The day Lukas Fuller met Emma Whelan, his bond invitation to Olivia Byrne had broken a week ago. Hauled up in a pub, drinking beer after beer, he tries to forget his past lover while sharing small talk with the equally mopey Emma.
Though many drinks...
It was the last night of our holidays. These days I slept without my shirt—Olivia deciding to don it instead. I would lay on my back, arm around her small frame as her face rested on my bare chest and our legs wrapped together under the blanket.
The lights were out and the room was dark. But Olivia traced circles on my chest as we listened to each other's heartbeats to lull ourselves to sleep. Hers was the most beautiful sound.
"Lukas?" she whispered, stirring the night.
"Yeah?" I breathed, wondering what was bothering her mind at this time. Normally she was quick to fall asleep in my arms. She once told me that it was in my hold she always felt the safest—describing the feeling as slipping into a set of fresh sheets, or a warm cup of tea on a cold day. I liked that she needed me as much as I needed her, but sometimes that feeling scared me. Because... was it right for two people to need each other?
"I want to tell you something," she started.
"You can tell me anything. How many times do I have to tell you that?" I whispered back, running my fingers through her locks.
She took a deep breath in response before lifting her head from my chest, moving onto my pillow instead. Even in the darkness, her eyes glowed bright as they looked at me—or rather, squinted. She couldn't see me in the lack of light like I could see her.
I watched her bite her lip in nervousness. Hand coming to her face, I pulled it out of her teeth's grip—a habit I had formed in response to hers.
"Don't freak out," she then said.
I breathed a small laugh before I said, "I think all this hype is making me freak out more. What is it, beautiful?"
A small smile spread across her face at the term of endearment. And then she blurted, "I love you."
My heart stopped. My eyes stung. And she gazed at me tenderly, hesitantly, awaiting my reaction. Extending my hand across the space, I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear before I said, "I love you too."
She shared my grin, a blush taking hold of her face as her heart seemed to race with joy that I held the same feelings she did. Though that she ever doubted whether I would say it back was ridiculous. Then she said, "I've been thinking about the bond thing."
"Y-yeah?" I stuttered, feeling my throat go tight. We hadn't really spoken about it since she finished reading that book...
"I... I want to cement it," she whispered.
I pressed my lips together as I studied her face and listened to her heart race as she waited for me to say something. A part of me was super glad at her confirmation that she really wanted to be with me forever. But when we would cement it was the question stirring the unease in me. As silence ticked on, the air began to turn warm and her face began to fall. So I said, "One day."
She shook her head. "I'm sure about you." Then she inched over a little on the pillow, her head coming that slight bit closer to me.
"And I'm..." But what was I? Sure? I loved her. Completely and fully. And it happened fast—foolishly so—but how could I ask her to spend her life with me? Especially while my uncle is still in this world. "Not until Rüdiger is gone," I said.
"But if I have to run off to Australia... our bond invitation will break," she said, moving a little closer again.
She had a point. But even so... "Then we will cement it before then."
"You're not sure about me yet?" she asked, voice a little high as she retreated again.
"Of course I am. I've told you, Olivia, I haven't felt like this before. You know I adore you. But my uncle—"
"We can figure it out later. He's a worry for the future and is not a threat to us at the moment. What we have is now. Why should we wait to cement our bond later when we could relish in its pros while we're here, together," she said, head moving back towards me again, her eyes trailing down to my mouth.
"Olivia," I whispered, but I couldn't find any arguments now. I could feel her warm breath touching my lips as she hovered there.
"Don't push me away," she said. "We will figure anything out. But we're stronger together... and we will be stronger if that's like this..." And then, suddenly, her lips were on mine.
When Erica had done this, my body had gone rigid at the touch. I was alarmed that she had jumped at the opportunity and really tried to think about her feelings coming at me. But then my mind slipped into memories of Anja. Anja being tortured... Anja's face morphing into Erica's... Instinctively, I pushed Erica away from that life.
But as Olivia pressed her lips onto mine, I felt her warmth permeate through me. It was everything I had wanted over these months since the bond invitation first ignited. And with her lips lightly brushing against mine, her hands warm against my chest, and the bond glowing tightly around my heart, begging me to react, all I could do is notice how natural it felt to be with her. How amazing her mouth on mine felt. How delightful her lips tasted.
It only took seconds for me to take stock of everything around me—of the feel of her against me, of her genuine feelings, of the warmth in the room. Fingers weaving through her hair, I had no control of my reaction as I responded by pulling her mouth closer to mine, pressing my lips against hers, accepting her bond proposal. Because every fibre of my being needed her. And even my brain, that normally threw worries at me, knew she was right. That we were right.
The fragile bond invitations that wrapped our hearts together turned its lock, glowing bright as it joined us forever. My emotions were now hers. Hers were now mine. We were one.
She melted in my touch, hands finding their way around my neck, legs tangling with mine under the covers. Then her tongue traced my top lip.
Opening my mouth, I let her deepen the kiss and our tongues began to dance.
I don't know how long we went on like that. It felt like forever. But the mood never turned lustrous.
It was tender, sweet, and full of love. Our kiss felt like we were making up for all the time we haven't been able to show our affection for each other in such a physical way. The yearning finally coming to an end with the ebb and flow of our mouths and tongues moving against each other.
Then at some point we pulled apart, breaths heavy before a small smile slipped onto her face.
Then she buried herself back into my arms and we drifted off in our small window of bliss.
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Hope you're not feeling overwhelmed by all the uploads. I've had a good break from writing this story and am currently reviewing everything I wrote at the end of last year for the second part. As I'm working through it, approving the chapters, I'm releasing some of this backlog (because a chapter a week is going to see this story taking over a year to be uploaded!)
I'm still yet to finish the end of this story, but it's almost there. Hoping to feel re-energised by the time I've read through everything again and am at the end.
I hope the second part doesn't disappoint either...
Also, curious to know how we are feeling about Lukas and Ollie's love story so far...
