Chapter 40 40

Chapter 40 40
Nora’s POV

“What are you waiting for?” I asked, seeing his reluctance. Isn’t this what he always wanted? To see me break and beg for mercy at his very feet?

He looked me over but didn’t make a move. Instead, he looked at the guards and without saying a word, they all left, closing the door after them. It was just the two of us.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want your guards to see how mighty and strong you are by setting me as an example?” I taunted, pain gnawing at my chest.

“Why are you so pained? Is it the fact that I caught you so easily?” he asked.

“Who cares? You’ve never been loved, have you? Have you ever loved someone so deep that you ignore all the red flags? You love them so much that you’re willing to take all they throw your way?” I asked, my voice trembling.

I know he doesn’t care but the pain in my heart was too much. I needed to talk about it in order to soothe the injury in my heart.
“I am not as stupid as you, I do not love stupidly,” I heard Julian say.

“I know, that’s why you cannot relate. You’ve never been loved so your heart is filled with so much bitterness, you enjoy seeing others suffer,” I cried, my vision blurry with tears.

Silas’s betrayal stung so bad.

“Don’t tell me you’re dying right now because of that jerk? Come on, you’re not this stupid,” Julian said in a mocking tone.

“Why are you hesitating to feed me to the dogs if I am so stupid? Does my grief not bring you enough joy?”

“It does, actually. I’m just stunned to see you this pained about a boy. It seems you’re never beating the stupidity allegations,” he said in a disappointing tone.

“Then go ahead and lock me up! You can as well put a leash on my neck to stake your claim on me! You won’t be the first, neither will you be the last.” Now, my sobs made me start to shiver.

I couldn’t control myself.

My words hung in the air as Julian stared at me with an emotion I couldn’t understand.

“You’ve been locked up before?” he asked.

“Yes, why do you seem so surprised? That’s what I get for coming into a family that hates me with every fiber of my being. People think I must have the perfect life being the cute daughter of such a man but nobody knows the pains I’ve gone through. If locking me up and treating me like an animal just like my family does is going to give you the validation you so much seek, then go on. I am done trying to be strong.”
By now, I was starting to feel lightheaded from crying so hard.

“I am not seeking any fucking validation. You ruined my room!” Julian snapped.

“What other choice did you leave me? I’ve never met you in my entire life but you treat me with so much hate, I regret my very existence. I thought I could finally be loved by Silas when I get out of your grip but how wrong could I be?” I cried.

I cried hard until I lay flat on the floor, surrendering to his punishment. I expected him to laugh at my little confession. I expected him to call me stupid and then call the guards to throw me into the cell. I cried as I waited for my life to finally come to an end.

I felt him come closer to me and I braced myself for his assault but instead, he offered me a hand.

Perplexed, I wiped my tears to take a good look at him. His hands were stretched out to me and he had on an unreadable expression. I could only stare at him and let out whimpers.

“Are you going to take my hand or not?” he snapped rather impatiently.
Confused, I put my hands in his and he led me off the floor, before showing me to his bed.

I took a seat at the edge of his bed and stared at him like he had grown two heads.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked as I wiped off some tears.

“Trying to make you calm down. You look really ugly when you cry,” he said.

Surprisingly, the insult didn’t get me angry.
“But why are you doing this? You hate me, remember?” I asked as sadness filled my eyes again. “Everyone hates me including my family and I can’t really blame you for feeling that way. It’s my curse,” I said as fresh tears filled my eyes. I began to cry again.

I cried over the curse that had clung to me since childhood and its hold on me only got tighter the more I tried to break free. My shoulders trembled as I hunched over and continued crying.

Slowly, I felt a finger go under my chin and then it slowly raised my head.
My eyes met with Julian’s and suddenly, I realized we weren’t sitting too far away. We were pretty close. Almost too close.

“I am not going to lock you up anymore,” he said, the cold edge of his voice was gone.

“Really?” I asked with a hiccup. Even if it sounded too good to be true because Julian is known for being unforgiving, I couldn’t help the flow of relief that went through me.

I licked my dry lips as I looked into his eyes, checking to see if he was pulling a prank on me, just like I’ve been doing on him. His eyes trailed to my mouth and watched as my tongue rolled over my lips to moisturize them.

I swallowed hard.

He began to inch closer and my heart rate quickened. Is this some sort of sick prank to make me feel even lesser of myself?
He kept coming close and only stopped when his lips were only a few inches from mine. He was so close, I could feel his breath on me.

As my nervousness increased, I licked my lips again but it was obviously a wrong move. If Julian had been trying to hold himself back before, that restraint broke the moment I licked my lips.

Without warning, his lips descended on mine and I froze. I didn’t dare to move, neither did I dare to pull away.

Julian seemed oblivious to my reluctance as he began to move his lips against mine. They felt really good and I couldn’t resist. His lips were unbelievably soft.

I closed my eyes and slowly relaxed, as our lips molded against each other. It wasn’t deep or rushed, it was slow and sweet at the same time.

Then, something embarrassing happened.
A moan slipped through my lips.
That single sound was enough to break the spell surrounding us. Julian froze, as if coming back to his senses and without letting a minute go by, broke the kiss and pulled away from me instantly as if I scorched him.

“Fuck!” he cursed.