9
1065 Words
And Santino felt it, despite her slight trembling. She responded immediately and without realizing that cry for security, wrapping her arms around him. A merely spontaneous gesture. Automatic.
Natural.
The instant preceding the future storm was calmed.
People kept coming and going; each his life and his problems. It didn't matter, for Santino time had stopped. There was calm so long that it seemed like an eternity; a moment of tranquility in the middle of one of the noisiest streets of Kuri, an interval of complete and comforting silence by and for both.
He felt her cling to him. Her slow breathing, pulse, and heartbeat. Everything, in a soft and sweet whisper. He could have stayed like this with her forever. He wanted to try and the consequences didn't matter.
The nerves he'd been feeling lately seeing her had turned into a mix of interest, need, and affection. Something far beyond mere esteem, as he had discussed more than once that night in "The Red Cloud."
But… And Alexa?
She raised her face a little. Her cheeks were slightly reddened, due to the silence and forced containment of her courage. Her eyes were glassy, but unlike other times, she did not let a single tear fall. He noticed a subtle gloss on her lips; a barely perceptible shade of pink, just like the soft shading of her eyelids.
"Better?" He inquired the cutting off that contemplation that he sensed might be uncomfortable for her.
Alexa didn't take her eyes off him. she smiled, this time with all sincerity. He nodded with that same expression, saying nothing, not letting any word interrupt his reflection.
The lights of the street lamps that decorated the streets had already been lit for a long time and the sky revealed a night that had just arrived. Santino glanced at his watch.
"It's barely eight o'clock," he murmured without any apparent emotion. she caught a half-smile. "Do you want to go somewhere?"
It was then that she broke eye contact. Unwittingly.
"I…" She simply managed to run a hand through her hair, brushing a cluttered lock of hair away from her. She turned to him again "I just wanted to go to my house. A lot has happened today and ..."
"Okay," Santino replied, sparing him the painful rest of the story. That half-smile hadn't gone away. "I carry you"
Before she had time to reposition her handbag, his gnarled fingers grasped her hand. Her reaction was not surprising; she only managed to let herself be grasped, simply and simply.
They walked three more streets from where they were, in the night breeze, in an unattainable silence. Speaking without speaking.
She felt the warmth of her hand, the tranquility of that touch, very different from her younger brother. Her fingers did not clench him with Luke's typical scorn and suspicious obfuscation. There was no forced gesture.
"We're here," he breathed.
The few lights in front of the Bell residence cast a dim shadow that accentuated the black of Santino's hair. The glow of the lone lantern under which they stood cast a strange glow in her gaze.
Alexa sensed a recurring need to say something. What, exactly? She was not sure, the idea of her had been spinning in his mind for days. She couldn't talk about it with Yanai and not even mistakenly mention it to Jax; to nobody.
She needed to say it, expand it one way or another, it didn't matter if she sounded like a silly little girl to tell him that ...
"I forgot ..." Santino's voice echoed, interrupting the moment as if he were miles away. "Happy birthday, Alexa."
She felt that familiar shortness of breath again. A slightly suffocating intensity that made him breathe out imperceptibly
"Thank you," she whispered.
And he didn't reply.
Santino ...
The phrase faded into a soft sigh as it got lost in the sharp angles and curves of Santino's face; her studying them in detail, unconsciously resembling the similarities between him and Luke.
No. None beyond the tough features. It was not the same, neither the brightness of his eyes nor the air that his almost languid gaze projected.
She felt her heart skip a beat and she shrugged slowly. She felt dizzy, doubtful of something she had been yearning for weeks without being honest. Without realizing it, each time she squeezed Santino's hands more, prey to the debate over the self-control that was developing inside her.
Surrender, give in ... live. Was there a difference?
The pattern lasted less than Santino would have liked. He took a step toward her, short and firm. Less than four inches separated them, her hand had not stopped holding it. She took the other, leisurely as if it were a delicate petal. The world, the environment beyond them, seemed to have vanished.
Only the strong beat of his heart echoed in that unreal refuge. Santino had never before experienced that violent feeling that overwhelmed and subdued him. The lonely abyss into which his life had become was too cold to understand that throbbing desire, newly discovered and that he still could not understand or control.
She felt the closeness of her body make her shiver. Slowly, Santino bent her face to his, giving him time to pull away from her if she wanted him to. She did not do it. She closed her eyes, losing herself between her soft scent and the unstoppable contact of her hands.
He brought the edge of her lips closer to hers, pressing them gently with hers and sensing the diffuse taste of her lipstick.
There was no oppressive imposition, just a reassuring caress. He released her hands from her, sliding his around her waist, pulling her closer to him, shuddering to feel her so close to her.
Her body, fragile and vulnerable, her throbbing. The essence of her ...
Finally ... close.
Alexa ran her hands up his forearms, finally wrapping them around her neck. Her mouths met and tightened her kiss, making it longer, more intense, wetter.
A fleeting, subtle moment ... Pleasant?
Alexa opened her eyes.
What was happening? What had she done ?!
Her hands went to Santino's shoulders. His breathing was ragged and his knees were shaking. Confused and scared, she broke away from his warm grip. Concern read the corners of her mouth and her bewildered gaze.
What had happened?
- Writer
