Based on the multi-part one-shot series Intimacy in my book Spellbound. With the story kicking up, I felt it needed it's own book. Here is the tale in it's full glory.
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His beauty took her breath away, just like it always did every time she set her eyes on him. It was almost painful, making her heart ache. Her eyes instantly watered when they locked on his. She could see the glimmer of his own un-shed tears. Her breath hitched and it became a burn in her lungs as she fought the urge to cry. He moved gracefully into the room, letting the door shut quietly behind him. His presence burned, searing her skin with a powerful force. He took the empty chair beside the bed, almost immediately taking her hand in his. His large fingers slipping easily between the spaces of her smaller ones.
(Chapter theme song: Motionless in White - Another Life)
"Please don't cry, belle. I can't stand to see you cry and I know I have been the cause of a lot of it lately. My heart aches, cherie and I don't know how to ease the pain of it. I thought that by cutting myself off from you would be easier for the both of us, but I can't. I didn't realize that it would hurt you this much. Sometimes I hate that I need you, but I can't imagine my life without you in it. Perhaps in another life things will be different for us, but for now, I will have to get used to being your friend. I can't let that go. You mean too much to me." He lifted her hand, pressing his lips against the backs of her knuckles.
"We've both made our decisions, Lau." Her voice cracked with the effort to keep those tears locked tight. "Now we both have to learn to deal with them. I've loved you for a long time, but every time you pushed me away, it made me erect a wall around my heart to keep it from being broken. When I felt as if you didn't want me, I shut that last bit of it away. I stopped trying and begun to hang out with Larry more. He was there for me as a friend when I needed the comfort. My feelings him started out slow and just blazed brighter as time progressed, but he was already spoken for. When I found out you had slept with Melissa, any hope I had that you would come to your senses shattered. I felt in that moment that anything you had ever said to me was bullshit, that I wasn't enough for you."
Laurent watched in horror as those tears slid free, flowing down her cheeks freely. They were silent tears, unaccompanied by the sounds of pain he knew that she was feeling. It was almost as if he felt it like his own. They had this instant connection when they met. So intense and powerful that it had scared him shitless and he had shoved her away as a result of it. Now he sorely regretted his decision. She had turned to another, his Twin. At one point he had wondered if she had turned to Larry as a replacement for him, but he quickly realized that she had fallen for Larry for himself and not simply because they looked alike.
"You are more than enough, bebe. You are the greatest thing to have ever stepped into my life. I was blinded by my fear of how strongly I felt for you, of how strong our connection was. I wasn't ready for it. I wasn't expecting it and I panicked." His own tears slid down his face and he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. "I am so very sorry, belle."
That was when she broke. Her body shook with the force of her sobs. He didn't hesitate. He slid his lanky frame onto the bed beside her and pulled her into the comfort of his arms. He reached up to place a hand at the back of her head, tucking her into the crook of his neck. She felt so fragile in his embrace that for a moment he was afraid he would break her. She was always so strong, so confident, but right now she felt anything but that. She could feel his own body tremble as he wept with her, crying for what could have been, but would never happen.
"I will make a promise to you, Amanda." He lifted her face up towards his, gripping her chin with his thumb and index finger. "I truly hope it doesn't come to this, but should anything happen between you and mon frere, I will be there for you in whatever capacity you need me. I do not feel as if there is anyone else out there for me. I have no intentions of looking, but should it happen then I will accept it without question, without hesitation. If it doesn't, then I will wait for you in another life. I know I will find you." He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead. "Larry is lucky to have you, belle. You're lucky to have each other."
She didn't know what to say. Was there anything further to say at this point? She wasn't sure. A million different thoughts were flying through her mind, a thousand different what-if situations that had fresh tears cascading like a waterfall.
"Shhh." He cooed softly, tucking her face back against his neck. "Just let me hold you for a little while, bebe." The feel of her against him felt right. She felt like home and smelled like safety. He tilted his head down, letting his mouth fall against her ear. "I will love you in this life and the next, belle." His thumb brushed against her cheek, wiping away a large tear that trembled against her skin. He shifted his head, allowing his lips to brush feather light against hers. "Despite you being with my brother, you'll still carry my last name." He teased, earning a snort of laughter from her.
"You, Bourgeois, are full of yourself."
He wiggled his brows. "Oui, but you know I'm right." He stated with a cheesy grin.
She playfully slapped him in the chest with the back of her hand. "Laurent!"
He was full on laughing as he slid off the bed to return to the chair beside it just as the door to the room opened and Larry stepped in. He watched their laughter with a look of satisfaction. "I take it everything is alright now, oui?"
His older Twin nodded once. "Oui."
Amanda snorted faintly again. "Besides your brother being full of himself, yes. We had a little heart to heart."
"Good." He stated, moving to the opposite side of the bed, pulling up another chair to sit on her other side. He took her right hand, toying absently with her fingers. "Amanda and I have had a couple of discussions concerning the baby and we would like for you to be not only the uncle, obviously, but we would like for you to be the godfather."
