Darkness carved in bone

Chapter 28

Helen

He grasped his hands around her wrists, pulling her towards him. A jolt of electricity spread across her skin as he touched her. She continued walking deeper into the darkness of the hall. The air in the hallway was colder and calmer, but it did not doze out the fire she could feel burning inside her. It instead became a vast contrast to the warmth and energy that was inside her.

As he pulled her with her, taking her up a staircase, Helen left the world behind, and Ten became the only physical tether to a world beyond just her and him. He turned his head and looked back down at her as he pulled her up the staircase. He laughed as their eyes met, almost as if they were racing atop the staircase. Helen reacted to his laughter, speeding up her pace. She was not sure if it was because she wanted to race him or if she wanted to be closer to him.

When they reached the top, they both were breathing heavily, but Ten bit his lips in a mischievous glance as he put his hand on her waist. A small but visible squint of his eyes told Helen that he had mischievous plans with that hand, which made her run away from him with a giggle. Ten followed behind, and soon they were in the bell tower atop the hall. The only source of light came from the moon that shone through small wooden slits in the eight windows that made up the octagonal shaped room. The windows were covered up to protect the bell from the harsh outside weather, but the slits made it possible for the bell to still ring its notes across the village, and the moon bathed the room in pale silver light.

The bell hung in the middle of the small and dim room, dividing it between them. Helen took the one side of the room, holding her hand gently against the railing that stood around the bell. Ten gave her another mischievous look as he stood opposite her, the bell's edge nearly obscuring his line of sight. But he bobbed his head and looked at her as he started moving to the right, making Helen immediately answer by moving to the left, maintaining the distance between them. Helen felt like she almost couldn't feel her body. But at the same time, it felt like she could feel everything. That she could feel her every heartbeat, her every breath and every slow blink of her eyes. A fire deep inside her, to her core, had been lit. And it was all she could focus on, the fire that needed more. That needed to find its fulfillment.

"I need you," he said in a quiet whisper.

His words were like a burst of freeing air that made her fire burn even brighter. She could see how his demeanor changed slightly; his eyes were attentive to her, taking in her figure form with eyes that shone with lust and wanting. His posture somehow came off as self-assured, he looked almost as if he had grown a bit taller, wider and stronger. As if he wanted to mark every detail of what he was and what he could offer her.

Helen felt her gut tightening up as it became difficult to breathe. Their eyes never ceased to look at each other. His pale green-blue eyes became all that existed. His blonde hair that fell into strays into his face was suddenly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. His straight nose, and strong jaw became something she needed to touch and feel. She wanted her fingers to stroke his face, to touch his hair. Her eyes wandered over his body, over his stomach and chest. Her fingers wanted to wander there as well.

She could feel her face reddening from her own thoughts, but she ignored it. She instead let him take a step to the right, without making her own countermove. And then he was a step closer to her.

The world stood still, time ceasing to exist. He took another step closer to her. She still didn't move. She blinked, almost not believing what she was about to allow to happen, and how much she wanted it to happen. The fire in her core kept on burning, begging and pleading for fulfillment. She looked at him with pained eyes as her lips nearly trembled with pain. Because it was painful to be this close to him without being able to feel his touch. She needed his warmth. She needed there to be darkness and lust between them. She needed his skin on hers. She needed him to forever end the distance between them.