“Let me.”
He cracked through the burnt-sugar crust, lifting a perfect bite to my mouth. His pupils swallowed the blue of his eyes as I parted my lips.
The taste of zesty sweet oranges with a hint of cream flooded my mouth. The crumbly biscuit gave it a satisfying crunch to the soft dessert. His eyes flared while he gripped the spoon as if he would bend it between his fingers. The stark hunger in his eyes had nothing to do with food.
“I want you, Charlotte,” he said, his voice strained.
I caught the last crumbs on my tongue slowly. His gaze tracked the movement like a starving man watching his last meal.
“Why? I’m about to become a single mother,” I asked, cautious because if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was. “Why haven't you been snapped up?
“I was married once. I had a son, fourteen months old,” he said, scraping the spoon along my plate before lifting another spoonful of my dessert.
“Had?” I asked hesitantly before opening my mouth. The taste of the dessert was forgotten as I swallowed it down like cardboard. “What...happened?”
His thumb swiped the corner of my mouth, lingering. “A fall.” The pad of his finger pressed just shy of painful. “Down the stairs.”
My joy when I danced through the apartment with the white stick in my hand, from the first flutter of life I felt in my belly to the immense love I felt for Ellis, tore through my core. To have borne him, loved him, and lost him.
Fingers moved over my cheeks and I realised that he was wiping my tears away. “I’m so sorry, Elliot. I…don't know what to say. I can't imagine—” I broke off because the lump in my throat wouldn't allow me to speak.
“When I saw your ultrasound, it took me back to Elias’s first scan. When I bumped into you in Morrisons, I knew it was fate.”
“Y-your wife?” I asked, horrified, that he might still be married.
His head fell forward, and all I could see was his dark hair. I reached out and stroked the soft strands, allowing my fingers to trail down and linger on his cheeks.
“Julia...she never recovered. The grief destroyed her. Some days, I think she wanted to follow him.”
His voice trembled, and I moved around the table to sit beside him. I placed my hand on his knee, gently rubbing his leg.
“I tried to save her. Therapy, support groups...but she overdosed. I wasn’t enough. God, I should have tried harder.”
“I’m so sorry, Elliot. I’m sure you did what you could.”
No wonder he hadn't been interested in dating. Earlier, he told me it had been over four years since he’s been on a date. His hand clutched mine so tightly that I gasped in pain, but I couldn't imagine his pain.
The poor man.
Chapter 7
Elliot
Ididn't lift my head because she would see my hatred for Julia. The rage made me squeeze her hand before I forced myself to loosen my grip on it. Her hand moved to my thigh, and I shuddered at her touch.
AND end scene. She bought it and she is ours tonight. Ruin her.
The voice laughed maniacally, the glee roared through the blood that rushed into my ears.
You did it.
They are both mine. I told the voice.
I turned and embraced her, hiding my face in her hair while feeling the warmth of her body seep into mine. My sigh sang her name into her ear, my hand slipped between us to feel Elias and after numerous years I felt peace.
He was safe.
They were mine.
