Chapter Fifteen
The Lost
I can hear him slamming things, throwing stuff around as he yells at something.
I throw open his door, expecting to see him doing something other than losing his mind.
The anger fades from my face as I see the tears streaming down his cheeks.
He has a blade to his scalp, shaving his all-black hair.
Blood is dripping from his hairline as he nicks his skin.
“Fuck!” He screams and throws the blade.
He plants his hands on the vanity and looks down at the wood.
His back is shaking from his rapid inhales, his fingers tensing as they dig into the table.
“Fuck.” He whispers this time. I don’t know why I watch him in silence, why I intrude on his tantrum, but I can’t look away.
He sighs and lifts his head, his eyes meeting mine.
We both freeze, our eyes locked onto one another’s.
My chest rises in tune with my rapid pulse and my mouth dries.
I can still see the tears dripping off his jaw as he stays unmoving.
As he watches me watch him. I move first, walking towards him.
I don’t know why I do it, but I grab the blade from the vanity and gesture for him to sit.
His lips part as if he is going to speak before he reluctantly sits down.
I run my hand through his hair, relishing in the silky feel of it.
My thumb wipes away a drop of blood heading for his eyebrows before I lift the blade.
I hold it up against his scalp, waiting for his approval.
I meet his eyes in the mirror, and he nods.
It’s silent as I take the first swipe of the blade, cutting his inky strands down to the root.
I don’t know if it’s silence he’s after, but I have to talk.
I need to talk.
“When I was six, my little brother and I were playing in the trees by the palace.” I start speaking, his eyes locked on mine as I work.
“I had just finished at the palace, as I wasn’t permitted to stay on the grounds during the evening due to my age, and I was in my reckless stage.
I liked to cause trouble.” I smile, but the knot in my throat cuts it short.
I blink back the tears and slide the blade again.
Strands of hair fall down his face, piling in his lap.
“We were running around, getting lost. He was only four, so he really had no choice but to follow me.” I take a deep breath and adjust my hands for a better angle.
“He fell, smacking his head into the trunk of a tree. He didn’t cut his head open, thank god, but what he did do is get sap all over his hair.
” I smile as I remember his chubby cheeks.
“My mother was so angry. She tried for hours, long into the night, to get the sap out, but it wouldn’t budge.
At the end of those few hours, she handed me a blade and told me it was my job to cut his hair since I was the one who ruined it.
” I meet his eyes in the mirror, those green irises wide and round as he listens.
“She walked me through how to cut his hair properly. In the end, my brother was left with hair cropped close to his head. But instead of being upset like a normal four-year-old, he got excited that he had the same hair as our father. We laughed until the early hours of the morning before we finally fell asleep.” A single tear falls down my cheek and I wipe it away with the back of my hand.
“What happened to your brother?” He asks, his voice thick and hoarse.
“A few years later, there was an attack on the city. A group of men who belonged to no crown. They burnt half of the town to the ground. The school was the first to be destroyed. I was safe, in the palace acting as Elaenor’s lady, but my brother was in class.
Nearly all of the town’s children died that day.
” He doesn’t speak, doesn’t apologize, which I am grateful for.
It is silent for the next few minutes, tears pooling in my eyes as I cut strand after strand.
I bite my bottom lip, willing myself to get through this task.
When the last strand is cut, and his hair is gone, I step back.
His eyes track me through the mirror. He watches as I set the blade down and turn to go.
His hand snakes out and grabs my wrist, spinning me around.
“I apologize for my part in your parents’ death.
I didn’t know what Tobias was going to do, but we all had our suspicions.
We all could have done something.” His emerald eyes are swimming in pools of tears as he holds my gaze.
I reach out, and he flinches, but I continue.
My fingers brush the spattering of short hair along his jaw before my thumb brushes his bottom lip.
His hand is still tightly wrapped around my wrist, holding it up in the air.
“Enzo,” I whisper. His face, it’s so sad. So broken.
“Scarlett.” He responds, his voice clipped, strained. I don’t know which one of us moves first, but his lips are on mine. They are warm, soft and full as they overtake me. As they worship mine. His tongue clashes with mine and then his arms wrap around me.
His hands are pulling at my corset strings while I pull at his tunic.
My corset goes first, before he pulls his tunic over his head.
His hands push the waistband of my skirt down and I step out of it while undoing his belt.
Our breathing is erratic, labored as we fight to consume as much of each other as possible.
He pushes me back and the backs of my knees hit the mattress.
He falls with me and refuses to let our lips part as I scoot farther back on the bed.
“Are you taking—” He mumbles against my skin. His lips break from mine before trailing down my jaw and my neck.
“Yes.” I moan, knowing that he is asking about the herb.
His lips slide between my breasts, and I arch my back.
He moves to the right, his tongue flicking out, teasing my nipple.
I gasp as he takes it in his mouth, sucking hard.
“Enzo.” I moan as his hands slide down to my legs.
I try to pull his head up to mine but he pulls out of my grasp.
“Let me taste you.” He whispers against my flesh.
I shudder underneath him as my fingers grip onto his shoulders.
His lips move down from my breast, his tongue flicking out as he slides his mouth down my stomach.
I shudder again, my legs wrapping around his shoulders.
His hand slides up and up until his fingers pinch the nipple he just had in his mouth.
I gasp again as I feel the pain head straight to my core, pooling in the growing heat.
His fingers brush my thighs before lightly touching me through the thin underwear.
“Please.” I moan as his fingers brush me again and he teases my nipple.
“Patience.” He whispers as his teeth pull at the thin cotton waistband of my undergarments. His free hand grips the cotton and pulls, tearing it from my body.
I can feel his breath as it brushes against my clit, and my own breath catches. His lips press to my inner thigh, and I groan in frustration. He moves his head over and just when I think he’s about to touch me, finally touch me, he kisses my other thigh.
“En—” I start to snap but stop as his lips close around my clit.
His teeth graze the sensitive bundle of nerves and I cry out.
His tongue dips down in between my slit and then inside of me.
I groan as I pull my knees up, pressing them against his head, trapping him there.
My hips move of their own accord, riding his face as if I have never been fucked before.
He moans against me, as he sucks on every inch of my skin.
The warmth pools in my stomach, spreading down my limbs.
My legs shake and I struggle to hold them against his head.
He slides his tongue up just as he shoves two fingers inside of me.
I yell out, my hands fisting the sheets.
He pumps inside of me as his teeth and tongue continue their assault.
I can’t think. I can’t breathe, and just when I think I’m about to come, he pulls back.
I gasp and lift myself up onto my elbows just has his lips slam into mine.
Sweet and salty is his tongue as it wraps around mine.
I don’t have time to think before he shoves himself inside of me with a single thrust of his hips.
I fall onto my back, bringing him with me as he grinds his hips against me.
His lips leave mine as he presses his forehead to my shoulder.
I wrap my arms around his neck, relishing in the feel of him.
“Don’t stop.” I whisper as my ankles cross behind his back, tightening the hold my thighs have around him.
“Never.” He whispers against my skin. I can feel the heat pooling and the orgasm coming to a head. I can’t hold it and I don’t want to.
“Enzo!” I scream as I come undone around him. He shudders above me before finding his own release and collapsing on top of me.