Stolen Fate

Chapter 2

Laura opens her eyes as she wakes up from the beeping of her phone. She sits up from the floor, where she fell asleep, crying over her father’s ultimatum to break up with Lance.

              She takes her phone and reads the messages that Lance sent her.

              “Meet me at the barn tonight at exactly 10PM. I need to see you, my love.”

              Laura almost panics when she sees the time. It’s already nine-fifty. She quickly stands up from the floor and rummages through her closet to find a decent pair of pants and a blouse to wear. Then she ties her long, brown hair in a loose ponytail and walks briskly out of her room. As she sprints down the stairs, she sees a familiar figure standing at the bottom steps, watching her with suspicious eyes.

              Laura takes a deep breath and raises her chin, giving Charles a defiant stare. “What are you doing here?”

              Charles smirks and shrugs his shoulder. “Your father and I had some last minute discussions. Business. What about you? What are you doing down here so late? You know, it’s bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding.”

              “Hmph! Marrying you is bad luck in its own right!” she mutters. Then she walks past him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important person to see.”

              She makes her way to the front door. Charles follows her, and she feels his rough grip on her elbow. She turns back, sporting a glare on her face.

              “Let me go, Charles!” she hisses. “I’m not your wife yet, and you have no right to tell me what to do!”

              Charles pulls her towards him and gives her a malicious smile. “You are right. You’re not my wife yet. But the moment you are, I swear to the Devil, I will make you bend to my will, you spoiled, little minx!”

              Laura pulls her arm away from Charles and gives him a push that causes him to take a step back. “I said, let me go! Don’t you dare touch me ever again!”

              Then she opens the door and walks out of the mansion, reeling with anger.

              “Go wherever you please now, Laura. Big changes are going to happen from the moment you meet me at the altar tomorrow,” Charles calls out to her.

              Laura cannot take hearing Charles’s voice or his vile laughter any longer. She makes a run across the vast estate’s front lawn and turns to the pathway that leads to the woods.

              Tears are rolling down her cheeks as she takes the secret path that leads to the family’s old barnyard. When she sees it, she turns around to make sure that no one is following her. She tiptoes towards the back entrance and turns the old, rusty knob of the backdoor.

              She is late for her meeting with Lance. It’s dark inside the barnyard, and she wonders if Lance has already left, thinking she will not come at all. Then she feels a hand clamp over her mouth, and an arm encircles her waist. She is pulled back to lean against a hard, firm surface.

              Her heart flutters as she smells his familiar scent, and feel his familiar arms around her.

              “Ssshhh…” She feels his hot breath as he whispers against her ear. “Were you followed?”

              She gently shakes her head. She feels him relax his grip on her and slowly turns her around to face him. She looks up at his handsome face, illuminated only by the moonlight shining through the glass windows.

              “Lance…” she breathes.

              He looks down at her and gently cups her face between his palms. “Oh, I’ve missed you, stellina.”

              Before she can tell him that she misses him too, he covers her lips with his and kisses her passionately, his arms crushing her against his body. She kisses him back feverishly, feeling sparks and electricity shooting up from every part of her body.

              He cups her butt cheeks and lifts her off the ground, making her wrap her legs around his waist.

              “I love you, my stellina. I have always loved you,” he breathes against her skin. His kisses travel from her lips to her chin before she feels him nuzzle that sensitive part on her neck.

              “Lance…” she moans, feeling the heat radiating from his body to hers. “I love you, too.”

              He carries her across the dark room and settles her on a makeshift bed made of old blankets. He takes off his jacket, and then he lands softly on her body. He devours her lips as his hands roam freely on her thighs.

              She kisses him back, feeling passion quickly take over her senses. He traces her lips with his tongue as he squeezes her left breast. She opens her legs, feeling his desire between her thighs. She moans as the evidence of his lust presses against her.

              “Lance… please…”

              “Stellina…” he moans. “It breaks my heart to know that that scumbag will marry you tomorrow.”

              He gently pulls away from her so he can look at her. Through the light from the windows, she sees the tears welling up in his eyes. She bites her lower lip and heaves a desperate sigh, feeling the ache of her breaking heart inside her chest.

              “My father has threatened to send you off to France if I continue seeing you,” she whimpers. “You will never find a decent means of living if he destroys your reputation.”

              “I don’t care,” Lance says. “He can do his worst. As long as he and that scumbag fiancé of yours will not lay a finger on you. I don’t care what they do to me.”

              “But I can’t let them ruin you, Lance,” she says in a broken voice. “I love you too much to make your life a living hell.”

              He gives her a bitter smile. “I just want you to be happy, my love. Even if it means that I will not have you for the rest of my life.”

              “Charles will never have my heart,” she promises. “Only you have the right to own it… you have the power to break it.”

              He shakes his head as he leans forward and kisses her lips gently.

              “I will never break your heart, stellina.”

              “I know,” she breathes against his lips. “That’s why I gave it to you. And now, I’m giving you my body and my soul.”

              Lance looks back at her in surprise. He slightly shakes his head. “No, stellina. I will never spoil you. Charles Chapman will hurt you if he finds out that you’ve been with another man.”

              Laura raises her chin to him. “He can do his worst! I will die first before he possesses my body!” She gently takes his hand and places it over her chest. “I’m still a free woman. And I’m giving you all of me. No one else will possess my body but you, my love. I will die first before I let him touch me!”

              Lance gives her a long, measuring look. “I wish we were born at a different time and place. I would take you away from all of this.”

              “Maybe someday we can do that,” she says. “But right now, all we have is tonight. Let’s not waste this chance.”

              He nods. “I will forever treasure this gift, stellina. And someday, I will make something of myself, and I will take you back from him.”

              She smiles at him bitterly. “I believe in you, my love.”

              With tears in their eyes, they share passionate kisses. One by one, they lose their clothing. Kiss by kiss, they ignite their passion. Skin to skin, they share the gift of love. Breath by breath, they pledge their soul to one another.

              They share the final moment of their union. Looking deeply into his eyes, Laura promises her lover, “I will wait for you… no matter how long it takes.”

              Lance gives her a long, searing kiss. Then he breathes his eternal vow, “I will come for you… no matter what it takes.”

              Laura smiles at him bitterly, unable to hold back the tears in her eyes. With one final kiss, she says, “I am yours. Forever. In this life and in the next.”