SEVENTY-NINE

Her eyes fluttered close as his lips met hers, and whatever had been on her mind faded away as his began kissing her gently. His hold on her tightened as her lips parted to let his tongue explore her mouth; she tasted the wine on his tongue, smelt it on his breath. She loved it.

Their lip parted for a brief moment, and he stared at her; stared into her eyes, stared into the vulnerability of her soul, the depth of her longing. He shook his head at whatever thought crossed his mind before claiming her lips once more. He approached her with more passion now, his hands started to become restless so he flipped her over so she lay on her back underneath him.

“Don’t look at me like that.” He said when their lips parted again.

She was a bit breathless so she took a moment to catch her breath as she stared up at him trying to understand what he meant.

“How?” She asked him when she caught her breath,

She wasn’t aware that her eyes held raw emotions in them; they literally screamed everything she couldn’t say.

“You know how,” He replied.

She looked deeply into his eyes deeply in search of something, anything, and for a fleeting moment she saw a look resembling guilt, but it vanished just as quickly as it had come, and it was as though it hadn’t been there at all. She averted her gaze from his as she realized what he meant; he couldn’t deal with her emotions so he didn’t want her showing them.

“I can’t help it.” She told him honestly.

How could she possibly feel so much for him and not show it every now and then? Even if she tried not to, her eyes would always give her away. He shook his head once more. His hold on her weakened and he let go of her before backing away and climbing off the bed, she propped herself up on her elbow as she watched in disbelief as he made his way towards the door.

“You’re leaving?” She asked him.

“Go to sleep, Yalda. I’ll join you soon.” He replied without stopping or glancing back.

Her throat clenched and she felt tears prick her eyes as her heart did the exact same thing. She jerked upright before climbing out of bed quickly, almost angrily. So, he was just going to walk away whenever she let her emotions show? Why had he even bothered bringing her here then?

“You know what I think about you?” She asked as she dashed after him.

He turned around to face her, his eyes told her he was in no mood for this but she didn’t care,

“I think you’re a coward.” She told him.

She blinked rapidly to dissipate the tears in her eyes but ended up causing them to fall instead.

“Everything you do, every single one of the things you do, you do because you can’t deal with your emotions.” She told him. “And you run from any form of emotion because you are a coward.”

Her chest was heaving heavily with every breath that she took, her heart pounded erratically against her chest, and her body trembled but she couldn’t help herself. He stared at her for a moment without saying anything, and just when she thought he wouldn’t respond, he nodded slowly, as though considering what she had said.

“It’s a good thing I’ve never claimed to be anything other than what I am.” He replied.

His words were like a blunt knife being plunged into her heart forcefully. They had her breath faltering. He turned around to leave once more but she held his hand to stop him.

“This is a waste of time.” She said, her voice barely sounded now because she was trying so hard not to cry, not to break down. “You shouldn’t have brought me here.”

He looked into her eyes and he undoubtedly saw raw hurt in their depth.

“Yalda, go to bed.” He said. “It’s late.”

She shook her head. She wasn’t going to let him dismiss her and send her to bed merely because he was inconvenienced.

“I can’t do this anymore; I want to leave tomorrow.” She told him. “I can’t put myself through this.”

“You’re not leaving, Yalda.” He replied immediately. “I didn’t bring you here to fall in love with you; I brought you here to show you who I really am. And I’m glad you’ve realized I’m a coward.”

She blinked sharply to clear her tears blurred vision.

“You will stay a little longer, and you will discover more things that you hate about me.” He told her. “And then you can leave and sort your feelings out.”

Her hold on his hand weakened till she released him. Unable to say anything else, she averted her gaze from his as more tears streaked down her cheeks. Perhaps she had forgotten for a moment that he had indeed brough her here to make her change her mind about how she felt about him.

“Maybe if you were a little like me you wouldn’t have let your emotions get involved in this; you wouldn’t have been so hurt.” He said.

He was right, but a humorless chuckle left her. Her gaze returned to his resignedly.

“You know, I’d rather feel this way; I’d rather feel so hurt because it makes me human. I’d rather feel all this than not feel anything at all.” She told him.

With that, she turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist immediately.

“You’re a fool.” He told her.

His eyes had become cold, frosty, they had become dark. She had obviously struck a nerve,

Undoubtedly so. She was truly a fool for having let herself fall for him; she was a fool for not being able to do anything about it. She was a fool for knowing she’d never be able to do anything about it. She nodded.

“I am a fool.” She confirmed.

He glared down at her, his glare was so intense that it sent a chill running down her spine, it had her breath faltering even more. Her heart pounded heavily against her chest with every second that passed, but then, it stilled when he dragged her closer and crashed his lips onto her in a fierce and almost punishing kiss.

….

Like always, it happened all to quickly, Yalda could hardly make sense of it all. One moment they had been so mad at each other, and the next, she was naked on the plush rug moaning loudly while he fucked her as though his sanity depended on it.

With her wrists restrained by his hand, all she could do was curl her toes as pleasure rippled through her body again and again. She subconsciously struggled to free her wrists but his grip on them only tightened.

“Oh goodness.” She moaned breathlessly.

Would she ever get used to how quickly things between them escalated? To how quickly the situation always changed? She couldn’t even think straight at the moment, how could she? His hold on her was firm but gentle, so was everything else; his thrusts, his touch. It made her want to lose her mind.

It went on until waves and waves of ecstasy washed over them, as promised, Alexander had been mindful about the fact that she wasn’t protected. He released her wrists before planting a lingering kiss on her hand.

“Are you alright?” He asked while trying to catch his breath.

She merely nodded. She was sleepy, so sleepy that her eyelids were beginning to droop on their own.

“I’ll like to go to bed now.” She told him.

He could tell, her eyes always gave everything away.

“Go to sleep. I’ll take care of you.” He replied.

And she did just that.