[1] Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 44 - NEW!

VAL
༻❁༺

My broken hand was my worst enemy now. It wasn't broken per se, but fuck, if it didn't feel like it. I wanted to put my hair into a ponytail so it wasn't bothering my face for the rest of the day, but I was supposed to let my hand rest, that way it would get better sooner and I would be able to use it then. I couldn't use it for now unless I had to. I didn't have to use it now, but I was about to say fuck it and do exactly that, if it wasn't because Simon stepped into the bathroom and made everything stop.

He stepped behind me and I met his eyes in the mirror as I slowly lowered my hands from my hair, letting it fall down my back. It wasn't long but neither was short. It used to go all the way to my hips a couple of years back, before I cut it off to my neck after my sister's death.

Now it was still growing and I wanted it to be long again, though I still missed having it so short I couldn't tie it back. It made things so much easier.

However, I forgot about short hair and broken hands the second Simon's fingers ran through the length of my hair before he gathered it into a loose grip with both of his hands. He was helping me without me having to ask, my Lord. I shivered. Hard. Making my shoulders shake. The butterflies in my stomach were too much to take along with the rush of nostalgia and buried memories. I leaned forward, my hair slipping from his fingers.

"Do you know what you are doing?" I asked. It came out a little more breathless than I would have liked.

The smile in his eyes was the softest I'd ever seen in them. "Darling, I always know what I am doing."

I rolled my eyes, the smile on my face was unmistakable. He was just so good at everything I couldn't even tell him he was being arrogant, because he was just stating facts.

Simon clicked his tongue and stepped closer. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, Valentina."

"Or what?" I defied him, my heart starting to beat faster and faster under his hard gaze through the mirror.

A growl rumbled from deep down his throat. "Or what?" he echoed, his fingers wrapping around my neck from behind like a perfect necklace, and he squeezed tight but enough to let me breathe. "I will give you a real reason to roll your eyes."

He pulled away before I could process what happened, though my body reacted in a wave of lust for him instantly, leaving me with little to no air. This man, he looked like he hadn't just promised me something sweet, how can he switch so fast?

"Now let me help you." Simon gathered my hair into a low ponytail. He stood tall and proud behind me-I barely reached his chin-and he looked completely different from the self he showed everyone outside of this room, completely different from the man polishing his knife the first time I got a glimpse of him. I'd never seen him this gentle and soft and beautiful before, and I fucking loved it, too much for my sanity, but I did.

He trailed his fingers through my hair as he combed it carefully and it brought so many memories back from when I was little and the only person I let touch my hair this way was my mom. My chest hurt, and when he said, "Your hair is beautiful," just like she used to say to me, I couldn't help but tell him what was going through my mind.

He met my eyes in the mirror, and quietly, "Do you miss her?"

"Every day." I exhaled the knot in my throat.

After he was done, Simon snaked his hands around my waist until they were wrapped and pulled me to his body. I relaxed back into him, liking the way our bodies fit perfectly. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and tickled me when he inhaled my scent. "My mother used to stroke my hair until all of my worries went away," he said and my breath hitched. "She never stopped and I didn't want her to either. Even when I was a grown adult, I still let her comfort me that way."