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He tilted his head slightly, looking up at me from beneath my chin. “You don’t have to forgive me right away. I’ll wait forever. Just… come back to me.”

I averted my gaze once again, but he gently tipped my chin downward, drawing my eyes back to his. “Answer?”

I licked my dry lips, his gaze followed it. His fingers traced my cheek slowly, seemingly without his own awareness, and my lashes fluttered beneath his touch.

“Your Mina…?” I finally whispered. “How was she? What am I in your eyes? You said I was the most disgusting person you’d ever known. Am I? What is it about me that’s so disgusting?”

“All people are disgusting. That’s the charm of it. Everyone keeps it a secret. They hide it behind a mask. Try to look perfect.”

He bent down, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of my nose. Feeling his warm breath on my skin made my jaw tighten.

“But you can’t do that in front of me. You must show your disgusting side to me alone.”

“That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

A lazy smirk curved his lips. “What is it you wish to hear, then?”

Slowly, I ran my fingers through his hair, tucking a strand behind his ear. A strange sense of ease washed over me; dissolving the guilt that had been weighing on me.

“Maybe, ‘I can’t breathe without you’ ?”

Little Mina could have wanted to hear that from Remi without a shred of shame, but coming from me now, it was vastly different. He seemed to recognize it too, his eyes widened, then narrowed. He seized my hand and drew it to his nose. I stared at him in horror as he pressed my fingertips against his nose, cutting off his own air. I tried to pull my hand away, but his grip only tightened.

This is not romantic, either.

“I got it.” I murmured, though the anger in his eyes had not yet abated. With all my strength, I tore my fingers from his grasp. I was ashamed to meet his gaze, but without losing a second, he began to press soft kisses to my fingertips.

“I said I got it…”

“Hey, Mina.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to let him see how his whisper warmed my entire body.

“I don’t know when I started to love you, if that’s what you’re wondering.” he murmured. “The life I lived before coming to this house was like a different life. It’s like I’ve loved you since I realized I was alive. Like it was something I was born with. I’ve never really thought about why.”

I didn’t know what to think about this answer. Yet, it was not as disappointing as I had expected.

“Do you like my face?”

“I love everything about you.”

I hadn’t seen that sparkle in his eyes for a long time, perhaps since the times we were playing with butterflies in the garden. So cheerful and full of life…

“I love your freckles, they look like fairy dust. I love the light in your eyes, the curve of your nose, your lips… I love your brows too, and the way your lashes when you blink…” His fingers passed over every single place he mentioned. “I love the little mole on your forehead too.”

Raymond chortled at my wide-open mouth. His laughter was so infectious that I couldn’t help but smile, and soon I was chuckling too. It faded as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. I froze for a moment and fidgeted slightly, but I let him. I felt embarrassed again when I remembered why I had come here; I didn’t want to give him a hard time.

I was struggling too, but… I could live with it.

“Finally convinced?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Hesitantly, I put kisses over the marks I’d left on him. A moment later, my head tilted back involuntarily, and he dragged his mouth down my jaw, biting harshly on the sensitive curve of my neck.

I gasped. At first, discomfort and a flicker of shame washed over me, a little sore after all, but Raymond bit the spot with such a desire I found myself wishing he would bite deeper. His arms tightened around my waist, his dark hair falling over my shoulder like a veil.

Almost unconsciously, I squirmed in his embrace, afraid he might notice just how helpless I was.

Is this what Remi felt yesterday?