The Man For Me

When we finally broke out from the forest edge, it was just beginning to drizzle. The clouds had taken a rather ashen furious gray as they moved above in anger.
"Oh no no." I gasped out of air.
"Nuru?" she asked, frantic.
"See you tomorrow," I called out over my shoulder at Melissa who was stunned. She had no idea what was going on.
I drove like a maniac back to Roman's house. It surprised me when I made it to his garage without running someone over or driving through someone's lawn.
The roar — earth-shattering, bone numbing — sounded as if it was right there in the garage with me. I was terrified.
And then it happened.
The lightening. It illuminated the room and suddenly the shadows came to life. It seemed like there were people stalking the dark room. Casting voodoo eyes on me.
I froze.
The rumbling sounded far, as if it was coming from a faraway tunnel and then it grew dangerously closer. This time both the roar and light came at the same time.
I jumped and stumbled my way to the door. My breathing kicked up a notch.
Before I could use my key to open the door, Roman already had the door opened. He had his house and car keys. It liked he was in a hurry, he was still pulling a t-shirt over his head.
"Are you okay?" He asked, taking me in his arms and pressing his cheek on my hair. "I was beginning to worry. I was coming for you."
At that moment he could've told me he wanted to kill me and I wouldn't have heard for I was in his arms, cradled against the comfort of his chest. My lips pressing firmly on his shoulder. I could feel the pulse on his throat.
Tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't believe how addictive Roman was, how badly it really affected me being so close to him but not having the pleasure to talk to him. And most importantly, I felt safe. The thunder a distant memory.
The curtains weren't only closed and made the room dark but there was no sound coming from outside. I looked up at him, searching his face only to find him looking at me with such a penetrating gaze that my heart pondered.
I stared back at him with just as much heat, and suddenly my eyes travelled to his lips and as though on purpose he ran his magical tongue on his bottom lip.
The sudden charge of electricity made my insides twitch. I wanted to reach up and sweep away a strand that covered a fraction of his eyes.
"Nuru," he said, his voice a soft breeze.
Yes. I wanted to say but I was frozen in place. I exhaled shakily. My breath caught. He'd said my name plenty of times before and yet this time it seemed... different somehow. I liked the sound of my name off his lips.
"Are you okay?"
I glanced up at his eyes, unwillingly. I was quite comfortable looking at his lips. His eyes were quite dangerous. They always managed to make me feel like he was the only thing I would ever need.
I tried to read the expression in his face, to know without looking into his eyes what he was thinking, I failed miserably. There was just no way I could ever get him to like me, I realized with a surge of sadness.
He stared at me bewildered by my sudden tortured expression.
Something occurred to me. "You said you were coming to get me."
"There's a storm outside."
I was shocked, caught off guard by the unfamiliar emotions that crashed into me. "You remembered?"
He frowned. "I wasn't supposed to?"
I shook my head, my eyes welling up and I looked away from him, desperately blinking the tears away.
"Nuru?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm listening." My voice broke.
"Are you okay?" He asked again, his voice very gentle.
"Let me down." My chin jerked up a fraction, angry at how weak I felt when he was around me. "I'm fine."
"I'm worried about you," he admitted sheepishly.
I gawned my teeth and tried to remain calm. "You don't have to pretend to care."
His lips hinted at a smile. "You look cute when you're angry."
I breath through my nose gathering all the power I could before slapping him.
He swiftly put me on my wobbly feet but the effect wasn't the storm anymore. "I should lay a sexual harassment charge against you and you've just assaulted me physically as well. "
My temper flared now, and I glared mercilessly at him and sat down on the couch.
"I'm sorry, for everything." His voice was sincere and his intoxicating breath brushed against my face and I staggered back a step. "I know I hurt you, though, that certainly wasn't my intention but I'm trying to protect you."
"Protect me from what?" I hissed.
"Me." He said coldly. He glared back. Finally provoked.
Are you kidding me? This was his excuse? Really? I rolled my eyes and stood up, my jaw clenched tight. "Can you at least try to be original?"
"Nuru, I can't be with you, not only is it not safe for you because in my job I piss a lot of people off," he insisted, speaking slowly. He sounded annoyed."...a third of those people want me dead, half of those would do anything to get to me — even go as far as hurt the people I care about." He shook his head with a grimace.
I wondered if I shouldn't be scared that people would want to hurt me if I continued to be in Roman's presence; instead I felt uncomfortable, the thought of staying away from him would hurt me more. The idea of abandoning Roman for a lifetime without him was repulsive to me. It made me sick. There was a connection between us I was sure only came once in a lifetime. I wouldn't leave him for anything. So why should this be any different? And a smile curved my lips. He'd admitted he cared about me — not in so many words, but still I felt a surge of pleasure.
"You had no problem with being with that stupid girl, Regina," I mumbled, wondering how much of my anxiety he could read. How much of my jealousy.
His face turned cold, expressionless. "You can't seriously compare this, us... to what I shared with" —his eyebrows furrowed to a frown — "Regina."
We scowled each other in silence.
"Besides Regina is a model, has bodyguards twenty-four seven," he continued.
"...And I'm just going to inconvenience you, right?" I guessed.
He glared at me through narrowed slits. "Nuru, you're more than a decade younger than me, I'm a public figure, I can't be seen in public or behind doors with you any more than I have. I'm older — much older — than you." He paused, looking lost in thought. "I can't afford to go to jail and that would happen should I continue this...
"So, no, you would inconvenience me but I'm worried about your safety," he growled, his upper lip curling over his teeth in a snarl. "I have to, since you don't seem to grasp that I'm no good for someone like you."
"Like me?"
His face softened. "Stupid huh?"
"What?"
"You said Regina is stupid."
"I'm asking a serious question and you side track me by asking about the level of stupidity of your ex?" My tone was cutting. "...And yes, she is rather stupid. Why would she cheat on you?"
"Regina is many things but stupid..." he mumbled, "You see, Isaac has more... contacts — in her world, the entertainment industry — and it makes more sense to go with Isaac and honestly, I think — no mattered how bad it pained me at first — that she did herself a favor. For me she was familiar, an easy pattern to curve, a sense of comfort and she deserved so much better. Deserves a man who will want to take lazy strolls along the shore with her, that sort of Romeo shit."
"What do I deserve then?"
"For me to do the right thing — for me... to stay away from you. For me to allow you to grow up without me complicating your life. You deserve to be with some who is compatible to be with you. And besides I shouldn't be the one to break your virginity. I'm not interested in the fumblings of inexperienced teenager."
He looked up at my face, and he flinched at the fright in my eyes, the tension that trapped my body.
A cold numbness I couldn't explain washed over me. "Who do you have in mind then?"
"You tell me. You're the one holding out for a man who doesn't exist."
My heart jackhammered. "Ironic isn't it?"
"What?"
"I'm looking right at him."