Chapter Thirty-six

He stood in the water, locking gazes with her, one she fought to tear but couldn't. Paris slowly walked backward and deeper into the water, his eyes never leaving hers as his body gradually sank into the loch, causing a low pitch sound from the water that grew gradually the deeper he submerged himself. When his head was all that could be seen, he flashed a wink at her before totally immersing himself into the water, creating a bubbling sound and beads of bubbles around him. Gwen stood on her tippy toes, stretching her neck to find his body when his hypnotic gaze was gone.

Suddenly, the water from where he sank rippled and he emerged out of it, the lake made a loud slapping sound as waves of water spattered around him. Gwen jerked back, a little startled and delighted to see him at the same time. He rubbed his face with his palms and Gwen watched as water cascaded down his body and he walked forward till the water only covered from his knees downward, giving her a great view of his groin and she gulped.

"Join me," he said, gesturing for her to get into the water but she returned it with a look of skepticism. He dived into the water and came up again, waving at her to join him.

"Looks like fun," she mumbled to herself and gripped the bottom of her dress. Suddenly, she turned crimson when she felt his eyes boring holes into her skin. "Can you please let me take off my..." She drawled shyly, avoiding his gaze.

Paris backed her and she took the floral dress off, standing like she wasn't comfortable in her skin as she thanked the skies that she didn't settle for the torn panties she wanted to wear this morning.

She adjusted the hand of her red bra and felt sexy in the matching lace panties as she carefully folded her dress and placed it on the ground before gently walking into the water. When she reached him, she tapped on his shoulder and he turned, sizing her up like a predator and Gwen felt uneasy.

"Your skin," Paris took her hand to his lips and plastered a kiss on it, "-is beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Relax your nerves, this could help with your headache." He cooed, drawing her closer to him so they could ignite their souls. "Take a deep breath in..." Paris drawled and she followed his instructions. "...out. Let your muscles relax, immerse yourself in the water."

He spun her so her back could be against his chest, while his fingers dug their way into her hair and he massaged her scalp in a circular motion, earning a sigh of pleasure from Gwen. She shut her eyes, enjoying the magic his fingers were doing. She felt peaceful as he closed the little gap between them, and she could feel him harden on her butt.

"Tell me," he said, still kneading her scalp as his breath fanned her neck, raising battalions of hair at the back of her neck. "How do you feel?"

"Good..." She sounded guttural as she leaned in, feeling little tingles of fireworks in her head, sliding down her back and encircling her elbows.

"No, what do you feel? Open up to me, Gwen." His gravelly voice made her knees buckle and she bit back a sigh of longing.

Horny. Her inner woman rasped, and she shook her head, feeling his hands drift down her shoulders and she wondered why she and Mihai never did this. Instantly, she paled as thoughts of Mihai flooded her head and she struggled to focus on his titillating touch on her sensitive skin.

"If I told you, would you finish the talk?" She asked, peeling her eyes open and biting her bottom lip as his caressing hit the right notes.

"What talk?" He asked, ceasing to massage her and just leaving his hands to lay idly on her shoulders, and she frowned in disappointment.

"The girlfriend talk." She croaked, feeling a lump in her throat.

"I promise." He accepted and Gwen sucked in a sharp breath as pain replaced the pleasure she was feeling.

"I miss Mihai." Her voice shook and her shoulders fell. "I thought he loved me, but I realized he never did. How could you say you adore me but do not wish to get married to me?"

Paris didn't give a reply, he trailed lines on her shoulders, listening attentively to her.

"He keeps pushing me away and coming back, making it hard for me to love him. I thought he'd return but look," Gwen turned, facing Paris with glossy eyes. "It's been three weeks!"

She turned back and Paris resumed the kneading on her shoulders, extending it to her collar bones.

"I thought we were meant to be together. I was his Regina; he even killed a demon or whatever it is that roams my street at noon. He killed it to save my life. Putting his life on the line to save me proved his love, but I'm not sure anymore after he called me desperate." She explained breathlessly, holding back the tears.

"Wait, he did what?" Paris turned her to face him with a look of interrogation. "Killed a demon?"

Gwen nodded, letting her hands hang beside her body.

"What did this demon look like?" Paris asked, fetching a hand of water and downing it on her shoulder.

She looked at his fingers swabbing the water off her shoulder, and she released a shaky breath.

"Are you cold?" He asked and Gwen shook her head, watching a light of mischief flicker in his orbs. "So what did he look like?"

She lifted her gaze to his face and split up her lips to explain, "He had long sharp fangs that would have torn me into pieces if Mihai didn't arrive on time. His eyes were eerily red and the malevolence he carried was so strong, I could feel it."

"What were you doing there?" Paris asked sternly, furrowing his eyebrows in revolt, and Gwen had on a downcast look that made him soften his expression and asked again in a softer tone.

"I went to see him, he was pushing me away and I needed to know what I did wrong," Gwen stated, feeling a lump in her throat that almost blocked her windpipes.

"You risked your life for him, and he still doesn't consider you worthy of his love?" Paris arched his brows, withdrawing his hands from her shoulder.

"Not that, he-"

"Don't make excuses to justify his actions." Paris cut her short, getting riled up by the piece of information. "Does he know how many men wish to be yours to hold? No. That's why he's treating you like some shit, making a terrible mistake he'd regret when you should be treated like the gold you are."

A small smile graced Gwen's lips as she found his reaction cute, but she still didn't think Mihai meant any harm, he loved her. She was certain.

"You're beautiful and if you were mine, I'll protect you with my life and we'll make the strongest-" he paused, taking her hand and placing it on his chest. "Strongest pair, not like Romeo and Juliet but Bonnie and Clyde because I'm not going to drink poison."

They shared a laugh, and her heart grew fond of him. "Thank you." She muttered, splaying her fingers on his breast and restraining from squeezing the firmness to satisfaction.

"So he killed the fangy creature?" Paris asked and she nodded, heavily laden with pain and agony. "Sweet." He mumbled to himself with a mischievous tinge, pulling his lips into a devilish grin.

"What?"

"No, just impressed in his fighting skills."

"Okay, your turn." Gwen nibbled on her bottom lip.

"Hey," he said, pulling her lip from in-between her teeth. "You do that a lot; you're going to hurt yourself."

Her cheeks flushed and her legs became sore, slowly turning numb from standing too long in the lake. Paris gripped her hand and said, "Hold your breath, we're going under, and I want you to let the water absorb your pain."

Slowly, they sank into the water and bubbles erupted around them as they stared at each other. They spoke with their hearts till he touched her, massaging her temples and slowly gripping her waist, pushing both of them up. Gwen breathed heavily, catching her breath as she felt light and free.

With his hands still around her waist, she wrapped her arms around his neck and two pairs of eyes blinked in unison.

"Who are you?" She asked, amazed at his skills.

"Your therapist." He joked and Gwen chuckled, trailing her eyes to his cherry-red lips with droplets of water on them.

"Your turn," she whispered, and he stole a glimpse of her lips before throwing his gaze to the water.

"We never liked to be apart from each other." He pointed out, losing his grip on her waist with drooping shoulders. "She was the girl of my dreams and we both took each other's virginity."

Gwen nodded, urging him to go on.

"Remember when you asked me if I had ever gotten any girl pregnant before?" He asked and Gwen nodded, blinking rapidly as she felt his sadness creeping into her heart. "I got her pregnant."

"Go on." Gwen encouraged him, stroking the back of his neck and hoping it comforted him.

"I accepted it, I was ready to become a father but-" he stopped in his tracks and freed himself from Gwen's clutches, spinning so she wouldn't see his grieving face. "-but."

His chest heaved and Gwen could visibly see him struggling to breathe. What on earth did he do?

"I lost the child." His voice shook and he quivered as goosebumps trailed their way up his arms and Gwen could see it. He raised his shaky hands and looked down at them. "All because of my hands."

Gwen gasped, stepping back as her heart jumped into her throat and the words clogged up in her throat.

"What did you do?" She finally fished out these words.

"When her father found out I impregnated his daughter, he marched to my house so he could throw punches at me." He explained, his whole body turning red as he continued. "She was behind him, pleading for him to let me go but he kept punching me... Telling me of how she was meant to get married to some royalty. But she loved me!"

He exclaimed breathlessly, still backing her. Gwen took a step forward, stretching her hand to his back and hanging it in the air, unsure of touching him.

"Why was he forcing her to get married to someone she didn't love?" Paris sounded like a misery gut as he raked his fingers vigorously in his hair and Gwen feared he might injure his scalp. "He punched and punched me till she got in between us, and he punched her too, transferring his aggression on the delicate body of my baby. He beat up my flower so bad that it riled me up and I got in the way and jabbed him too till he let her go, it turned bloody, and she screamed for me to let him go when I broke his nose."

Gwen covered her mouth in shock, picturing everything in her head.

"She got in the way, and I gave her a deadly kick in the stomach, I didn't know it was her, I was too angry he touched her. It was a mistake. She bled and had a miscarriage. It was my fault; I shouldn't have fought back!" He punch into the lake numerous times and shivered. It traumatized him and Gwen couldn't stand to see him like that.

Quickly, she jumped on his back and hugged him like a backpack as she whispered soothing words into his ears, pressing her ample breasts on his back as she stroked his chest and plastered a kiss on the side of his neck.

"It wasn't your fault. If you hadn't fought back, he might have killed her, and you'd blame yourself for not fighting for the love of your life." Gwen turned him and cupped his face, absorbing the heat from his body. A ball of tears slid down his eyes and she kissed it before it could roll down his cheek. "Do you know what I want to do now?" Paris shook his head, and she ran her thumb over his bottom lip with a thumping heart. "I want to know how soft your lips are, I want to bite them."

Gwen didn't know where the confidence came from, but she wanted to taste his lips, she wanted to acknowledge the sexual tension that rippled through them since they got into this lake, it was the easiest way to calm him down and help them forget their plights.

"Then let's find out." He rasped, palming her buttocks then lifted her off the ground, placing her on his waist so she could encircle his waist with her legs. Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck and bit his bottom lip gently before sandwiching their lips and sucking each other's tongues to satisfaction. They kissed away their pain, kissed away the suffering and the traumas that caged them like prisoners.