Page 79 of Eyes Like Angel

My emerald eyes welled up. Stomach bubbling to a pin-drop, unknowingly swayed at his attempt, unable to say a word on the spot. This unfamiliar feeling I couldn’t seem to stomach in, though it’s not a rough or uneasy sensation.

As he went back up to his towering form, my gloved hand grasped his bicep, much to his surprise.

“Don’t go,” I murmured, setting my bravery upfront.

His thin brow flicked up. “So you want the Lord to watch us?”

My tongue clicked in disapproval. “I mean, didn’t you say that not too long ago?”

“I did say that.”

“Now you want to…leave?” I stammered, my face lowered as my hands were on his chest.

“I don’t want to scare you with my colossal height,” he teased. “Besides,” his fingers gripped on my chin, “I don’t want to scare you.”

Recollecting my breath, I stood taller. “At first, maybe, but now…I’m not too sure.”

His brows knitted, concerned. “Are you afraid of me, Eva?”

Shaking my head, I’ve found an answer. “No.”

“Good.” His cheeky smile appeared, dimples deepened and the mole beneath his right eye crinkled. “Guess you need a good company,” he joked, hands clamped on my waist, soothing.

I shook my head, not wanting him to earn victory, despite his teasing. “I need warmth,” I uttered, truthful.

His throat formed a ‘hummed’ sound, getting closer to me, inch by inch. His back hunched down, his eyes leveled and aligned, locked in, motionless. One hand cemented on my slender waist as the other cupped my face, jet-black hues studying every inch of me, my haggard features due to prolonged responsibilities. “How about I give you a kiss again? Would you like that?”

A flush spread across the cheeks, my emerald eyes fluttered, shied away at his sudden grant, gloved hands heaved on his torso in the gentlest way I could.

Adrian laughed, his balance tipped due to his head thrown back but adjusted himself again before given me a long embrace, enfolded the leftover space between us. His lips pressed against my veiled head, then the left side of my cheek, longingly…lovingly.

All the while his hands clasped onto my slender waist, as I took his scent in, and smelled a mixture of sandalwood, a hinted spice—manly and sophisticated. A breath of fresh air lingered the longer I stayed.

“Don’t disappear on me again,” he begged, arms fastened, but not to break my fragile bones. “I looked for you everywhere at the last party my friends and I hosted. At the farm behind my parents’ house, one I told you.”

My mouth quivered. “Forgive me,” I said softly.

In an instant, he hushed me. “Don’t,” he growled. “I shouldn’t have made you wait outside. I shouldn’t have left youalone with her, and have you accompanied by Marceline. I’m a real piece of jerk, aren’t I?”

Eyelashes fluttered, blanketed in dark vision. The rigidness in my posture slackened, the embrace gotten deeper, like a blanket wrapped over me and shielded me from a raging storm.

“I should be the one who’s sorry,” he murmured, stroking my backside. “I messed up.”

No words fallen from my lips, and in return, I hugged him, gestured in a slow—and tighter—way, my way of bestowing him forgiveness.

“Thank God she grounded me,” he added with a dreamy sigh.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, waving it off, “just don’t mind me.”

Rain drops plopped on a stained-glass window of a historical figure in the bible, Deborah, ever so watchful, watchful with her sharpened eyes and sharpened wisdom, judging me.

Cautious, I hauled myself in a leisured pace, intended to resume my cleaning duties in the kitchen, but Adrian pulled in harder, not severed enough to fracture.

“Stay,” he growled softly, squeezing me. His lips pouted at my former action. He hated when I strolled to disappearance, beyond him and his sight, where he could keep a watchful eye, like he did previously.

Suddenly, my conscious is compromised, and held no objections. I had no choice, but can’t say I protest with hatred.