Chapter 50 I Will Make Up For You
Natalie wanted to enter the house, but Luke was being unreasonable and said, "No."
His voice was too soft which made his word hardly to be heard. In an instant, he moved his face forward and bit her ear.
Natalie was so sensitive that her body suddenly stiffened. Luke was licking her earlobe. The heat on the tip of his tongue made her unable to speak clearly. She said intermittently, "The surveillance camera... There is a surveillance camera here."
Luke pretended he didn't hear that and was obsessed with their cuddling.
Natalie was wearing a white knitted camisole and light-colored jeans. Her collarbone line was seen clearly. It extended to her shoulders and joined nicely with her slender arms.  Her fair collarbone and neck were revealed openly, which was convenient for Luke to do whatever he wanted.
Luke was moving around Natalie's neck and she was blocked by Luke in the corner. She pinched his shirt tightly and groaned, "Luke..."
"What is the password?" He asked next to her ear with his warm breath.
Natalie stared blankly, and it took her a while to realize that he was asking for the door lock's password. However, the password was very long and it was troublesome to read it all out.
Natalie didn't answer Luke. She stretched her hand out of his arm and swiped her thumb over the fingerprint recognition area on the door behind him. After a beep, the door was unlocked.
But Luke didn't get in. He hugged her tightly, pinched her waist, and said in his deep voice, "You don't want me to know it. Don't you?"
Natalie moved away and murmured, "No..."
She pressed a few buttons on the door lock , and then she pulled his finger over to the identification areato entered his figerprint fingerprint.
After that, a robot-sounded notification said, "Entry successes"
"That's better." Luke opened the door, took her by the shoulders, and led her into the house.
When the two were at the entrance, Natalie bent to take off her shoes after turning on the light. The door slammed behind her. She didn't care much and asked, "Do you have your dinner before you come over?"
"No." Luke was standing behind her and waiting for her.
After Natalie put on her slippers, she took another pair of slippers from the shoe rack before she got up, and put them next to Luke's feet.
When she was about to say something, Luke pressed his lips to her which made her unable to speak.
On that day, he kissed her more intensely than ever before. He didn't take it slow. He was no longer trying to seduce her, he started kissing her none stop instead. His pace was fast.
However, he restrained himself and did not exert himself. A girl's lips were very soft and he didn't want to bite on them accidentally. He didn't want that to happen.
Natalie couldn't keep up with his pace. She seemed unable to catch her breath. Luke held her waist so she wouldn't slip onto the ground. When there was an interval where his lips left a little, Natalie said effortfully, "You should...have your...meal first..."
After making out with her for a long time, Luke finally let go of her tongue. He pressed on her forehead and stroked her watery lips with his fingertips. He panted deeply and quickly. He asked, "How about eating you?"
It was very clear that his words were implying something. He stared at her all the time while he was saying that. Natalie was too shy to say anything. She thought to herself, "Why do you have to ask for this? How am I supposed to answer? Why can't you..."
While she was blaming him in her heart, she also noticed that he was being strange, especially when they were kissing. She could easily detect that his emotion wasn't right.
Natalie leaned her head against the door, gently wrapped his waist, and asked, "Are you feeling okay today? What's wrong?"
Luke was stunned for a moment.
He thought that he had disguised and hidden his feelings very well all these years. He didn't expect that she found the clue about him being not right so easily.
Luke didn't answer her. He lowered his head and put his face on her shoulders. Then, he hugged her hard and said, "There is a shareholder meeting tomorrow morning. I will have to leave before dawn."
Natalie wasn't expecting that from him. She turned her face away from him. She felt some itchiness on her face when it was poked by the tip of his short hairs.
Natalie noticed his tiredness and felt that something troublesome had happened to the company. She didn't ask any further. She raised her hand, patted gently on his head, and said, "You don't have to come over if you don't have time next time. It is tiring to travel back and forward."
Luke felt touched when Natalie stroked his hair gently and spoke to him in such an understanding tone.
Luke chuckled and rubbed against her neck, and said, "I have missed you."
That was the first time Luke was so clingy. It was also the first time he told her that he was missing her directly.
Natalie's heart leaped. She said softly, "I..."
Then, Luke took her hand from his hair, put it on the metal buckle of his belt, and whispered, "It misses you too."
When Natalie suddenly felt something solid, she abruptly withdrew her hand and ran away from his arms without a second thought. "Let me get you some noodles..."
Natalie blushed. Before she could walk any further, someone grabbed her ponytail. The next second, her feet left the ground and she was in a shock.
"Cook it later." Luke hold her waist, carried her in his arms, and walked towards the bedroom.
-
The lights in the bedroom weren't being turned on. The room was dark. The half-closed door blocked Fourteen and the light from the living room.
Luke placed Natalie on the bed, took out his belt, and threw it next to the pillow. Then, he hugged her from her back and pushed up her white camisole and her laced innerwear. When he remembered that she was afraid of darkness, he stopped for a while to ask if she needed the night light to be switched on.
Natalie shook her head instantly.
Of course, she didn't want it. It would be better to see nothing in the dark for that moment.
"Are you feeling shy?"
Natalie felt his warm breath behind her ear. She felt shy and scared when she thought of what was going to happen next. She grabbed one of his fingers that was on her stomach and whispered, "I have never done this before...You have to be gentle..."
Luke was silent for a moment. Then, he laughed suddenly and said softly, "My dear, I am not thinking of doing that tonight."
Natalie was sure that he didn't tell the truth. He must had been thinking about that all the time.
Her ear echoed with his hoarse voice. Natalie blushed and murmured, "So, you..."
"I have no contraceptive measurement with me," Luke said while he was kissing her ear. After he kissed her for a while, he said, "Next time, I will get it ready in advance."
It turned out that she overthought it...
Natalie bit her lower lip and stopped talking.
His hand went around from her back to the front and touched all the way up to her chin. Then, he pinched her chin gently and turned her face to his.
He leaned forward and kissed her lips.
In the darkness, Natalie was dazed by his lips and fingers. In a trance, she heard him saying, "Well, that isn't the only way to do it. What do you think?"
His warm breath was touching her lips. Natalie began to think, "Is he going to use my hand? Or, is he going to use my mouth...People say that man prefers the latter."
She thought that in a daze without knowing how long it had passed. Suddenly, she was awakened by Luke when he asked her to lift her legs.
-
Eventually, she didn't cook the noodles for him.
Luke told Natalie earlier that he would have to leave before dawn. She wasn't surprised when she woke up the next day with no one next to her.
After she sat up, she saw those clothes that were being tossed last night were stacked nicely on the bedside table.
When Natalie recalled Luke's whim last night, she held her breath, and her cheeks blushed immediately.
Her knowledge in that area was still unable to compete with a man. Despite she thought she knew a lot by knowing about the hands and mouth, she didn't expect that leg could be used as well...
Natalie tried to stand up but she couldn't. Then, she lay back in her bed, took her mobile phone, and sent a furious cat head emoji to the culprit.
At that time, Luke had just gotten off the plane and sat in the car heading to the office. When he saw her text, a smile finally appeared on his pursed lips. "What's wrong? Are you feeling aggrieved?"
Natalie, "It's all your fault."
Luke could imagine what was her expression when she said so. Her squinting eyes must be full of shame and anger.
He also recalled when he touched her last night, she buried her face in front of his body and called his name shyly. Then, she started to moan gradually... In the middle of the night, he wiped her clean after he went to wash in the bathroom. Despite the lighting being dimmed, he could still see there was a thin layer of mist in her eyes, her eyelashes were drooping, and she stared at him sleepily and aggrievedly..
Luke smiled. Then, he took the initiative to admit his mistake, "It is my bad pushing too hard. I will pay more attention next time."
Natalie, "There is no next time!"
Luke was leaning against the back seat of the business car. He rarely had such leisure time. "What I should do? The thing I want to do with you is not this simple anymore."
She argued, "Why are you pretending now? Do you ever only want to do the simple thing with me?"
Her words made Luke burst into laughter. He coaxed her with ulterior motives and said, "It's my bad, Nata. I will make up for you when I come to you next time."
Natalie asked, "What are you going to do to make it up?"
Luke told Natalie that she could make the call and repeated to her the words she once said, "Hands and mouth are fine."
After their conversation on that day, none of them would have expected that the "next time" they mentioned, would be a month later.
In that month, something happened within the Bennington Group. Luke didn't have time to travel back and forth from Athana to Alcomara even within the same night.
There was no news to be found on the Internet, which showed that the incident wasn't something to be shared with the public. Since Luke told Natalie that he would be occupied for that period, she didn't ask about it any further. She told him not to be bothered about her and to get his company issues sorted out first.
Fortunately, he still had time to talk with her over the phone every day, despite it could be just a few minutes sometimes.
Before that, Natalie never felt that one would have such a strong sentimental attachment to another person. But as the days of separation became longer and longer, she learned in the process gradually that those sentimental attachments did exist.
For Natalie, her sentimental attachment was only activated after she met Luke.
It was as if all the joyful things in the world happened to her at the same time, they wouldn't make her as thrilled as seeing Luke.
Lucas was still waiting for her reply about going to Professor Mateo's research institute.
It was one of the late nights before September that Natalie suddenly realized the fact that, one day, she wouldn't be able to live without him.
It was approaching autumn. The chirping of cicadas in the summer gradually faded away. The weather in those few days was switching between stuffiness and chilliness.
Natalie got up late. She rushed to her work and forgot to turn off the air-conditioner in her room. She only noticed that when she got home at night, the air-conditioner had been on all day.
Fourteen was blown by the air-conditioner all day. It had been staying in her room since it didn't get used to sleeping elsewhere.
At first, Natalie didn't notice anything unusual. However, at night, when she was about to doze off, she heard Fourteen muffled on and off strangely.
Natalie yawned and called Fourteen by its name. She stretched out her hand to the edge of her bed and waved for a while. But after a long while, she didn't see Fourteen come over.
Natalie felt that something was wrong. She got up and turned on the light. After she has done squinting to adjust to the light, she saw Fourteen lying sickly outside of its bed, and there was full of vomit in its bed.
Natalie woke up instantly. She had no experience in raising a pet before. She didn't know what to do. She called Luke quickly but the call didn't get through.
Luckily she managed to get hold of Mia. After half an hour, Mia drove to Clovervale Residence to pick her up and sent Fourteen to the veterinary hospital.
It was midnight. They went around the city and couldn't find any veterinary hospital that was still open.
Fourteen looked very weak and lay on the back seat. Natalie kept looking out of the window to make sure she didn't miss any veterinary hospital that was still open.
But the surrounding streets were all dark. There was not even a single person on the streets. It was an open space in darkness. Natalie was so anxious and her eyes turned red.
Mia pressed on the accelerator and sped along the empty road. Her comforting voice scattered in the violent wind. "Calm down, Nata. We may be able to find one when we go further."
They drove another ten miles away but still didn't find any hospitals.
When Natalie was about to give up, she finally received Luke's return call.
"I thought you were asleep. There were some emergencies I had to deal with, that's why I didn't check my phone." His voice sounded super tired but he still smiled and talked to her, "What's wrong? It is very late now."
Luke was the most efficient soothing medicine for her in the middle of that night. Natalie could no longer hold those tears in her eyes when she heard Luke's voice. She felt so helpless.
"Luke..." Natalie was anxious. She was sobbing and telling him that Fourteen didn't seem well. She didn't know what to do since all the veterinary hospitals were closed.
Luke paused for a while to clear his mind. After that, he calmly told her not to worry. He told her to stay where she was and someone would be there for them.
After a while, there was a black sedan drove up to where they were and led them to a private veterinary hospital.
The dark hospital building was lit up. That was the only light source on the street in the middle of that night.
Two people came to them. One was an old veterinarian who brought Fourteen into the consultation room as soon as he got off the car.
Another one was a young man, probably a friend who was entrusted by Luke to help with this matter.
Natalie was restless. She was walking back and forth outside of the consultation room. When the young man saw that, he reassured her by telling her that the old veterinarian was an expert in veterinary medicine. There weren't any diseases he couldn't treat.
"Thank you so much for your help."
Natalie felt guilty. It was her who didn't take good care of Fourteen and made them had to rush over in the middle of the night..
"When Luke tells me about it, the veterinarian happens to be awake." The young man seemed to understand what she was thinking and said, "Don't blame yourself. Luke was seriously injured before when it was on duty in the army. It's most likely something to do with the old injury."
When Natalie seemed to gaze astonishedly, the young man continued to tell her that Fourteen was almost ten years old. Its immune system was getting weak. The weather in the north would easily cause the old injury to relapse, that was why Luke kept Fourteen in the south after it retired from the military.
As the conversation went on, Natalie learned that the young man and Luke were comrades-in-arms.
The veterinarian told Natalie not to be worried. Fourteen was fine. It was a recurrence of its old injury. However, he suggested Fourteen stays in the hospital for a few days, which was more convenient for the observation and medicine feeding.
It was three in the morning when she got home.
After Mia told Natalie that she got home safely, Natalie sat alone on the small bench in the balcony, and she didn't feel sleepy at all.
Luke was awake at that time as well. He called Natalie right away when she got home.
There were only a few dim streetlights in the residency area. Natalie held her phone by her ear and look at the dark and gray sky, she suddenly felt lost in that early morning.
Fourteen used to keep her company before this. But now, she suddenly found nothing next to her, and she felt empty.
She couldn't imagine what would happen if Luke wasn't there that night.
It seemed that she had a strong dependency on him, and she was no longer able to digest all negative emotions independently as she used to be.
"Luke..."
Natalie called his name on the phone. Her voice was vague in the darkness, "I have missed you so much."
Sometimes, one could collapse in an instant.
After all the struggles she went through in half of that night, Natalie suddenly became unreasonable and desperately wanted to meet him.
He was the person she wanted to hug when she was sad.
Luke was silent in her words. After a while, he said softly, "Give me another two days. I will come to see you in another two days."
He would come to see her, and then what?
They still had to go back and forth between separation and reunion.
Later, the sky began to glow as the sun was rising.
Natalie was still sitting in the balcony. She hugged her legs and was occupied with something on her mind. She only came back to her senses when the morning light fall on her eyelashes.
She got up suddenly and returned to her bedroom. She took out the pre-selection form given by Lucas from the drawer and wrote on it solemnly.
-
Two days later, Natalie's mood became brighter.
The veterinarian told her that Fourteen was recovering well and it could go home. On the same day, Luke did what he had promised. He told Natalie that he was just arrived at Alcomara airport and would be at her place in an hour.
Calvin's concert was on the same night. Mia was very excited about it and had been screaming on Instagram for the whole morning.
Natalie was in the living room. She finally had her most relieved smile in those few days.
Less than an hour later, the door lock beeped.
Natalie abruptly stood up from the couch. As soon as Luke opened the door, he saw her running over to him. He smiled, opened his arms, and caught the girl who bumped into his arms.
It had been a month since he said he would make up for her.