Daniel was so surprised by Jacob"s devious move. He turned his head to face the little boy and saw Jacob"s grinning face and tongue sticking out. This boy dared to stop his kiss! Samantha caught on what happened and she burst out laughing. These two never fail to amuse her."You-!", Daniel opened his mouth and bit Jacob"s hand playfully. Jacob was ticklish and instead of getting angry by the bite, he laughed and shrieked in Daniel"s arms, trying to wiggle his way out.
"Kira! Save me from the monster!", Jacob stuck his arms out to Samantha as he giggled and escaped Daniel"s tickle torture.
She caught the little boy in her arms and turned away to run away from Daniel, "Ahhh!", she played her part and giggled all the way out to the balcony.
"Come back here you two! I was the one being punished, how could both of you work against me!", Daniel chased after them.
...
The party wound down past midnight and the guests started to bid goodbye to Samantha and Daniel. Slowly, the room became empty and they stood by the door to see their friends off.
"Kira, you have to keep in touch with us.", said Chelsea as she hugged Samantha.
"Of course, I will."
"I"m really happy for you. I hope you won"t forget to call me from time to time.", Quinn said to her.
"Quinn, I won"t.", she smiled.
Kai sighed, "You"re really leaving?"
Samantha just grinned and tapped Kai"s arm.
"Can I at least get a hug?", Kai asked.
Samantha and Kai glanced at Daniel like they were waiting for his permission.
Daniel breathed out and reluctantly spoke, "2 seconds."
Kai grabbed Samantha"s shoulders speedily and gave her a big bear hug before he ran away.
Lucas actually wanted to attend the farewell party but he was out of town so he promised to send them off the next day at the airport.
When all their guests have left, the villa felt empty, it was quiet again.
"What time is our flight tomorrow?", Samantha turned to face Daniel.
"10 a.m."
She nodded, "Okay..."
"Are you okay?", he asked as he watched Samantha go about the living room, picking up some trashes here and there.
"Yeah."
Daniel sauntered towards her and hugged her from behind. "You know that you don"t have to pretend while you"re with me."
"I know.", she answered before she turned to face him and leaned into his embrace, "There"s just a lot of things on my mind."
Stroking her back, he asked, "Like what?"
"Well, it"s just... I"ve gotten used to my life here doing the same routine as if I don"t have a care in the world... though of course, that was because of my depression. And then suddenly I"ll be leaving again, and this time I"m not running away, rather I"m going home. But somehow, I can"t help but feel scared. I don"t know what"s waiting for me out there. And I don"t know what to do when I go back. What do I do?", Samantha asked Daniel as she wasn"t sure of her thoughts.
"Your family is waiting for you. I"m waiting for you. And we"ve talked about this, you can do whatever you want."
"But that"s the thing, I don"t know what I want to do."
Daniel brushed her cheek with his thumb, "Hey... it"s okay, I"ll help you. Let"s do it one step at a time. For now, all we need to do is go home. And then we"ll figure it out once we"re there."
Samantha began to rely on him, it was weird for her because if it was before, she never would"ve. The thought of her not relying on others was like nature to her but somehow now, it seemed like it was something she doesn"t want to do all the time. Having Daniel by her side, despite wanting to be an independent woman, she wanted to depend on Daniel with matters like these. She wanted to get his approval and support, "You"ll really help me?"
"Of course! Silly, of course, I"ll help you."
Daniel was really glad that not only that Samantha has been opening up to him lately, she"s also willing to ask for help and to accept help. That"s a huge step for Samantha. How she"s been over the years until the first phase of their relations.h.i.+p, the change that is happening to her is definitely a good one. Maybe running away did do something good for her after all because it made them closer than ever.
...
The next day at the airport, an hour before their flight, Daniel and Samantha have arrived on the tarmac with Lucas already waiting for them.
"Daniel, you"re really leaving.", Lucas spoke as the two walked towards him.
"Yeah, I"ve accomplished my mission after all so...", Daniel said with a smile while he glanced at Samantha.
Lucas clutched his chest as if he was in pain, "Ah! To you, I"m now second to women, I"m hurt."
"Nope. Correction, not women. I only have one.", Daniel said as he possessively wrapped an arm around Samantha and kissed her temple.
He scoffed, "You"ve become cheesy, do you know that? Also, how could you flaunt your sweetness in front of a single man? You are heartless, Daniel."
Daniel laughed heartily. "You should come and visit me soon. I"ll return the favor of taking care of me during my stay."
"What favor are you talking about? We"re family and besides, I am the one who"s returning the favor for what you"ve done for me years ago. So we"re even now."
"Still, I appreciate your help, Lucas. And about what we"ve discussed, I"ll think about it, only because it"s you who"s asking.", Daniel said as he shook his friend"s hand.
"You flatter me, my friend. But I do hope you"ll get on board with it."
"Let"s keep in touch, we"ll be leaving now."
The two friends bid farewell and Samantha politely said her goodbye.
Daniel had his private plane pick them up in Country D, so aside from the staff and the pilots, it was only him and Samantha all throughout the flight.
When they boarded, Daniel brought Samantha to the back of the plane. He opened the door and gestured her to go inside.
"You should go and get some shut-eye. You were only able to sleep for a few hours after packing your things.", Daniel said as he led Samantha towards the master suite.
"Yeah, I guess I"ll do that but what about you? Are you going to sleep too?"
Kissing her head, he said, "I"ll have to do some work first and then I"ll join you after."
"Okay.", she nodded and started to make herself comfortable to catch some Z"s. With the large bed inside the private plane, her sleep was quite comfortable.
Daniel stayed at the corner of the suite working on his laptop and after about 3 hours of cramming, he stretched his arms and decided to take a break.
He went over to the bed and laid beside the sleeping Samantha. She was finally with him, and now they"re going home. He couldn"t help but stare at her beautiful face that he missed for 3 months. The worries, longing, and frustration he felt during those times that she was gone had all vanished. Feeling satisfied with her presence beside him, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead. Just as he gave a small peck, Samantha stirred and snuggled close to him.
Daniel pulled her even closer, "Sorry, did I wake you?"
She shook her head, "It"s okay."
"So are you awake now?", he whispered to her ear.
"Why? Did you need something?"
"Yes."
"What?", she asked with one eye open, the other squinting.
Daniel leaned in and captured her mouth. He started to kiss her pa.s.sionately and begun to caress her gently, petting her behind and gliding his hand up to cup her breast. She kissed him back despite being surprised.
He then lowered his head and pressed his lips on her neck making Samantha feel tingles throughout her body that her toes clenched.
Daniel started to undress her, taking off her s.h.i.+rt and then pulling her skirt down but then she pulled back for after a few seconds, "Wait wait..."
"What?!"
"What are you doing?", Samantha asked in confusion.
Daniel tilted his head and kissed her ear, nibbling the earlobe, Samantha moaned.
"I thought you said you missed it?", he whispered hot and heavy in her ear.
Samantha blushed, "Do you really want to do it right now? In this plane?", she probed but then allowed Daniel to fondle her almost naked body.
Pulling back to see her face, he said, "Why not? I thought you were Ms. Daredevil.", Daniel smirked. "Besides, we have privacy."
Samantha thought about it before she replied, "Mr. Daniel Cho, why do I feel like you intended to do this beforehand? Is this why you had your private plane pick us? You"re insatiable!"
"Oh, sweetheart, don"t you know that Swifts are creatures of the air? They have such an aerial lifestyle that they ???? in flight.", he said with a smirk on his face before he hovered Samantha"s body and pressed himself to her. "I"m just practicing what"s in my nature.", he whispered in her ear.