The Darkness Of Healing // Ruel // English

Chapter 63

(Ruel's POV)

I must admit that now that we are together in the van that picked us up from the hotel, arranged by the organization that also organizes the premiere, the nerves are starting to sink in. In addition to the driver, there is also a security guard. It suddenly feels like a big deal. I don't see myself as famous. Not as someone who needs a security guard for protection, but that will turn out differently today.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants and want to place them under my thighs to avoid tearing the skin around my nails, but Yasmine is already reaching out and offering to take hers. I focus for a moment on her elegant slender hands, adorned with gold rings and the tattoo on her middle finger, before moving my gaze to hers. She gives me a reassuring smile, one I can recognize out of thousands. The "it's going to be okay" smile. The one that miraculously always calms me down a bit. I let a deep breath blow through my lungs and let it go.

Yasmine is so dazzlingly beautiful tonight. She's been secretive all day and I wasn't allowed to see anything. Coco even sent me out of my own hotel room to change myself somewhere else, because she was going to do Yasmine's makeup and it had to remain a surprise how beautiful she would look. That actually made me even more nervous. Not that I didn't believe she would look beautiful, but I'm just calmer around her. Besides, I could keep an eye on how she was doing, how she was feeling about tonight, but I was shown the door before I was allowed to ask. The smile and silent apology she gave me when I walked out of the room in surrender gave me some reassurance about the situation, but still. It made me seem crazy. Was it really so strange that I was so tense and she wasn't? I've done this so many times. I've been on a red carpet so many times, in front of cameras. I even walked for a fashion show once, I should be used to those eyes on me. Maybe those nerves aren't about myself, but about her. To put her in that spotlight. To expose her to the media. I'd rather have her safely behind me. Barred from anything that might come at her, things that might pierce her heart. Maybe I should trust that calmness in her face and know she's strong enough to handle it.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I was allowed to enter again. My eyes were so focused on the love of my life that I didn't even realize that Coco had left us alone in the meantime. She was gorgeous.

The dress she wore was perfect for her. It made her body even more beautiful than it already was, accentuating everything it could. Her breasts, waist, hips. It made me wish we had a little more time together so I could run my hands over her body. The one leg that came out through the split broke the black surface. That despite the darkness was so light. Who really spoke her language. She seemed like my angel. One that I want to keep with me forever.

There was some glitter in the inner corner of her eyes that made her look very much alive. That same glow was on her cheekbones and collarbones. Subtle gold chains hung around her neck, one had a bar that almost disappeared between her breasts, the rest rested a little higher on her chest. There was a slight wave in the dark hair. Curled out of her face and with volume. With every step she would take it would jump up and down a little bit as if the wind was going to win her from her.

God she's beautiful. I don't look like that. I'm wearing a black oversized blazer with a subtle black turtleneck that hardly creeps up my neck. It's hardly noticeable, but it's tight enough to feel, especially in times of tension. With a pair of looser black trousers underneath. We're both in black, but I seem so much more simple.

Yasmine took a piece of jewelery from a small box next to her and called me closer to her, away from the place I never thought I could get away from. She unclipped the clasp of the necklace and moved her hands to my neck to fasten it from behind. She slowly slid her hands over my shoulders, down the necklace, and then down my chest.