Chapter 28 Chapter 28
His tongue brushed over her lower lip as his mouth moved against hers, deepening the kiss. Now he got more demanding and did something unexpected. He put some of his weight on her, and she fell back, lying under him on the sofa.
The position felt familiar, and not in a good way. She shuddered, still feeling his lips on hers, but the fire in her body had burned out, leaving emptiness. He encased her wrists with his hands, pinning them to the sofa. His grip wasn’t tight, nor was it painful, but it instilled an old fear within her.
Memories flashed before her eyes. She wasn’t in her apartment anymore. It wasn’t Maxwell hovering over her; it was Uriel. Her body hurt when she remembered what he did to her, when she recalled the relentless punches and the agony she had endured. He was here again, holding her down, caging her, and not letting her go. Her eyes started to burn, tears running down her cheeks as she pushed against his grip. She breathed unevenly in panic.
“Stop it, Uriel,” she pleaded, closing her eyes tightly. Her entire body tensed when she remembered he usually didn’t appreciate her fighting back.
It only made things worse. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the inevitable, but his hold slackened and disappeared entirely. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Her blurry sight cleared, and she found herself staring at a familiar ceiling.
“Valerie?” Maxwell sat next to her at a considerable distance and studied her cautiously. His earlier smugness was gone, and she came to realize that her mind had tricked her. Uriel wasn’t here; he hadn’t been near her for years.
“What’s wrong?” Maxwell asked. She wiped the tears from her eyes and shakily sat up, pulling her legs close to her body and hugging them with her arms.
“Please don’t do that again,” Valerie merely answered, and he frowned, creasing his brow.
“I won’t.” He ran a hand through his white hair, not meeting her eyes anymore. Silence encased them, heavy and suffocating.
Valerie didn’t know what to say to break it. She could only imagine how peculiar her behavior must have looked to him, and judging by his reaction, he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Biting her lip, she rested her chin on her knees and concentrated on keeping a calm façade, not letting anything of her inner turmoil out. However, she forgot that he could feel her pain—she could not hide it.
“Who is Uriel?” he asked out of the blue, causing her shoulders to tense.
Again, the room was silent until she had collected herself. “My ex,” she said curtly, and that was the only answer she gave him. The pain in his chest intensified, and he raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
Maxwell observed her in an attempt to understand what she was thinking, taking note of the slight tremble of her lower lip and the shimmer of her teary eyes.
Valerie never once looked at him, shame visible in her gaze. She appeared defeated, and he had to admit he didn’t like to see her in such a state. It made him feel frustrated for some reason.
Maxwell got up abruptly, putting more distance between them. He had never been good at comforting people; on the contrary.
Normally, he was the cause of people’s grief. How should someone like him console anybody? He wasn’t like Nicholas Clarke; he didn’t get along with humans, and he didn’t understand their fickle emotions either.
Why cry when you could handle your problems by relying on violence? Using force had always been his way to eliminate obstacles, but that approach would not work this time. He knew that much, and it irritated him to no end.
“Listen, I will leave now and go back to Manhattan. I probably won’t be back until morning,” he said suddenly, sending her one last glance before he turned away.
“Be careful,” she said quietly, not knowing if he even heard it.
After he was gone, she gazed at the closed door without moving a muscle. She hated herself for being pathetic, controlled by an old memory.
She had proven herself to be a weak human, the kind of person he would never accept, and she was ashamed. Groaning, she hid her face in her hands. An odd emotion had flashed over his face when he had observed her just now, and she feared it was abhorrence.
Valerie was sure she had seen a negative emotion clouding the blue of his irises. They had been dyed red in some spots, and this only happened when he was angry or upset.
Why did Uriel still hold so much power over her? She wanted to lead her life the way she wanted and not constantly be held back by an old trauma.
Sometimes she felt caged by her fear, trapped in a room without being able to get out. To distract herself from her growing distress, she took her smartphone and scrolled through her list of contacts, wondering if she should call someone just to talk for a bit, preferably about something light-hearted and unrelated to her worries. She needed a distraction. Otherwise, she would go insane.
Her eyes fell on a name. Esther, the young witch that she had gotten to know a while ago. She hadn’t seen her since and figured it wouldn’t hurt to talk to her again since she had been very nice. Dialing her number, Valerie didn’t have to wait long for her to pick up.
“Hey, Valerie, what a surprise.” Her happy voice chirped, the joyful greeting improving Valerie’s mood somewhat.
“Hello, Esther. How are you?”
“Fine, I just returned home. You called at the perfect time,” Esther said. Hearing a male voice speak in the background, Valerie assumed it was Ivor since they lived together. “We visited the new Chinese restaurant around the corner, and guess what? Their food is fantastic. You should join us next time for a double date.”
Valerie cringed. “Uh, I don’t know if Maxwell would like that.”
Esther laughed gleefully. “Who cares, just drag him along. He’s a grumpy little shit.”
Surprised by her colorful language, Valerie’s mouth formed an O. “Stop swearing so much.” Ivor reprimanded her in the background, and Valerie’s lips quivered.
“Valerie? Are you still there?”
“Huh? Yeah, I am. You just surprised me, is all,” she replied. “We could have dinner together soon, maybe not as a double date, but…”