Sweetest Whims

Chapter - 20

POV - Noemi

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"It is too late now. Let me help you to bed."

I was holding her against my bare chest, helping her to get past her miserable thoughts and memories. I had never seen such a beautiful mess before in my life. No one could tell that by simply looking at her what gloomy days she had seen in her life because the way she carried herself, with so much grace and honesty, it was an achievement in itself.

She was sweetness, sandwiched in bitterness. She was fire, preserved in ice. She was a moon that was tormented by the sun. She was a beautiful rose blooming among ugly thorns. She was diamond, neglected in search of stones. She was so many things, but not ordinary.

I lifted her easily in my arms and carried her over to the bed, amazed at how the strongest woman I knew could feel so light in my arms. I laid her gently in between the sheets, covering her body and telling myself that she was safe with me. But for how long?

Once I had her settled in the bed, I adjusted myself beside her. I goggled at her angelic features. Her face was yellow and her eyes were swollen from crying, and I was still a child of five years who could not know how to take the edge off someone's suffering and pain. I wanted to make her feel care and love.

Stop there!. Just stop right there. Take your words...your thoughts back.

My body froze as the warning in my head buzzed like a death alarm. She looked at me in amazement. In an instant, I tossed aside the sheets and jumped off the bed.

"I think you should take some rest now. I must leave."

"Wait!" She held my wrist tightly but as I looked in her direction she loosened her grip, still holding it regardless. "Don't go. I need you tonight. I wouldn't be able to sleep alone."

I looked side to side. I didn't know how to stash away the ache I felt every time I wanted to do something but couldn't because that would be so wrong. This would be so wrong. To me. To her. To both of us. I couldn't. I must not. But...I wanted to.

"Please. Just for tonight." Her glum face and her desperate eyes elevated the chaos in my chest.

Fuck it!

I knew I would kill myself in the morning for doing what I just did next, however, I was ready to deal with the ramifications of it. Or at least that's what I thought. My intoxicated body couldn't think of any better decision than throwing myself at her and letting her worries consume in me.

I paced off the distance and lied down beside her. In an instant, her head was on my shoulder while her other hand carefully moved to hold my hand in hers. Our fingers entwined, filling the gap between them like an old unsolved puzzle. We both glanced at our joined hands and grinned simultaneously.

"Why are you like this?" Her voice although was calm and collected made me anxious at my place.

My fingers twitched as I felt a sudden tension building up in the back of my spine and spreading across my whole body. I had no clue how to do away with her blunt questions. However, there was a small part in me that wanted to spill the beans yet I let the major part win in me.

"What do you mean?" I queried, my voice appearing casually unaffected.

"I mean, why do you have to punish to start with?"

Shit!

I loosened my grip on her fingers while letting my fingers sail through them playfully. I wanted a distraction. I needed it. I couldn't let the barrage of my past be collapsed because of an anomalous night. I must deter her from intruding in my privy life.