He stares with such vicious passion that
you can see it in his eyes. It dances behind his pupils and
oscillates beneath the light. The corner of his mouth twitches
just as my hands clench into hard fists. There is passion yet
there is humor that lingers, and it angers me to a point of no
return.
“You’re upset.” He states what he observes,
but this only fuels the fire. My eyebrows furrow more and more
and the skin they rest upon tightens. The spot where my heart
beats aches.
But I say nothing.
There is a sudden feeling of
something being snapped into place and although it does not
exist, it is almost as if you can hear it being set.
“Why?”
And then it is wound. It is reeled and it is coiled. It is done
so tightly that it’s unbearable and everything feels on
edge. But it does not stop—no, it has no emotions nor
remorse.
“Leave me alone.” It leaves my lips clipped and
razor sharp; deadly enough to cut someone into pieces.
I turn, my shoulder now facing him, my hair acting as a shield
and obscuring my face. As I avert my eyes away, I think of all
the words I feel right now. Annoyed. Irritated.
Aggravated.
And I nearly jump at the sudden contact of his hand on my
forearm. His grip is strong but not bone gnashing, yet I feel
his fingertips seeping into my skin. I whip my head in his
direction and catch his eyes again. They are warm and fervent
as ever and I know it will only grow if I try to yank free. The
humor that was once there is now gone.
“You always want to be alone...” he trails off and
I can only stare back—for a moment.
“Get off of me,” I say it low, practically
mumbling, the words barely escaping.
“You never give it a chance—you never want to talk
about anything! You’re always running off, running
away… to be alone. Is that really what you
want?” His grip softens but what he speaks is firm and
sharp as ever.
“Get off of me!” I repeat, my mouth full of poison,
my arm jerking free. There is a tiny hum in my eardrums and I
am tempted to flee.
But before I can even think of an escape, I am grabbed by my
shoulders and rammed into the nearest wall. My back hits the
concrete and all the breath that circulates in my lungs rushes
free. The spot on my shoulders where his hands are burn. The
soft humming in my ears transform into that winding, reeling
sound again and it is being coiled fast. It turns and tightens
with such an intense speed that I am almost deaf.
“Is that what you really want?” He says again, but
this time his voice is merely a rasped whisper.
His hands release me and are put on either side of my hand. He
is so tall that he casts an entire shadow over me. His chest is
broad so there is no entrance forward. His feet are evenly
placed so there is no ducking under him. He has trapped me. And
he knows it.
I feel my bottom lip quiver and I keep my eyes down. Do not
stare at him, do not gaze at him, do not look at him. I
still hear that winding sound and it seems as if it is in my
heart. He leans forward until we are so close that I can feel
the heat that radiates from his skin. This only adds to the
warmth that is growing, growing, growing. I feel the flames
igniting at my cheeks.
I breathe and instantly regret it. My senses are overwhelmed by
him. He smells like summertime after a long, cold winter. Or
the scent of rain that finally falls on dry land after so many
years. It smells so sweet and so benign and so opposite of what
he appears that I can hardly believe that it is him.
It is him. I glance up. I search his expression for
something unknown. But all I see are those eyes, how painfully
they bore into me. And his lips, which color could only be
matched to a dark, almost-desaturated peony. That winding sound
does not let up. In fact is grows louder, if it could even do
so. It is so loud that I am almost unaware of how heavily we
breathe.
His face is flushed at the cheeks and I know mine is no better.
He bites into his bottom lip, his teeth dragging across the
skin. He licks at the spot for a second, quickly moistening it.
He is hovering just above me.
The winding suddenly stops and is replaced by the most
uproarious snap.
I am caught.
I am trapped.
And as his lips descend upon mine, he knows it.