Chapter Forty One:
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"'Cause I don't wanna lose you now
I'm lookin' right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy
Comin' back here to you once I figured it out
You were right here all along
It's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me
I couldn't get any bigger
With anyone else beside me
And now it's clear as this promise
That we're making
Two reflections into one
'Cause it's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me."
I realized how drastically hearing and seeing differed from one another when I heard her utter those words.
I had seen it in her eyes the other day; love for me, but hearing it was a whole new experience.
I had been pestering her to say it for so many days but I did not think about my response when she finally admits it.
My eyes bore into hers as I processed her words and she stared back in anticipation. When I did not make any attempt to reciprocate or even react, her shoulders sagged and she sighed, audibly.
"Forget it." She mumbled and rolled her bottom lip in her mouth before averting her eyes.
Now that was one thing I wanted to change in her. The only thing I wanted to change in her.
I wanted her to meet my stare, head-on. I wanted, no, I needed for her to look at me like she owned me.
Like I belonged only to her.
"You never let me see those beautiful eyes for more than fifteen seconds." I said, aloud, without thinking.
She looked at me, flabbergasted, "You're unbelievable."
"What?" I questioned, still in a daze.
She turned around to leave but I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards me. Our chests collided and she looked up, her eyes glinting with a tinge of anger before it disappeared.
"Whoa, why's this little kitten angry?" I asked, genuinely surprised.
"You ruined it." She mumbled and tried to tug at her wrist but I smirked at her failed attempts.
From up close, I could see a small pinch between her brows, a streak of red on her nose, and a pout on her soft pink lips.
"What did I ruin?" I asked, acting completely oblivious.
Her eyes moved to meet mine and a look of disbelief was plastered on her face. I suppressed the smile that was threatening to break on my lips.
"I told you I love you and you tell me how I can't maintain eye contact for more than fifteen seconds?!" She asked in vexation.
My insides exploded in joy but I cleared my throat and replied, "Well, if I am being honest, those were not your exact words."
Her tiny button nose flared, "I hate you."
I bit the inside of my cheek and my fingers snaked around her neck as I rubbed the back of her ear with my thumb, "You're giving me a whiplash." I whispered, leaning closer to her face.
Her eyes flickered to my lips and she licked her own before muttering, "I mean it."
"Eirene?" I rasped.
"Hm?" She responded, her gaze still transfixed on my mouth.
"Don't look at me like that unless you want me to push you against that wall behind you." I told.
She blinked, breaking her trance, and swallowed before moving her eyes up to mine. The teal in her eyes had melted into a softer shade, giving them a velvety touch.
My heart started to beat faster as I lost myself in the beauty her eyes held but she dropped her head down, depriving me of the sight, once again.
Gently, I moved her neck up and made her look at me, again. Her face turned scarlet and she placed her hand, where she always did, on my chest and pushed me away.
My hold on her had loosened so she was successful in taking a few steps back. The warmth of her body was replaced by a swoosh of cold air.
She let out a shaky breath, "You can't touch me until..." She began to speak but stopped.
"Until?" I whispered and cocked a brow.
"Until you tell me you love me." She folded her arms across the chest.
My eyes widened in amusement and I raised a brow, "You're so sure that I love you?"
Her confidence wavered, "You don't?"
I shoved my hands in my pockets and smirked at her, "I never said anything of that sort."
Her lips thinned in distaste, "Fine, go and find a new bride."
"Six weeks isn't enough time, play fair." I retorted.
Her jaw slacked, "I can't believe you even gave it a thought."
I only shrugged in response and she continued, "So you rather I marry someone else than admitting the truth."
My smirk dropped and I started to march in her direction and she added with a sweet smile, "I'll find a man who has the guts to admit that he loves me."
Her eyes went to my feet and her composure faltered because in the very next second, she took a few steps back and I kept moving forward until her back hit the wall.
The space between us was nonexistent as I breathed down on her face, "Never threaten a man like that, Eirene. You'll be surprised to witness the extent they'd be willing to go for the woman that rules their heart."
She gulped and I trailed the tip of my finger on her arm and up to her collarbones before wrapping my fingers around her throat, loosely.
"I let you a hold a gun to my heart, fell on my knees for you in front of other people, and let you challenge me, scream at me, and run away from me. All of which is a punishable offense. I've repeatedly told you I love you, through my doings, long before you even realized that I had snuck my way into your heart."
Her body gave up but I was quick to press myself completely against her and placed a hand on her hip, "I do have the guts to tell you that I will set this whole world on fire for you, I'd risk my reputation for you, do anything that makes to see those beautiful eyes light up, and stay awake if that's the reason that you sleep peacefully. If I can kill for you, I'd die for you, Eirene. I do have the guts to tell you that I love you so fuckin' much that being away from you seems like a concept so absurd, I wouldn't even acknowledge it."
"I thought I had given my heart to you but you took my soul along with it. Maybe that's why I feel alive only when you're around."
I rested my forehead against hers and she whispered ever so quietly, "I love you, Darius."
I placed tender kisses on her forehead, nose, cheeks, and eyes and then finally took her bottom lip between my teeth, tugging at it.
A small hiss escaped her lips and sucked on her plump lip before releasing it. Everything about her felt right.
Her eyelids finally lifted and that's when I espied the token of being owned by my woman.