Chapter 13: The Future in Front of me

TERESA.

I felt my tears were so dry and hot at the same time, leaving dreadful traces into my soul. Struggling to breathe felt like a heavy war, with thousands of people fighting and killing each other. That was a strange comparison.

I could still feel the cold water invading all of me, taking away the heat from my heart just as fast as the wind did when I desperately rose to the surface for a gasp of life. Water has been my nemesis for as long as I could remember. My fears had been weighing on me heavily, like a downpour of rain, and as a result, I hadn't been able to move past this situation. I don't know if I ever would.

I got saved. I just knew I was. A mysterious someone risked their life to preserve mine. I felt the warmth of a powerful body, so probably, no, surely, it was a man. But who was he? And where the hell did, he take me? It felt cozy and familiar. All I remembered was how I took pictures of the saddest face I have ever encountered in my entire career. And suddenly it went dark and cold, and traumatizing.

The softness of the bed I was in, the silken mattress, and the way I pressed my cheek to the velvet pillows, all of that made me feel safe. I needed safety like I needed air to breathe. As I looked around, I realized it was a man’s bedroom, beautifully furnished. The room was blue as a clear sky with stunning murals on the walls. From every shelf of the wooden library was smiling back at me, pictures of an attractive woman. No sign of a man.

The huge curtains from the windows added a more orange glow to the afternoon sunlight. They hung delicately, barely touching the ground. The sunlight created little rainbows that danced along the walls. Despite the heat outside, inside was a crisp fresh air.

Suddenly muffled steps were coming towards this room. Closer and closer. I kept quiet with my heart pounding in my chest like praying for whoever it was to just get past it. It didn’t. A slight, timid knock put me on guard. The door slowly opened to reveal perfection embodied in absolute sin. A nonchalant gaze was giving me almost a heart attack. It was so quiet that he could definitely hear how it struggled in my chest to keep a normal beating. And the blush, God damn this blush, which did not shamelessly cease staring at this Adonis in front of me. As he walked in, my boiling blood woke up my brain, although physically I was already awake. I wondered why all my senses had gone mad and why I could not control myself. It was such a simple thing to do. All I needed was self-control. But where could I get it when I felt so exposed to sin in the presence of this man? I simply looked at him without breathing, with no function of my body. Not even my brain was sending signals so I could defend myself in front of him. Something told me he wasn’t dangerous, but the way he looked at me sent cold shivers down my spine.

It was playfulness in those blue eyes, just like a pair of butterfly wings. They were just as dart-sharp arrows going through my stillness and they sparkled as storm clouds. It was almost impossible to look at them, much less sustaining them. This electric blue was keeping me frozen in bed, exposed, paralyzed. If I had said I liked how he made me feel, I would go crazy in an instant. Their arctic blast was mesmerizing, and eventually I had to look up into those icy eyes, but to my amazement, they were so human, so warm.

He was staring at me. I could swear he was worried about what just happened, like waiting for a damn good explanation of why I was there taking pictures of him. Oh my God, my camera! It must be ruined. But I just bet he didn’t give a damn about my camera. More likely, he was trying to figure out why I had invaded his privacy without asking for his permission. Despite this, his gaze did not seem cold or like he did blame me for daring such a thing. I could say I was just doing my part of the job, even though taking pictures of sad strangers was not my job. Especially when I didn’t have their consent.

But it was the gaze that felt like home. But it also looked like a promise to protect me, or was it just my imagination? Either way, this man saved me from drowning or I was standing here quietly, frozen in place, unable to at least thank him for saving my life. It all unfolded so fast and, to be honest, from the moment I fell into the cold water until the one I woke up here in his house, I didn’t have so much recollection. This phobia of mine dated from a long time ago. Sometimes all I remember was an enormous expanse of water and a beach, but that was about it. How did I get to that place and why was it all foggy in my mind that I stopped a long time ago to figure it out? And after that, my life went downhill, being raised in foster care and never knew my actual parents. I tried looking for them but all my research was in vain; it was like they were never on the face of this world.

“I am glad you are awake and alright,” he muttered with his perfect voice, not for a second breaking his eye contact. Those blue orbs could hypnotize like a cobra snake. This man was beautiful, from the coolness of his eyes to the depth of his voice. A small smile was already playing on his lips and those few words that escaped that perfect mouth was like honey loosened on mine. Oh my God, what am I thinking? Sinful guilty thoughts!

“Thank you so much for saving me, sir!” well my answer was almost like a hoarse whisper. Lord, how much I hate it when I stumble in my words just because there is a handsome man in front of me.

“Sebastian!” And along with what seemed to be the name of this gorgeous creation, either if God created him or the devil himself, I laid down my weapons, remaining vulnerable in all my pores. Instead, my words were stubborn to get out and if they did, I would ask total nonsense.

“Excuse me?”

Taking a few dangerous steps closer, I felt my nostrils getting drunk with the warm tones of his cologne mixed with those of his voice, with his well-chosen words that would make it so easy to fall in love with this man. In this intimate space so close to him, I already knew that the scent of his perfume was going to be something I would always crave, musk mixed with tobacco. He reached out his hand for me to grab it, but I was so out of this reality that I let the man hang it in thin air. Eventually, he withdrew a little, leaving a safe space between us.

“My name is Sebastian Gallagher” he said and only by articulating that manly name sent so many electrifying shocks down my body into a place that suddenly became so warm and vivid and so aware of so much testosterone in this room. I could either let him see what he ignited in me or I could just hide it by swallowing hard and averting my gaze. But that was easier said than done. So, I wondered what would have happened if I had reached out my hand for him to take it. How I would have felt if I had touched him. Only the thought made me shiver, but it seemed that my most hidden desire was obeyed. I traced the way he stretched his hand again, but this time I didn’t intend to remain motionless. I just had to feel his touch somehow, even if it was through a gesture of courtesy.

“Teresa Bradley…” I said, my voice still faded. But in that split second when he grabbed my hand in shaking, it was like time stopped, breathing stopped. He electrified every nerve in my body and brain by this simple touch of two hands. I felt the promise of being together with him in a way that was more than just a dream, but something that was within my grasp. I just cannot explain why I was feeling this foreboding of belonging to him, to this house that seemed like... home?