26. Evelyn
When I woke to the early morning light, it was with a quiet awareness of intimacy, in the arms of my fiancé.
Laszlo still slept, his face relaxed. He’d worn one of his new black hoodies, the one that looked just like the one I had stolen but wasn’t the same. It was getting there, though.
The stress lines faded in slumber, his lashes fluttering. My eyes traced the strong angles of his nose, the sharp points of his cupid’s bow, the softer fullness of his bottom lip. Without consciousness, his expression was dreamy, unguarded, and I stared with wonder at it.
There was an urge to stroke his face, to feel his skin, to know he was real and not something carved out of clay. How could one person be so beautiful?
His arm was around me, our bodies entangled in the night. It was warm and comforting, everything I’d been craving and running away from.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Roxy was right. All this time, I’d been waiting for him to claim me, to take me and use me as he wanted. To dictate the course of my life and strip me of my autonomy. But what he actually wanted was for me to want him.
To know that I would choose him freely.
My worries had been foolish. He was nothing like my father.
For the first time in my life, a man made me feel safe and respected.
My fingers began to stroke his chest as I smiled, shimmying against his body as desire started to heat me up. My solace was chased away as he darted straight up in the bed, his eyes wild, manic.
The sight of me calmed him back to his silk pillow, and despite my pounding heart, I joined him. His hand enclosed itself around mine, resting on his chest, holding it still.
“Sorry for jumping.” He blinked the sleep from his eyes and ran a hand back through his dark hair. “I’m a light sleeper.”
“No kidding.” My anxiety dimmed as he pulled me closer, and I curled into him.
“How did you sleep?”
“That’s the first time in years I haven’t had to take a pill,” he admitted. A strange pride bloomed in me.
“Well, I’ll have to give you goodnight kisses from here on out.
It’s not good to rely on drugs.” The instant I said that last part, I regretted it.
They weren’t my words, they were my mother’s, and I resented her presence in the room.
I shook my head. “I mean, some people need drugs, and that’s okay. But if you can find other—”
“I take no offense, Lyn.”
My hips wriggled, and I brought one bare leg up over his pajama pants. That brought a devilish glint to his silver eyes, and he drank me in.
“You woke up in a good mood,” he said in his sleepy growl, and I nodded. His large hand grabbed my thigh, resting it over his leg. Then, more firmly, he added, “We’re waiting for our wedding.”
I gasped, insulted by how easily he read my sinful intentions, and he laughed.
“You are beautiful when you pout,” he said, kissing my lips. I cupped his jaw, about to push the issue when I noticed the ring on my finger.
It was plain. I was elated that he proposed, but I had to admit…
“It’s a placeholder.” Laszlo read my thoughts, and I caught his gaze.
“No, it’s beautiful, I love it,” I retorted, and he laughed.
“Lyn… you’re going to be the best jewellery maker in the world. I’m not going to buy you an inferior ring. I want you to follow your passion.”
He had such faith in me, and already I had an idea for what our wedding rings would be.
“That reminds me. You have a present to open.”
I had forgotten all about it!
He pulled me out of bed and I followed him down the stairs, giddy. I’d seen Christmas movies, and it felt a lot like that. Excitement, curiosity, a warmth of being thought of by someone I loved.
The realization caused me to stumble, and not for the first time, Laszlo caught me before I fell.
“Can’t even blame the heels or a blanket this time,” I teased, and he kissed my forehead.
“Forget keeping you in the penthouse, I should get a little plastic ball to roll around in so you can’t hurt yourself.”
I punched his shoulder, but he carried me the entire way to my library. I stared at a box that was delivered a few days before and he set me down. He pulled out a switchblade from his pocket, and I raised my brow at him.
“Please don’t tell me you sleep with a switchblade in your pajama pants.”
He smirked, cutting open the box. “I don’t want to be a eunuch that bad. I grabbed it from the nightstand.”
He gestured to the opened box, and I peeled away the cardboard to stare at… what?
I tilted my head, worried that it wasn’t the reaction he wanted. It was a massive metal instrument, a platform with a metal drum on top, and I furrowed my brows. I desperately wanted to figure out what it was and display the appropriate exuberance, but…
“It’s a rock tumbler.”
“But it’s all metal! I thought they were plastic.”
“Well, cheap ones are. This one is top of the line. You could do anything in it. Though I did read that you’d want multiple tumblers and have a bunch of stones all going through different phases of the process at the same time.”
He must have spent hours researching, just for me.
I melted into his arms.
He held me to him.
“You’ll get everything else you need. I didn’t want to guess too much, but I got you a bunch of stones I thought looked nice. Including…” He pulled out a little bag, and I opened it.
Despite them being rough, I recognized the chalcedony crystal right away.
My lower lip trembled. He quieted me with a kiss.
No one had ever done something like that for me before. Learned so much about me, gave me such thoughtful treasures. He swiped a hot tear from my cheek, kissing his wet thumb, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Gross.”
“It’ll have to tide me over until our wedding night, Angel. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
My eyes widened, and he grabbed me by the waist, pulling me into him. His kiss was intense, his tongue parting the seam of my lips, and he moaned into my mouth. When he pulled away, it was to take me by the hand and bring me into his office down the hall.
“What if I can’t wait until our wedding night?” I huffed.
“It’s going to be a short engagement, Lyn. You have an appointment at the dress shop in six hours.”
“Six hours? Wait, let me call Roxy first!”
“Alexei is picking her up on the way,” Laszlo said with a grin. “Now. Get your ass on my computer and buy the rest of the stuff you need to make us some wedding rings. We’ll be using these for the ceremony.”
“Are you sure? I can just shop my phone,” I offered.
“I’m sure, Lyn. I’ll get you your own computer soon, but for now, you’ll have to use mine.
It’s easier to comparison shop,” Laszlo said, kissing my head, letting me into his sanctuary.
He entered his password and opened up a browser that already had a folder of bookmarks related to jewellery making.
“Don’t worry, you can’t break it. I have all my accounting stuff on a different drive. This is just for my personal browsing. The only thing you could do here is spend my money, and I want you to do that.”
My fiancé was a secretive man. Paranoid. The Father would be envious of his security setup, and that pleased me, because the Father hated to be seen as a sinner. But he was inviting me into that side of his life that the Father never would.
Next to his screen was the drawing I had done of his ring, framed in a black, ornate photo frame. I smiled at it.
“You had it framed.”
“Of course I did. It’s my favourite piece of art,” Laszlo said, drawing his thumb down my lower lip, letting me kiss it. “I’ll be gone for an hour. The guards are outside if you need to go anywhere.”
I watched him leave on the second monitor, the security stream running. It was surreal, knowing that soon, we would be husband and wife. We had done nothing more than kissing since I moved in, and enough time had passed that I wanted more.
Much more.
To explore his entire body with my hands, my mouth, and learn every inch of him. The thought made my cheeks heat. I brought my finger between my thighs and pressed it against my panties with a hot inhale. I was relieved that it felt good, but I didn’t indulge.
Tomorrow I would be married, and I wanted to experience everything I could with him first.
He got in his car, left the complex, and I forced my attention back to the largest monitor in the middle of the desk.
I didn’t have a computer growing up. My grandmother had one, but only for a few months before she passed away.
I used it a handful of times, and this computer had a mouse.
It was embarrassing how long it took me to get used to it, but in the shadow of his absence, I had an opportunity to peek behind the veil, and see the man behind the carefully cultivated mask.
I ordered some tools for my jewellery work, a few more stones, a smaller tumbler.
And then I indulged in my own sin.
Eve, eating the apple, offered by the snake.
But the gift of knowledge was a curse.
Nested in his file folders was one titled Lilien, and jealousy flared in my heart.
There was no other woman inside, though.
Instead, hidden among pictures of a mine chute, a cave, and a gothic house, was a pillar.
There were letters or symbols carved into it, and I enlarged it, leaning in to study it.
They reminded me of a scripture on parchment back on Mount Aer.
The letters spelled out ανασταντε? αδη.
It was written in Ancient Greek, the same as many of the orthodox texts of the commune.
It said anastēthi hadēn.
Arise Hades.
Arise Hell.
Nothing in the wedding boutique had prices on it, but it had to be too much money to spend on a shotgun wedding at the Museum of Natural History.
“Belle, that one is made for you. Holy shit,” Roxy said.
My nose crinkled, staring at my reflection. My long hair was pulled up into a thick, messy bun to keep it out of the way. The neckline of the white dress was cut low, and it had a short skirt.
“It feels sinful,” I muttered, and Roxy clapped, nodding in agreement.
“Yes! It’s gorgeous,” she gushed, fixing some of the white lace trim at my shoulders.