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Floating blissfully in the world of her dreamless sleep, Emerald suddenly felt a fleeting warmth against the side of her lips. Assuming it to be a figment created by her dazed brain, she thought nothing of it and continued to slumber until she felt another touch on both her eyelids and another on her nose.

Frowning slightly, she let out a disgruntled groan, feeling annoyed at the intrusion. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture before turning to her side and snuggling deeper into the covers; they were the comfiest things she had ever laid in.

A few seconds went by peacefully and Emerald thought that she had finally rid herself of the disturbance plaguing her sweet sleep, until once again, she felt a warm breath tickle behind her ear. Going to raise her hand to slap off the intruder, Emerald was suddenly brought to a halt when an onslaught of wet kisses rained on her face.

Simultaneously letting out a groan and series of chuckles, she had no choice but to open her eyes to behold the intruder who had disrupted her sleep. Her sleepy eyes were met with the most beautiful sight ever.

A grinning Jordan with beautifully tousled hair and straight, sparkling white teeth bared only to Emerald, laid hovering over her, his elbows propped up against her sides as they held him up, preventing him from crushing her with his muscle packed body.

All Emerald could do was stare dumbfoundingly at him, her dazed eyes drinking in his every expression from the littlest detail on his face like how a tiny dimple popped on his right cheek to his most prominent features which were his light stubble and sparkling chocolate orbs.

In that moment, all Emerald registered was how cute and carefree her man looked. The scar at the corner of his lips seemed to stretch out on his face while he smiled at her as though the world that had always been resting so heavily on his shoulders had finally been lifted and he was now filled with immense relief.

His expression had Emerald in a trance.

So engrossed in staring at him, Emerald didn't notice his lips moving until a finger poked her cheek gently. She blinked, snapping back into reality as her eyes came into focus again, taking in the sight of Jordan waving his index finger in her face.

At that moment, her dirty mind decided to remind her of the previous night, particularly the image of what that very finger had been doing to her. She subconsciously bit her bottom lip, swallowing thickly as her cheeks and neck flushed pink.

Her eyes remained glued to the still, wagging finger, making her clench her thighs tightly together when the sudden image of how that same finger had been embedded inside of her, plunging slowly and deeply into her heated core the night before — popped up in her head.

“Earth to Emerald. Earth to my Gem,” Jordan said in a sing–song voice, tilting his head slightly as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Gem, are you in there?” he asked, leaning closer to her face.

That seemed to do the trick since Emerald's eyes immediately widened at the abruptly projected view of Jordan's face. Her flushed face turned even more red as she shrunk into the bed in an attempt to avoid Jordan's analyzing eyes, which were currently narrowed at her.

“Why did you suddenly space out?” he asked her slowly, his squinted eyes scanning her face and going over her bright, scintillating green eyes, flushed cheeks, which were slightly puffed out — a sign Jordan knew well enough to point to her being nervous — and the fact that she was trying to avoid his gaze.

Something dirty had been going through her mind, Jordan was certain. He had seen his sister exhibit such similar traits countless times. ‘But what dirty thoughts had she been thinking of?’  That was the real question.

“You were thinking about something, weren't you?” he probed when she made no move to respond to his previous question.

“No, I wasn't,” she squeaked.

“Lies. I can tell when anyone is lying, Gem and that includes you too. Now, tell me before I force it out of you,” he taunted, his eyes gaining a mischievous glint as his lips spread into a lopsided grin.

Emerald took hold of the comforter, pulling it enough to cover her face up until her nose before shaking her head, refusing to tell him anything.

“Tell me,” Jordan's voice went an octave lower, deepening as he leaned closer to her. She responded with another shake of her head, pulling the thick hap further up her face.

“Well then, just know that you're completely responsible for whatever actions I'm going to take now,” he leaned even closer, causing Emerald to shrink further under the covers until she let out a loud yelp, jolting abruptly as Jordan began to tickle her, eliciting loud laughters from her.

“S-stop!” she exclaimed, wiggling vehemently against his hold. “J–Jo–Jordan!” she screamed, laughing uncontrollably as tears fell down the corners of her eyes.

Jordan chuckled along with her, amused by how she squiggled, struggling to crawl from his grasp, but to no avail. “Promise me you'll tell me what you were thinking about,” he demanded, bringing his tickling fingers to a slow pace, but not quite stopping completely.

Emerald shook her head, still laughing and finding it hard to form a coherent sentence. “N-no, I'm not t-t-telling you anything,” she managed to say, watching in horror as Jordan's eyebrows slowly shot up his forehead, a smirk spreading across his lips before he slowly shook his head, uttering a series of ‘tsk’ sounds.

“Playing hard to get, are we?” he narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head just as he began tickling her again. “Well, too bad because I'm gonna tickle you until those words explode out of your addictive mouth,” he sang, tilting his head side to side while humming as he continued his torture, watching Emerald squirm and also occasionally chuckling alongside her.

When she felt her stomach and sides begin to ache with her throat going parched and sore from her loud guffaws and frequent screams, she finally yielded, waving her hands weakly in Jordan's face to signify her surrender.

Jordan brought his tickle torture to an immediate halt when he saw her begin to struggle with her breath. All amusement immediately evanesced from his face as he quickly leaned down beside her, helping her into a sitting position as she coughed, trying to stabilize her breathing.

“Are you okay?” he inquired worriedly, analyzing her flushed face and slightly bloodshot eyes. She nodded, still coughing a little. He raised his hands to cup her face, using his calloused thumbs to wipe the stray tears trailing down her cheeks.

Releasing a groan, Emerald clutched her stomach with a grimace, leaning back to rest in Jordan's arms, occasional giggles followed by groans still escaping her lips. Silence ensued in the room, the couple simply cuddling each other with no words being exchanged between them, leaving them with their thoughts.

Jordan — chewing on his lips with regret gnawing at his intestines — stared down at the woman laying in his arms, intermittent giggles and pained moans still leaving her mouth. He ran his hand through her hair while softly rubbing up and down her back in an attempt to soothe her and a few seconds later, her breathing gained back its regularity and her giggles came to a stop.

Placing an apologetic kiss on her forehead and earning from her, a tighter hold on his waist, Jordan mumbled his series of apologies into her hair, also giving her kisses intermittently.

A sudden pinch on his side had Jordan inhaling sharply, resultantly snapping him out of his regret–filled haze. He looked down at Emerald just as she looked up to meet his gaze. He almost smiled at the cute, little pout dancing on her lips but the guilt eating deep into him prevented him from having such positive feelings as before.

“I'm so sor—”

“If you even think about apologizing again, I will tickle you until the apologies evaporate from your throat,” she threatened, glaring playfully at him and this time, Jordan couldn't stop himself from chuckling softly at her obviously cute excuse of a harsh glare expression.

A bright smile instantly replaced Emerald's glare when she saw Jordan's guilt ridden expression ease up slightly. He again placed a kiss on her forehead before bumping his nose with hers. “But that doesn't stop me from being truly sorry.”

“Well, it is supposed to,” she mumbled, going to wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head against his chest.

After their long night of passionate love making, Jordan had taken it upon himself to clean both of them up before dressing her in one of his shirts whilst putting on a pair of shorts himself because his gem had been too tired and had pretty much passed out, drained from the amount of orgasms Jordan had drawn out of her.

Letting out a little sigh, Jordan shifted from his overly uncomfortable position and settled further into the bed, resting his back on the headboard while he held Emerald against him, getting into a more convenient position.

The both of them continued to dwell in the quietude, tangled up against each other as Jordan rested his chin on Emerald's head, staring off into space while Emerald just laid against him with her eyes shut.

A sudden question arising from Jordan, however, had her eyes snapping open and bringing her emerald orbs into view. “Wanna play twenty questions?” he had asked.

“Really?” Emerald asked, staring up at him with her eyebrows raised. He reciprocated with a small nod and a little smile which mirrored the feelings of uncertainty that swirled torturously in his guts.

“Yeah?” he muttered unsurely, warily eyeing Emerald's expression. “If you want to.”

“Of course, I do.”

“Alright, then.” Jordan pulled Emerald's body closer to his, adjusting her so she could lie in-between his legs with her back to his chest and the thick duvet cast over their half naked bodies.

A blush creeped up on Emerald's face when Jordan's hands went down her torso, coming together to wrap around her waist, his palms resting on her lower belly and only inches away from her genitals, which were by the way, very exposed from her lack of underwear or pants.

But before she could fully turn the colour of a beetroot, Jordan spoke, successfully drawing her attention. “So do you want to go first or should I?”

From his completely oblivious or innocent tone, Emerald couldn't help but think that maybe it was just an unconscious act, that maybe he really wasn't aware of how close his hands were to her core — even as he proceeded to spread his palms flat against her lower stomach, his fingers inching even closer to her area.

Biting her lower lip, Emerald tipped her head back to look behind at Jordan. A smile, seemingly sinless, was already stretched across his lips when she turned to face him and when he caught her gaze, he raised his eyebrows — an act that made him appear even more innocent.

“Well?” he prompted.

Slightly confused and with furrowed eyebrows, Emerald looked away from him, making up her mind that she had probably read too much into his clearly mindless act.

She responded. “You go first.”

“Okay. . .” he trailed off, falling into silence for a moment as he seemed to think of his question or perhaps, he was stalling because when the question finally escaped his lips, Emerald couldn't stop the surge of surprise that washed through her.

“Who was your first kiss?” he had asked, appearing to want to go straight to the point this time.

Once again, Emerald looked at him, quirking a questioning brow. “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked him, noticing the slight tick in his jaw at her question.

He took a moment to reply, clearing his throat before doing so. “Yes, I am.”

Emerald narrowed her eyes at him. “You asked the question so you cannot get jealous, okay?” she asked again, to which Jordan responded with a stiff nod.

“It was Logan,” she let her answer slip, rolling her eyes when Jordan's hold around her waist tightened. ‘Jealous much?’ But other than that primitive reaction of his, he made no sound whatsoever and Emerald rewarded him with a kiss on his jaw.

“But I assure you, it was as good as nothing compared to our first kiss,” she mumbled, flushing pink as she tried to reassure him whilst also speaking nothing but the truth. Their first kiss together had been out of this universe.

Immediately, her words had its intended effect when Jordan's grim expression eased into a wide smile as he stared down at Emerald. Leaning towards her, he moulded her lips with his in a momentary, passionate, inverted interlock before pulling away.

“What about you?” Emerald asked. “Who was your first kiss?”

“You,” Jordan answered, making Emerald's head snap up to him immediately — it was only by pure luck that she didn't get a whiplash.

Her eyes were wide and lips parted as she stared at him with a tinge of disbelief mixed with confusion. In the next second, she frowned before lightly hitting Jordan on the arm. “Stop joking,” she reprimanded.

Quirking an eyebrow, Jordan gave her forehead a thump, earning a glare from her as she rubbed on the spot. “Who says I'm joking?” he asked, pulling her hand off her forehead and replacing it with his lips.

He peppered kisses on the spot as Emerald assessed his words, letting it sink in. Starting to feel a slight ache in her neck due to her head being positioned to look at Jordan in an upside-down fashion, Emerald turned her body completely to face him, a completely serious look in her eyes as she straddled him.

“Are you being serious?” she inquired again, looking into his eyes.

Releasing a sigh, Jordan nodded before wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her body flush against him. “I am. You were my first kiss,” he muttered, his chest vibrating against Emerald's ear as the words flew out of his mouth.

Gently raising her head, Emerald snuck a look at him to see that his chocolate eyes held a faraway look as they stared ahead. Worry raked through her when she saw his jaw clench almost unnoticeably and she began gliding her palms softly over his chest to calm him.

It seemed to work when he let out a breath before speaking again. “My childhood wasn't a happy one and it continued up until my adolescent days, even going farther than that. Unlike other kids, I didn't have the luxury of frolicking around and even as a teenager, I couldn't do what normal teenagers did.

I couldn't hang out with friends, I couldn't attend high school parties and I couldn't even date, not to mention kissing. Believe it or not, I was the nerdy type back then. With my current reputation, I would seem to have upheld the bad boy or the notorious kid's title back in high school but I was rather withdrawn from everyone else.

I had no friends, just classmates, well until Keelan's annoying ass managed to sneak through my walls somehow,” Emerald smiled at the fond tone and little chuckle that escaped Jordan at the mention of his best friend.

“I was more into books and stuff. Your typical nerd, I just didn't wear glasses until. . .” he trailed off, all amusement draining from his eyes as his body stiffened and his arms tightened around Emerald.

A small tick sounded from his jaw — an obvious evidence of how tight he had clenched it — and Emerald took it as her cue to talk, to distract him from his memories somehow, so she did.

“You and I are quite alike, then. After I moved from Australia and relocated to Boston with Mom, we had a bit of a trouble settling in after all we had been through. I was homeschooled for a while since I had to visit my therapist. Having to battle trauma, I couldn't face the outside world; I didn't want to.”

Jordan listened intently to her, hugging her even tighter when she exhaled a shaky breath. “I had to spend the entirety of my middle school days at home, alternating between my therapy sessions and my home lessons. It continued like that until I joined high school.” Jordan continued to rub up and down her back, giving her some sort of moral support.

“That was where I met Logan and God knows how darn hard he had to try before I gave him any bit of acknowledgement,” she gave a little chuckle. “I will forever be grateful to him and even if I could turn back time, I still would choose to have him and Oriana in my life over and over again.”

With her words, Jordan felt every ounce of ill intent he could've had towards Logan fade into nothingness. The teensy feeling of jealousy still lingered in him but his heart of gratitude outweighed such feelings; he was extremely grateful to Logan, and Oriana, for being there for his Gem.

Emerald snuck a look at Jordan when he made no move to disturb the silence surrounding them. “I'm so sorry I interrupted you or anything. I didn't—”

“It's fine, Gem,” he cut her off, lifting his hand to brush back wild strands of her hair behind her ear. “Whose turn is it?”

“Well, since you didn't particularly ask me anything earlier, I guess it's your turn to ask,” she stared into his eyes, giving him a little smile, to which he also gave one of his.

Although she tried to hide it, Jordan could see that she was uncomfortable. He had felt her tense up against him when she had said that it was his turn to ask her a question. Maybe it would ease her if they threaded lightly for a bit.

So instead of asking her the question that had been on the forefront of his mind since she had blurted out the fact that she had been raped as a child, he decided to ask, “What's your favorite color?”

Emerald blinked, surprised at the spontaneous question as well as the sudden change of topic, however, she smiled, her eyes oozing appreciation as her body subconsciously sagged in relief.

“Hmm,” she hummed, playfully tapping her chin as she mulled over the question. “I am beginning to lighten up a bit — according to Ori — but I still love my monochromes, so to your question, I love the colours white, black and dark red.”

Jordan pouted, showing his dissatisfaction with her answer. “What?” she asked, seeing his expression.

“I was hoping you would say chocolate brown. You know, since a particular man you love,” he stressed, “has those beautiful, colored set of eyes.”

Emerald rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “I love that colour on you, but I don't know if I would like to see chocolate brown on anything else other than maybe, chocolate?” Jordan grumbled, earning a laughter from her before she leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Fine, fine. My new favourite colour is chocolate brown and I'd love to see it on everything and anything,” she coaxed, drawing a satisfied grin from Jordan. “Now what's your favourite colour?”

“Emerald green,” he answered without hesitation and once again, Emerald rolled her eyes and laughed at his ridiculously smug expression.

“As expected.”

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