Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven
Elizabeth’s POV
Zen’s hand was shaking in mine, and I noticed that he kept the other in his front pocket, fiddling with his lighter. I hadn’t even considered the fact that Zen hadn’t had a cigarette since early that morning until his anxiety surfaced. Surely he needed one with how stressful the day had been.
“Why haven’t you had one, yet?” I asked him, and he met my eyes, immediately catching onto my meaning. We had just dumped our trays from lunch in the food court, and were walking in the direction of a department store.
“Don’t need one.” He lied, turning back to face where we were going. I pursed my lips. Why was he fighting it so much? I hated seeing him so out of sorts, especially when we were out in public. What if something did happen? Would he be at his best while going through nicotine withdrawal? Unlikely. Then, it clicked. He was fighting it because he didn’t want to smoke around me. Was he worried about second hand smoke, or of my opinion of his bad habit? I wasn’t sure. I put on a determined face, stopping dead in my tracks beside a trash can near the entrance to Dillards. I held out a hand to him, the other firmly planted on my hip so I could really sell it.
“Okay. If you don’t need one, then why don’t we just throw them away? It’s a nasty habit anyway.” His shoulders fell slightly at my words. So he does care what I think.
“Okay, fine.” He grumbled, pulling the pack from his back pocket and handing it to me. I pointed to the front pocket of his jeans, raising my brow. He sighed, rolling his eyes, before also handing me the lighter. I stepped away from him, closer to the trashcan. His entire body was tense, his eyes zeroed in on the contents of my hands.
With one last smirk, I took off running through the department store. I knew that if I kept going straight, I would eventually hit the parking lot entrance. I could hear him walking quickly behind me, clearly trying not to make a scene.
“Elizabeth, what the fuck are you doing? Stop!” He whispered angrily after me. I couldn’t risk turning back, so I kept up my light jog, dodging customers and employees that were in my way. As I moved, I removed a cigarette from the carton, trying my best not to break it in my trembling hands. Running from Zen was terrifying, especially when I knew what he could do when he caught me. I suddenly felt a passing pain in my cheek from where he slapped me earlier that day, making me pick up my pace. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me in anger, but the innate fear I had took over.
As soon as I was through the glass doors, I picked up speed headed towards a loading bay to the left. He hadn’t grabbed me yet, probably because he didn’t want people to think he was hurting me, but I could hear his boots hitting the concrete behind me. I turned the corner quickly, pressing my back against the brick exterior and putting the cigarette between my lips. I managed to get it lit just as Zen turned the corner. He stopped with his eyes widened in utter shock. I suppressed the cough that wanted to choke me, pulling the cigarette back out of my mouth so I could breathe. It tasted like the menthol that I tasted on Zen’s lips during our first kiss, but the smoke was suffocating.
He approached me slowly, squaring his shoulders, his eyes darkening with each step as I shrunk under his gaze. For the first time in my eyes, he looked every bit like the killer he was. “What the fuck do you-“ He stopped talking when I popped the butt end of the cigarette into his open mouth. His brows furrowed in confusion, before glaring upon realization of what I was doing. He moved his left hand up, grabbing onto the cigarette as he took a long drag. The smoke mixed with the cool fall air, dancing as it floated above his beautiful fluttering lashes. He turned his head to exhale the remaining smoke from his lungs, before meeting my gaze again. His eyes were much gentler than they had been moments ago, and held an element of amusement in them.
He took two quick steps towards me, placing his hand with the cigarette beside my head and grabbing my jaw between his forefingers with the other. As scared as I was, I couldn’t look away. He had enchanted me with his seafoam eyes once again. He was so close to me, the fast rising and falling of his chest felt against mine. My hands stayed locked by my sides, gripping my dress in an attempt to control their tremor, but I knew he could tell I was scared.
“Why?” He breathed, looking down at me from under his half-drawn lids. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it was impossible with him staring at me like I was his prey.
“I-I just… I knew y-you…” I swallowed again. “I a-accept you.” I stuttered, knowing full well how stupid I must’ve sounded. He didn’t ask for clarity before crashing his lips down on mine with force. My body immediately responded to his electrifying touch, making me moan as my hands found themselves tangled in his hair. His breathing became frantic. He pushed his body into mine, pinning me against the wall and invading my mouth with his tongue. The adrenaline rush from running made me clutch to him all the more, and I was once again drowning in the refreshing taste of menthol. After awhile, he pulled away slightly, pressing his forehead against mine as he tried to catch his breath.
“Don’t ever fucking run from me again.” He growled. I nodded quickly, licking my now swollen lips. I hated seeing him this angry at me, and vowed to myself never to make him this way again. I lowered my hand from his hair and brushed my thumb across his cheek, feeling the tension leave his body at my touch. He stepped back, freeing me from the wall and taking another long drag of his cigarette. “You know, for it being a nasty habit, you sure did go through a lot of effort to get it in my mouth.” He smirked, flicking the ashes from the tip. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, feeling much colder now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
“I didn’t mean that. I was just trying to figure out why you weren’t smoking.” He didn’t look convinced.” I… I actually like the taste of it. You clearly needed it, and I knew you wouldn’t have taken it unless I made you.” He let out a deep and sexy chuckle.
“Well, fuck.”