My heel hit the curved edge of the fountain behind me, and in the next breath, I lost my balance.
Strong hands caught me.
One arm was around my waist, and the other pressed me flush against his chest.
I gasped.
And in my shock, I tilted my face up just as he bent down.
And our lips touched.
Sargis’s POV
Her heartbeat spiked again. I turned toward her instantly.
Something was wrong.
Her eyes were glazed and distant, like she was spiraling into herself. I knew that look. I’d seen it before countless times now.
She stood abruptly.
And so did I, mirroring her as worry bloomed in my gut.
Did I say something wrong?
Did I push her too far?
She was retreating again from whatever memory had clawed its way back into her mind. I could see it. The walls she’d just begun to lower, rebuilding themselves, brick by brick.
She looked around, wild-eyed. Her chest heaved with shallow, erratic breaths. Her fingers curled at her sides like she was trying to anchor herself.
No, no, please…Not after all the progress.
“Hey,” I said gently, raising my hands to show I wasn’t going to touch her. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t answer.
She kept walking backward, closer to the fountain.
I stopped moving. I didn’t want to scare her further.
But when her heel clipped the base and she wobbled, a jolt of panic surged through me.
Shit.
I closed the distance in two long strides, catching her around the waist just as she tilted backward. If I’d been even half a second late, she would’ve cracked her skull on the marble edge.
I pulled her against me, gripping her tightly. Her body trembled in my arms.
Her scent, slightly sweet from the candy, filled my lungs as I tucked my face instinctively against the crook of her neck. I wasn’t even thinking, just acting, holding her like I needed to keep her safe from everything. Even her own thoughts.
But she wriggled slightly in my grasp and I loosened my hold a bit.
She tilted her face up.
Mine angled down.
And our lips accidentally met.
My heart stopped.
Her breath hitched against me. Her lips were small, soft, and tentative. Every fiber of my being screamed to not ruin this. Even though I knew it was a mistake. Even though I knew she hadn’t meant it. Even though I knew touching her without permission, like this was a breach.
I should pull back immediately and apologize but I couldn’t move.
I was rooted in place, afraid that even breathing too hard would shatter the moment.
Her eyes blinked up at me slowly, like she didn’t understand what was happening… and then they widened, and it was like a door inside her mind slammed shut.
That’s when it started, the shake in her hands, the way her pupils dilated, and her breath caught in her throat like she was choking on it.
She shoved me hard enough that I stumbled back a step, tearing her lips from mine as if I’d branded her.
She whimpered shakily and wrapped her arms around herself tightly, trembling, and began scrubbing at her lips with a ferocity that made my chest seize.
“Narine,” I whispered, “stop, please, don’t…”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and then she dropped to her knees.
“Please,” she croaked, her voice sounded cracked and broken like it had been rusted shut for years and only now torn open. “Please, Joe, I’m begging you. It hurts.”
It was the first time I’d heard her voice in months. Four months, to be exact. And while I’d dreamed of hearing it, countless times, imagined it in laughter, anger, and shy amusement, I never expected to hear it like this, saturated in grief, laced with terror, and begging for mercy.
“Please, please, please, please…” she kept muttering, curling in on herself.
I crouched, trying to close the distance.
But she flinched violently.
Her arm swung out in panic, and her palm cracked across my cheek. The impact didn’t even register.
She shuffled backward, curling into the ground like she was trying to disappear into the earth, and wrapped herself tighter, with her knees to her chest. Her body shook so violently I thought she might snap her own bones.
“Please,” she whispered again, smaller now.
I didn’t dare move closer. I just knelt there, as tears fell freely down my face.
And cried.
Until the rhythm of her breath slowed and her muttering softened to nothing.
I wiped my face with trembling fingers and sat there a moment longer, making sure she was truly under. Her breathing evened out, and her lashes rested delicately on her bruised cheeks. There were faint red marks on her lips from where she’d scrubbed too hard.
I gathered her gently into my arms.
Her head fell softly against my chest. It reminded me of the first time she collapsed in my arms and I’d held her like a fragile bird I didn’t know how to mend. As I carried her out of the garden, Felipe stood at attention by the car. His face paled when he saw her.
Without a word, he opened the door.
I slid into the backseat slowly, careful not to jostle her, and wrapped her securely in my arms. Her head fit perfectly beneath my chin. And I settled my jaw gently on her hair.
The car began to move.
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