Soft Hazy Blue ( Ominis Gaunt x MC )

Chapter 28: Ghosts of the Past

Husband...

It was so foreign to hear it from her lips but she stared at me with blazing eyes, determined to save the man she had devoted her life to.

"I know this is out of turn for me to ask of you, but I need your help, Sebastian. You know the mansion better than I do. You lived there for almost more summers than I've known the both of you," she pleaded as she poked at the burning embers before her. The flickering flames illuminating the worry etched onto her face.

I sat back my eyes trailing over her features, fully noting the exhaustion she must have placed herself under to find me. Her eyes dropped slightly, and my eyes followed her line of sight, catching a glimpse of the ring that she tenderly grazed with her pointer finger as her shoulders slightly curled into herself.

I peeled my eyes from her, a blush creeping up my neck as if I'd been caught intruding on an intimate moment between lovers, and focused back on the fire that stirred. The embers glowed and crackled its fickle flames extending its hands towards my own in the hopes of burning me awake from this slumber of emotions that still consumes me.

I glanced back up only to find her eyes boring into my own, glistening brightly as her mouth was left slightly agape before speaking. She took in a deep breath as her chest swelled slowly before the sound of her voice barely above a whisper, floated across to where I sat.

"Sebastian, I need your help. You're the only one I can turn to."

My heart clenched at the sound of desperation that laced her words, I nodded pleading with her to continue with what she had come here to say.

"Go on, love."

She smiled softly, before returning to her worried state "I can't do this alone. I know that neither of you are on current speaking terms due to the events that unfolded between us years ago. Though this is exactly what you can do to earn his forgiveness...my forgiveness even."

"Have you not forgiven me?" I asked shocked as she sucked in her lips, softly clenching them between her teeth, the thoughts etched on her face.

"In all honesty...no. You leaving us --me -- was as if you slapped us in the face and cursed our name."

She slowly rose from her spot and made her way to where I sat, positioning herself right next to me before turning her face close to my own. She took hold of my hands as I diverted my attention everywhere else in the small encampment beside her lips.

"Sebastian, you leaving stung. No," she shook her head in defiance. "It burned as intensely as losing Professor Fig. I lost a father that night, one who cared for me with so much intensity it reminded me of my parents the ones that I had lost. Then losing you that night... we were bound by a very dark secret. One that was painful to keep and to hide but it was one I would gladly endure again for you!" She breathed heavily, leaving me staring in awe.

The air between us thickened.

After all this time.

"After all this time," I whispered the thoughts slipping past my lips, an act of betrayal from my own self as my throat began to dry. My voice was barely audible over the soft, haunting melody of the crickets that chirped in the background of the dark forest.

Her eyes slowly searched mine, her grip on my hands tightening.

"Yes, after all this time. I would do it all again if it meant saving you."

I could feel the warmth of her breath on my skin, our faces mere inches apart. The firelight danced in her eyes, illuminating a small beacon of hope within me that I could still have her or even just love her. Even if it just meant one night, or even if it could turn into a thousand nights, I needed to be with her in some form just to hold her close and not let go.

My heart pounded fiercely the burning heat pulsing behind my ears as she leaned in closer.

"Sebastian..." her voice murmured as I swallowed, my throat dry in anticipation and desire.

"Anything I'll do for you, what is it love?"

For a moment the world seemed to pause. Her soft doe eyes held mine as I felt the weight of her uttering my name, the pain of our past, and the hope I felt for the future.

Our breaths synchronized, the fire cracked softly behind us. The embers of my desire burned hot, dangerously too close to the sun. She tilted her head back as I crawled forward, my hand splayed across her lower back, drawing her closer to my frame.

She hitched a gasp, placing her burning palm atop the hard beats of my chest, as I drew my head closer to the soft tempting lips, that glistened like morning dew beneath the moonlight. How I dreamt of tasting them with a burning desire to see just how sweet they would taste beneath my own. Would they become even sweeter like honey the more I bit them or would they burn hotter, only ruining me further with a tantalizing ache that would leave me breathless for more?

My fingertips traced the gentle curve of her jawline as I stared into her eyes. A deep mesmerizing pool that only drew me in closer the longer I gazed, whispering unspoken desires between us. I traced her soft skin light as a feather as if I was painting an intricate line on a canvas as I explored the subtle ridges and bumps of her perfect burning hot skin.

Burning?

"You're burning up."

"Yes, I know. I've been trying to utter the words to tell you since I arrived, but it seemed you already knew how you supported my weight. I didn't want to pass it to you though so that's why I pushed you away. It's from exhaustion promise, I'll explain my plan to free my husband tomorrow but for tonight I have to rest," she smiled softly as she slowly detangled herself from my embrace.

Ah.

She never was burning for being around me... but burning for she was sick.

Sick from her travels.

Sick from the stress of being chased it seemed like with her disheveled looks when she first arrived.

Sick from worry one could only guess as her eyes always seemed to be somewhere else than here.

I got up quickly alongside, taking hold of her arm, as I guided her to a spare cot beside mine.

"Thank you, Sebastian," she smiled ever so perfectly. With a gentle squeeze of my hand, she laid down, her eyes softly fluttered into a stillness as if a painting awaiting slumber.

"Goodnight," I whispered but I was only met with the silence of the night.

I walked back out into the clearing before collapsing in front of the fire, the sound of laughter escaping in bubbles as I laughed at my foolishness in reading the situation.

You're his, what did I expect?

It was my punishment for hiding for so long in this forbidden encampment.

But what if I stayed?

The what-ifs were always dangerous but up until now, the what-ifs are what gave me hope to continue moving forward in this ever-twisted place in time we call life.