.

"Can you drink it ta's I drink it off you na lang?" she's asking with a smile, and he thinks it's a joke, but she's not kidding.

She can't take it anymore. She should've known that she won't be able to keep her hands to herself at all.

"'Di ka nauubusan ng mga kalokohan."

She bridges the distance and loops her arms around his neck. He stiffens under her touch.

"Just one kiss. I promise I won't go overboard. Do you know how much self-control I'm exercising right now while I'm watching you?"

As if he's acting on instinct, his palms move down to her hips, like they belong there, keeping her pressed close against him. "Aren't you afraid I might take advantage of you? You're in my territory."

"How are you going to take advantage of a willing woman?" she whispers back.

That does it.

At first, she thinks he won't indulge her. Until he's thumbing her cheek, leaning over to brush his lips against hers in an agonizingly sweet and chaste kiss that she's never tasted from him before. The gentleness with which he touches her makes her squirm, and she pulls him even closer, deepening the kiss.

Her tongue darts toward his, seeking, and his taste heightens her senses when he flicks his over her lower lip.

She's getting dizzy.

Gods.

She pushes him to the edge of the counter, chasing after his mouth for more. More. More of him. More of this side of him.

She can feel his palms massaging her hips and she presses herself more toward him, eager to feel him, eager to lose whatever else is separating them.

But Kai cuts the kiss off before it escalates. "Go back to the couch." His whisper dances across her lips in a soft caress, his thumb grazing her mouth. "Don't tempt me or I might burn this place down before we can even use it."

That gets her laughing because she can't imagine that at all. He's rough. And he can be quite intense. But he's never careless.

He's always been the calculative, thoughtful type.

The chimes of her laughter joins the background noise when she obliges and finally-unwillingly-lets him go, plopping back down on the sofa, wine glass in hand.

"Can I bring my clothes here? So I have spare to change into?"

"Suit yourself. The other room is vacant. You can put your things there."

She follows the direction where he's pointing and nods.

"If you're bored, there's a mini library in one of those rooms. Check it out. Patapos na 'to."

Who's bored? Her?

No, she's fucking alive.

And what she needs now is him to put the fire out.

"I'll check it out later," she says, suppressing a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Wala. I just realized I can finally fulfill my library fantasy now without the fear of getting caught."

He sighs again and finally turns off the stove. "Tapos na 'to. Pumwesto ka na."

She takes a lungful of the aroma permeating the air and licks her lips.

"Can't believe we've gotten to the point where you're even cooking for me now. Don't expect me to do the same," she says when she sits at the dining table. "I can't cook."

Kai soon joins her, placing two plates filled with tomato sauce pasta on the table. A perfectly cooked meal that tastes as delectable as it looks. "Paano ka kumakain sa bahay?"

"Order. Takeouts. Right now, Neve's cooking for us."

"Sino?"

"My best friend. Ran and Neve. I'll tell you about them some other time."

"You should learn how to cook. It's unhealthy to eat fastfood and takeouts all the time."

She shrugs. "We've always had chefs at home. I never bothered learning. And when I moved out, I was too busy to cook any real meal. I always ate out. It's Ollie's Mom who made sure I get to eat homemade food. She gave me packed lunches constantly."

"How did you meet him?"

"Ollie? I've known him for a while now. Knew him since highschool. I mean I've been seeing him around. But we only became close in college. How did you meet Kuya Evan?"

"Same program."

"And Seth?"

"Gano'n din."

After refilling her wine glass, Kai moves to the living room. With a flick, he turns off the TV. A few shuffles, and Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven is soon playing through the speakers.

"Nagpaparinig ka ba?" she asks him with a laugh when he joins her at the table.

"I told you I like it."

"I loved this sonata, too. There was a time I enjoyed playing it."

Kai's staring at her, reading her face. His kiss is still fresh on her lips, and seeing him this close is sending her to madness again.

Milly sighs.

"Now I fucking regret agreeing to no sex today. You're making me miserable. I don't have a dick but I'm so hard right now."

At her words, Kai laughs. "Ano? Is that the only thing you can think about when you look at me?"

"I'm not usually this ravenous. But what can I do?" she says. "I can't get enough of you."

"Three times is not enough?"

She lifts a finger to tap his lips. "Worse, I think I became even more hooked on you lang."

She sees his eyes diluting, but he looks away. "Eat your food, Milly. Lalamig na 'yan."

Another shiver runs down her spine at the way he calls her name. Her gaze lingers on him a little second more.

His shoulders are tensed, and his breathing measured. His lips are set in a thin line. Knuckles almost white now at how he's holding his utensils.

She can tell he's working hard to hold back too.

So she gives in to him.

He wants to slow down. So she'll slow down.

She's going to be sleeping with a nonexistent hard-on tonight.