CLOUD NINE

Chapter 29

Jurian didn't utter a single word as painful sobs came and hit Alizeh. She was a mess, mentally and physically. She didn't realise where she was going as Jurian had picked her up and was almost flying through tunnels that curved and twisted in a sickly dance.

She had closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest. She didn't mind where she was or how inappropriate it all seemed to be. She needed the warmth and the reassurance.

He set her on the bed gently, flopping down beside her. The tears had now dried on her cheek as she sat there, her vision unseeing. Maybe that's what happens to people when they're in grief. They forget to cry.

"Alizeh," he took her face between his soft hand, gently turning her to face him.

"Alizeh," he said with more emphasis when she didn't respond.

"You didn't kill her Alizeh. The bots did. It's not your fault," his voice was soft and it seemed to be piercing her veil of sorrow and hitting her heart.

"If I had stayed behind, maybe we'd have gone out somewhere. Maybe I could've saved her," Alizeh's voice broke

"Maybe you would've died too," Jurian's voice was barely a whisper.

"But at least I would have been with my friend. She was afraid of the dark. She was alone in death," Alizeh took off her mask, not caring for secrecy anymore. She tossed it across the room.

"Alizeh, you are having survivor's guilt. Don't let this pull you down. You aren't a murderer, the government is."

"I will have her death on my hands throughout my life," tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Do you know how many deaths are on my hands, Alizeh?" Jurian asked, frustrated, "I am a monster. I've killed people, Liz." He took off his mask and threw it on the floor.

There was genuine sorrow and regret in his voice.

"Who?" Alizeh's words were barely a whisper.

"My creator," a grisly smile crept upon his lips. Alizeh looked up at him in shock and for the first time took in his features closely. His chiselled face was Adonis perfect, bold lips and a small stubble. His hair was a dirty silver blond, almost edging on bronze and it fell in messy layers over his forehead.

"Don't admire this face, Liz. It's not genuine. It's fabricated," he whispered, closing the gap between their faces so that his eyes were looking directly through her. She felt exposed, she felt vulnerable.

"C...creator?" she stuttered.

"I wasn't born. I was engineered. Designed to be a perfectly beautiful killer. My DNA was played with, Liz. I was just an experiment of the government," Jurian sighed.

"Do these things happen in the civilized world?'

"Humans are becoming more beastly as civilization progresses, lady," Jurian's breath was hot on her face, "But incidentally I was a failed experiment. I was supposedly born with a soft heart. All credits to the ovum or sperm donor I would never know."

Bitterness was seeping through his tongue like venom.

"You failed them by being more humane?" Alizeh's voice was barely audible now.

"And I killed him, and his entire team. I wrung their necks with my bare arms and fled from there. Lady A found me on the streets, running amok and brought me under her folds. In my initial days, I broke stuff. My powers were uncontrollable. Gradually I learnt to channelize that energy and use it in the right amounts. But I'm still afraid of this beast in me which can surface anytime." The light in those beautiful eyes dimmed a bit.

"You're not a beast. You're a beautiful person and you deserve to exist as much as any of us," Alizeh had found her voice again. "That kill for freedom was necessary. You can't continue to blame yourself for your entire life."

"Neither can you, Liz. We both did things we will regret but we have a purpose in here. We are fighting for a cause and maybe this incident will be a trigger for you to fight harder. For you to fight for all the others there that are at a risk like your friend."

Alizeh cowered in the intensity of his gaze. Some part of her knew he was right. She nodded silently.

"I feel broken," she breathed.

"Let me fix you then," his eyes were now a pool of molten glass.

"How?"

Jurian simply touched his lips to hers in a space of a heartbeat. The kiss was soft and supple but it was laced with desire. Alizeh felt starved and needy when his lips separated.

"Is this okay?" he asked softly. Alizeh just parted her lips in response, closing her eyes. His lips found hers again as he gently sucked on her lower lip. She gasped. A low grumble escaped his throat as he sucked more merrily. Her hands reached out to touch his face as she slowly traced the outline of his jaws.

His lips were now lapping up her upper lips hungrily, playing and teasing. His grip on her face tightened as he pulled her closer and she took the cue to push her tongue into his mouth. He tasted of cinnamon and cloves. He deepened the kiss, almost cutting off her air. When he drew back, she was gasping. He had a lazy smile on his face, "Whoa! That was good."

He moved his hands through her hair, tipping back her head.

"Damn your glasses," he guffawed, as the edge of her spectacles poked his eye, "Why don't you wear contacts?"

"How does it feel like to stick your finger in your eye thrice daily?" Alizeh rolled her eyes.

"Well...," he drawled, swiftly snatching her glasses and replacing them with a kiss on each of her eyelids. She let her head fall back and he kissed her behind her ears, slowly trailing down her neck. The kisses weren't innocent, but fierce, passionate and burning. Everywhere he touched her, flames lit up on her skin. How long had she desired this kiss? Ever since he had carried her in from Jace's vehicle.

"Alizeh," he mumbled against her skin, drawing out the letters. Her name hadn't appeared so sweet in any other voice. Again he moved to his mouth, kissing her full-mouthed, and their foreheads touching. The world fell away around them. The threats and the deaths, the guilt and the events of the past were forgotten for those precious moments as their breaths mingled in a wild frenzy of lust.