Chapter 11 BETH #2
As soldiers trained to notice even the slightest shift in the air, you’d think his men would have come running.
They were supposed to be his shield, and I was sure their job requirements weren’t limited to just flying bullets.
I didn’t even catch a shadow of one, and the person they were meant to protect almost died.
They should slash their pay by half.
Planting both hands at the edge of the pool, I hoisted myself up, water dripping around me, splattering on the floor. I stretched my hand for him to take. He lifted his gaze, eyes staring at me for a few seconds, as if scanning options, before he gently curled his hand around mine.
Basically pulling himself out–my hand was just there for support–he sat by the edge, long legs still buried in the water, heavy pants escaping his lips. But he was stabilising now.
His fingers clenched around the edge of the pool, body slightly bent over, white hair damp, dripping water on his frosty lashes.
He said he hated the body of water. Probably because of how it swallowed sounds and breath. But inside the water just now, he became something else, radiant and unreal, like a pearl drifting in the heart of the sea, untouched by its cruelty.
“Why did you jump in like that?” I sat next to him, my legs folded.
“You weren’t coming out,” he replied, staring at the water that almost took his life. “I thought…” he paused, taking in a sharp breath, as if the next word scraped like the edge of a knife. “I thought you were…dying.”
Dying.
I nearly chuckled. If only he knew.
“But you don’t know how to swim.” I pointed out. “Did you not think of that before jumping? That you could have drowned?”
He turned to me, his luminous eyes scanning every inch of my face, as though he was trying to memorise every angle, every curve, and every dent before I would fade away.
“No.” He shook his head gently. “I didn’t…
think. I just jumped. I didn’t remember…
” He paused, brows furrowed in confusion, as if stunned by what he was unravelling. “…that I couldn’t swim.”
His confession tugged at my heart. My eyes itched as if I wanted to shed a tear.
I didn’t know him well. He barely even knew me other than my name and the school I attended. We were still strangers trying to get to know each other better. Yet he risked his life to save me.
He forgot he couldn’t swim and dove right in. The recklessness of it shocked, confused me, and made something warm unravel in my chest. I hadn’t known I could be worth that kind of instinct.
Someone almost died because he thought my life was worth saving.
The corners of my lips lifted, a smile spreading.
And without thinking, unable to stop myself even when the thought eventually did settle in, I leaned closer, closer, so close I could almost see all the dainty veins that laid beneath his glass skin, I pressed a gentle kiss to his soft lips, long enough that I felt him physically tremble, a sharp inhale dragged into his still burning lungs.
“Thank you,” I whispered against his lips, so soft even the wind couldn’t catch it.
His eyes were wide, startled as my action settled into his mind…bones. He stared at me, a kaleidoscope of emotions swimming in those fiery orbs, like I had reached into his chest and rearranged something vital.
Heat bloomed on his cheek, a pink tint that I was sure was visible only to my eyes.
“You’re…” he murmured, dazed as the heat on his face bloomed. “…welcome.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re so adorable, Snow white,” I chuckled softly, shaking my head, hand lifted as my fingers combed strands of icy hair away from his face.
I stared at him, like really stared, unable to tear my gaze away.
“You’re so damn pretty,” I bumped the tip of his nose with my finger, my thumb caressing his cheek, then smoothing out his right eyebrow.
“Pretty like a doll,” I cupped his cheek gently and I felt him relax into my touch.
“like you’ll break if I hold you too tight. ”
The pounding of his heart echoed as he leaned further into my touch. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as if my words were lodged in his throat, refusing to go down.
Taking in a deep breath, I let my hand drop from his face, my eyes gliding back to the water. I unfolded my legs, burying them into water, kicking softly.
“Snow white?” I whispered, doubting if he even heard me.
“Yes,” he answered, too quickly, too eagerly, as if that silly tag was really his christened name.
I turned to him, a soft smile on my lips.
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
The words left my mouth before I could stop them. But there were already out there, carried off by the wind. I couldn’t gather them back and tuck them back inside my heart now, could I?
To my question, he frowned, not in displeasure, more like he was doing math in his head. He was always doing math.
“I don’t really know what that entails,” he said quietly. Then softer, “But I like being yours. I would love to be…yours. Your boyfriend.”
For a moment, I stared at him as he stared right back. My chest was too full, like something warm had been poured into it without warning.
“You’re clearly bad at this,” I murmured softly. “And somehow, you managed to say just the right thing.”
How could he be so adorable and go ahead to say the most beautiful things?
“If–if I’m your boyfriend, will that make you mine, too?” he asked, soft and hesitant. “Only…mine?”
I laughed, more breath than sound, as I shook my head.
“You’re like a box of chocolates.” I leaned closer, grazing my lips along his jawline. “All sweetness, no warning.” I cupped his cheek softly, my thumb smoothing out the nonexistent crease under his eye. “You’re so easy to love, Snow white.”
He ran his gaze over my face, his skin covered in pink tint. “You didn’t–you haven’t answered yet,” he pointed out, his gaze expectant…desperate.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Being my boyfriend makes me yours. And yes, only yours.”