Chapter 193 Four magic words

Chapter 193 Four magic words
Elara's POV,

His eyes never left mine.

“Do you think…” He hesitated. “...that the right people with the wrong timing get a second chance?”

Before I could answer, he spun me effortlessly. The world blurred into white fabric and starlight. When I landed, his hand caught mine exactly where he’d known it would.

A laugh escaped me, and he pulled me close again.

“It took so long to find you.” His thumb traced slow circles against my waist. “And yet you arrived exactly when I needed you.”

“What do you mean?”

His forehead rested against mine.

“I still hope…” His voice became almost fragile. “...that time simply made a mistake.”

He twirled me once more before drawing me back.

“And that somewhere…” His smile broke. “...it already reserved another moment for us.”

“Lucien…”

He laughed quietly beside my ear.

“And you?” His voice barely rose above the music. “Do you think we’re meant to lose each other over and over only so we can keep finding each other?”

The music swelled, and he stepped back. When I stopped turning, he was standing several feet away, looking at me as though I’d hung every star in the sky.

I don’t want to leave. I love you too much for that. It hurts my heart to even think about it. I can’t lose you…

“There are two things I never want to lose in this world: Asher, my freedom, and us.” 

He laughed softly.

“That’s three.”

“I know.” I smiled through tears. “We’re beautiful liars, Lucien.” His smile faded. “That’s our thing.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t want it to be anymore.” The words hurt. “But there’s nothing worse than meeting the perfect person too late.”

He opened his mouth.

“What if—” I stopped him with a tiny shake of my head. “What if I love you forever?” he still asked. “What if I never forget your name?”

My vision blurred.

“Then maybe that’s the only forever we’re meant to have.”

He looked at me with such tenderness it almost undid me.

“I’m sad our story is ending so quickly.” His smile became heartbreakingly small. “But it’s still the greatest love story I’ve ever known."

He took another step toward me.

“And maybe in five years our paths would cross again.” His fingers brushed mine. “And I’ll tell you how desperately in love I was with you. Then we’ll laugh, pretending we didn’t break each other’s hearts.”

Another step.

“And before I let you go…” His voice cracked. “...I’ll tell you how hard I begged the universe to let you stay.”

The illusion around us began fading. One firefly disappeared. Then another. The music softened, but Lucien remained.

Still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“I have something to ask you too.” I blurted out, and he smiled.

“What is it?”

I closed the distance between us.

“Can I have one kiss before we spend tomorrow stabbing each other in the back?” A surprised laugh escaped him.

“I mean…” I smiled sadly. “We’re so good at hurting each other. But somehow, we always make each other feel alive.”

His breathing caught, then he kissed me.

Tenderly, like he wanted to memorize every heartbeat between us.

Suddenly, we were lying in the deep, cool embrace of the meadow, the scent of crushed clover and wild thyme clinging to our skin.

He moved over me with a slow, deliberate reverence, as if I were something fragile and sacred. His hands, warm and calloused, slid beneath the hem of my dress, lifting the fabric with an agonizing slowness that made my breath hitch. 

Every inch of skin he uncovered felt electric under his touch. As he gently eased my clothes away, his eyes never left mine—dark, swirling blue pools of adoration that seemed to strip my soul bare long before my body was exposed.

“Darling,” he whispered, the word a velvet caress against my ear.

He lowered himself, and we met in a kiss that tasted of longing and desperation, like we were trying to breathe for one another. There was no rush or urgency to conquer; there was only the need to be as close as humanly possible.

As he entered me, a soft gasp escaped my lips, and I arched my back, my fingers tangling in his hair. He paused, staring deep into my eyes, and his expression was one of absolute devotion. We moved together in a slow, swaying cadence, a dance of skin on skin and heart against heart. 

Every thrust was a promise, and every sigh a confession.

Then, he shifted, sliding down my body. I felt the cool air hit my skin for a moment before his warmth returned. He reached the pale, jagged lines of the scars on my stomach, and I instinctively tensed, but he didn’t recoil.

He leaned down, pressing a lingering, tender kiss to the center of the scar. Then another. He traced every mark with his lips, treating my imperfections like precious jewels. He moved upward, kissing the mottled spots on my skin and the faint lines on my neck, worshipping the parts of me I had spent years trying to hide.

“Perfect,” he murmured against my skin, his voice thick with emotion. “You are absolutely perfect.”

The intensity built slowly, and I clung to him, sobbing his name into the crook of his neck as we drifted back down to earth, tangled in each other’s limbs and the tall grass.

For a long time, we simply lay there in the gathering twilight, the world narrowing down to the sound of our synchronized breathing. He pulled me close, tucking my head under his chin and kissing my forehead.

“Moje,” he whispered, his voice a low, possessive rumble. “Vše moje.”

I felt a mischievous spark ignite in my chest. I pulled back just enough to look at him, a slow smirk spreading across my lips.

“Is this a bad time to tell you I know Czech?”

He froze, blinking at me in surprise before a deep, genuine chuckle vibrated through his chest. He pulled me back into his arms, squeezing me tight.

“You witch,” he laughed, his eyes shimmering with love.

Later, long after the stars had become the only witnesses left, I lay with my head resting against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm beneath my ear.

“Tell me those four magical words.”

I smiled to myself.

I already knew what he was going to say.

My love is forever.

Instead, he kissed my forehead, his arms tightened around me, and softly, like a prayer, he whispered,

“Our love stays forever.”

I closed my eyes.

For the first time in my life,  I believed him. And somewhere beyond the stars, beyond the illusion, beyond tomorrow...

The universe quietly prepared to prove us both wrong.