Mountain Love

Chapter 9 - Saturday

Most of the night, Qualeb was tossing and turning. He was very restless and kept sitting up, like he was escaping a nightmare.
I calmed him down and then held him until he went back to sleep. I could tell that visiting the castle without his ski mask had taken a toll on him. It made me feel so guilty that he didn't say anything because he was being considerate of me as always.

When I woke up, Qualeb wasn't in bed. I got worried and quickly sat up. I could not see or hear him in the bathroom. I was thinking about getting out of bed to look for him when he came through the door.
He was drying his hair with a towel as he was looking at me.

"Hey angel. You were sleeping so soundly, I hope I didn't wake you."

He came over to my side of the bed and kissed me on the forehead. I knew that I've known Qualeb for a few days, but I was not satisfied with a kiss on the forehead. I held on to the two ends of his towel that he had put around his neck and pulled him closer to me. He kind of stumbled and landed on top of me. I pulled him even closer and kissed him on the cheek first. Then I kissed his other cheek. Then came my favourite part. The juicy lips of his. I kissed him and sucked a bit on his bottom lip. He gave a small moan before pushing himself a bit more into me. I wrapped my hands around him and pushed myself even closer against his hard and warm body before teasing his tongue with mine. He deepened the kiss further by sucking on my lips and biting them occasionally. I could feel him getting aroused and he was kissing me more and more. I revelled with glee at the thought that I was causing this. It made me feel a bit bolder so I took his tongue and started sucking it. He groaned and pushed his hardness into me.

All of a sudden he jumped off me. He was looking panicked and kept whispering: "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Before he practically ran out of the room. I was dumbfounded. I was still out of breath from our make out session but I quickly got my wits together and left the room hopping behind him. I knocked at Qualeb's room door. There was no reply. So I tried opening the door and it actually opened. When I peeked into his empty room, I realised that he had gone downstairs. As I slowly made my way down, I could see him in the living room on the sofa. He had his his hands on his head and he was looking at the floor. All I could see was his hair. I walked over to him and kneeled in-front of him. I removed his hands and pulled his head up so that he had to face me. He was crying. This man of mine was crying. It broke my heart. It broke me. I hugged him and I started crying. He wasn't holding me but I was holding him tightly against my chest. He started to sob and then his sobs turned into a whimper. He kept whispering, "I'm so sorry." I took his face between my hands, so that he was facing me.

"Why are you sorry? Why are you apologising?"

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like this. I'm a fucking monster. You came into this house trusting a total stranger and here I am kissing and taking advantage of you."

"What do you mean take advantage?" Now I was getting a bit mad. "I was the one who started the kiss. I was the one who deepened the kiss. I was also enjoying myself. When did YOU take advantage of ME? If anything, I took advantage of YOU. You are giving me a place to stay. Food to eat. Clothes to wear. You are looking after me like no one has ever looked after me. I'm taking advantage of your kind nature. I'm becoming more and more greedy. I want you Qualeb. I need you Qualeb!"

I took his face into my two hands and kissed him on the lips: "Can you please take off your bandage? I want to see you."
Qualeb looked startled and not sure of what to say. I whispered to him: "Qualeb, I love you."

I felt a sense of relief when I told him, but after a second, I started to feel petrified.
Qualeb was in shock. He just stared at me and then his face turned angry, I felt a stap of pain in my chest when I saw his face like that, especially since the anger was directed at me. He sat up and put his face in his hands.

"What are you saying? Why do you have to make me feel like this? I know you can't love me, so why lie to me. Why are you being so cruel to me? Why?"

I crouched on the sofa as best I could and hugged him, my face on top of his head. That's when I realised that I had started to cry again. I told him: "Don't say that. I know how I feel. I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way but I had to tell you....I "

Qualeb turned his head to look at me: "How can you love me? Look at me. I'm a fucking ugly beast!"

He tried to get up to leave the sofa but I held on to him with all my might.

"You are wonderful. That's why I wanted to tell you before I saw your face. You are the kindest and most generous person I've had the luck to meet. You are full of warmth and compassion. You are a true gentleman and I have completely fallen for you. I know I have known you for short time and it seems crazy, but I felt an instant bond with you. I have cherished every second with you and I am dreading any second that I will be apart from you."

Qualeb turned to me again. He took his bandage near his ear and started pulling it angrily off. I understood that he wanted to scare me.
However, when he took the bandage off, there wasn't much disfiguration. He had some red patches on his right cheek and a dressing covering a small part of it. The most obvious thing was the deep burn scar above his left eye.
I took both his hands with the bandages into my hands: "You look absolutely fine."

"No. I look disgusting. I'm a beast."

I tried to lighten the mood and joked: "What? Am I meant to be the beauty?" I couldn't help but laugh. "Look at me."

Qualeb gazed at me with an intense look and whispered: "I am. You are absolutely bewitching."

I felt disappointed, "Don't you lie to me. Not now. You have not lied to me, please don't start now."

I tried to get away from his hand to gather my thoughts but he pulled me closer and whispered in that husky voice of his."What? Why? You are magnificent. You have these alluring eyes that are so deep and caring. And those lush lips of yours. Don't get me started on those. If it was up to me, I be kissing you all day long."

"Please don't. How can you say these things to me but don't hear it when I say them to you. I love you Qualeb. I feel like I have found myself when I'm with you. I have never in my life felt more sure of anything than of the fact that you are the only one I need. I feel the safest when I'm with you. I feel the happiest when I'm with you. I feel the most amazing passion that I did not even know I could feel with you. I don't feel lonely with you. I feel like I belong here, here with you."

Qualeb was still silent. I still had his hands in mine but he was staring at the floor, his hair covering his face. I took one of my hands from his and touched his right cheek with my fingers. On his right cheek, where the skin was a bit scared. He shuttered and flinched when I touched him with my finger. I moved my finger along his face to the dressing. Qualeb was just staring at me now. I went on my tip toes and kissed him gently on the dressing.

" I love you Qualeb."

Qualeb dropped my other hand that was holding his and then gripped both hand together tightly in his hands.

"You want me? You want me even though you have seen my face."
He looked so bewildered and confused, he looked so broken and sad I couldn't bear it.

"I want you more now that I have seen your face. You saved a life and got burned. You are a true hero. You are my hero Qualeb. You saved me as well. You saved me from that man. You saved me from losing myself. You helped me find me and I will forever be grateful for you looking after me. I love you Qualeb."
Qualeb still looked at me in utter disbelief.

"Are you sure? Even after seeing my face?"

Qualeb's eyes were glistening with tears again. I held his face and kissed him hungrily. I needed to show him how much I needed him. I needed to show him how much I loved him.
Qualeb kissed me back with just as much passion and then nuzzled his face into my neck. I could feel a tear fall down my neck as he whispered:
"I love you Selena, my angel."

I couldn't believe it. I smiled like an idiot and started to cry again. I held him closer to me and kissed his head. I moved closer to him, as we hugged and sat on the sofa. That's how we both fell asleep.