<b>46 </b>
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I blinked at Axel. “But… How can you be my next–door neighbor? A man lives there.”
Axel just looked smug. “Not anymore.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “What did you do?”
“I just offered him a much better amodation, and a lot of money on top of that. He packed and was gone within three hours.”
I said nothing for a while, just watched him, and he looked back at me, his eyes moving, searching, jumping from one feature to another.
Then finally, I asked, my voice a whisper, “All for what, Axel?”
He swallowed so hard I could hear it, shifting where he stood. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He tried again. “All for you. Every damn thing for you, Rosette.”
I could only watch him, unable to say anything. I wanted to ask why so bad. What he sees in me. Why was he going through all this?
But like two years ago, it was like he could read my mind. He took a step forward, removing his hands from his pockets. “Do you want to know why?” He didn’t wait for me to answer before he continued. “It’s because it’s… you. Rosette, the girl with red hair and sad eyes. The girl who didn’t let life break her. The girl who… who makes me feel. Who makes me feel things on a whole new level. Who makes me understand what passion really is.”
“Axel,” I whispered in a breath, my chest tight.
“Shh,” he hushed softly, the look in his eyes intense. “You don’t have to say anything. Please don’t say anything. Just invite me inside.”
We stared at each other, the look in his eyes making me feel so heated. I opened the door wider, stepping aside.
He smiled softly, stepping in.
I took a deep breath before I closed the door, turning to face him. He stood in the center of my living room, looking too big and polished for this ce. We stared at each other, trying to find what to say,
“Should I get you something to drink?” I asked at the same time that he said, “I’m sorry.”
We fell silent again, the room suddenly feeling too hot and small.
He sighed, running his hair through his hair before he looked up at the ceiling, his strong throat moving as he scoffed, the sound bitter. “I had many things rehearsed. I repeated them for hours on end, but here I am, speechless and dumb.”
“You’re not dumb,” I said in a rush, stepping forward.
<b>12:08 </b>Thu, <b>Sep </b><b>11 </b>
<b>46 </b>
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He slowly looked down at me, a small smile on his face, looking like I just told him he could have the world. “Yeah? I feel pretty dumb, standing in front of a goddess like you, and unable to sing your praises.”
I scoffed, looking away, my cheeks heated. “I don’t feel anything like a goddess. Have you seen my hair? What I’m wearing<b>?</b><b>” </b>
His expression turned serious. “Yes, I have. I’m currently looking at you and I’m seeing everything. Want to know what I still think? You put Aphrodite to shame.”
Iughed then, shaking my head. “Now you’re just mocking me, Axel.”
But his serious expression didn’t waver. “All the words that areing out of my mouth are the truth, Rosette. To other men, you might not seem just as beautiful. But to me? In my eyes? You’re a goddess whose beauty is not seen, but felt.” He swallowed. “Like the first breath after a kiss. I look at you, and forget all about the world, remembering nothing but longing. And yearning. And passion so intense that it hurts.”
I stared at him, breathless, and speechless, unable to form a single word. I had forgotten how his words made me feel, how they burned so good. How they made me feel on top of the world. I had forgotten how the look in his eyes made me want, made me want to be greedy.
I had forgotten how he looked at me like… like I was all he could see.
But I remember now. I remember everything and I was left breathless, and wanting, yearning, made aware that I’ve been searching… for this.
I inhaled deeply. “I don’t-”
“Ten days,” he said in a rush, almost shouting, his expression one of desperation. “Ten days, Rosette, is all I’m asking for.”
“Ten days for what?” <b>I </b>asked breathlessly.
“Ten days for me to make it all right,” he answered, panting like he just ran, swallowing multiple times in a row. “Ten days for me to show you just how passionate I am, how crazy I am for you. Ten days for me to make you see yourself through my lenses and see just how magnificent you are.” He took a step forward. “I started this all wrong. We did everything backward. This… thing between us started with lust. With an intense sexual urge. That’s wrong. <i>So </i>I want to make it right.”
He took another step, and I had to raise my head so I could continue to look into his.
“Ten days and I’ll do everything the way I should have,” he continued, his voice dropping. “Ten days and I’ll show you the intensity of my feelings. I’ll show you passion, and not lust. At the end of these ten days, and you still don’t want me, all you need to do is just say the word, and I swear to you, I will leave and you will never see me again.”
He was now close to me, barely an inch of space between us, and it was my turn to swallow multiple times so I could push that lump down to speak.
“An answer, sweetheart,” he whispered, looking down at me in that intense way of his that burned through me. “If my heart <b>races </b>any faster, I fear it might stop. So give me an answer before I meet my unfortunate end at your hands<b>.</b><b>” </b>
<b>12:08 </b>Thu, Sep 11
“Yes,” I answered before he was done speaking, and he released a harsh breath.
“Oh, thank God,” he breathed. <b>“</b>But first
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He closed the small space between us, grabbed the back of my neck, and mmed his lips on mine.
AD