AllFreeNovel
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“The man at the store said there are haptics or something in the stylus that make it actually feel like you’re drawing with a real charcoal pencil or a marker or whatever you want. It sounds like it, too. You can choose what you want to draw with and all the colors are right here.”
I demonstrate techniques from the brief tutorial the salesman at the store showed me. Connor watches with wide eyes.
“You can print it, or send it via email or even take a picture of it.”
“Lainey,” Connor says, and then just stares up at me with an expression I can’t quite identify. “I’m speechless, baby.”
“You like it?” I twist my fingers together, fidgeting.
“I love it! It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever owned. It’s like a sketch pad with endless pages, and I can share them all with you.”
“With anyone,” I smile a bit, pleased and relieved that he likes my gift.
“I’m going to make my first sketch. You sit right there.” Connor flops onto the edge of the bed while I settle myself on the edge of a chair, posing like a glamorous movie star.
I watch as he sketches. He glances up at me a few times, his brows narrowing in concentration. I am eager to see what he is able to create with this technology. He has such amazing talent.
After a few short minutes, he turns the screen around to me, but he makes me close my eyes first.
“OK, you can open your eyes now,” he says. I crack my eyes open and tears prick at the corners the moment I realize what he’s drawn.
It’s my tattoo. I always suspected he’d been the one who’d drawn it, but could never confirm that with the artist who did it for me. A dandelion with tiny wishing seeds that morph into a flight of tiny ravens. And under the picture are three tiny words, “I love you.”
My hands fly to my mouth and I try to contain my emotion, but it’s impossible. I’m sob and I’m overjoyed and I’m overwhelmed all at the same time. He loves me. I’ve hoped and assumed, but knowing makes it so real. So certain. They are words I have waited to say to him. I wanted to hear them first. I wanted to be sure my feelings would be reciprocated before I offered up my heart, and here they are in front of me in his own handwriting, written under the symbol of my soul he created just for me.
Connor gives me his little smile that I know now is mine, and joyful tears drip down my face.
“Does that make you sad, baby?” Connor asks, knowing it doesn’t.
I shake my head violently. “No. Connor, oh, I love you back.”
In a heartbeat, Connor lays the tablet aside and wraps me in his arms. “I love you so much, Lainey. This is such a beautiful, thoughtful gift.Youare the most wonderful gift. I should have said it long before now. I should have said it the minute I realized it, the minute I knew you loved me back.”
“When? How … how did you know I love you?” I say and kiss his warm lips.
“I knew when you got on the back of that bike — the way you held on to me. I knew when I had a nightmare. I knew every time you’d watch those decorating shows with me, knowing you’d seen them all already. I knew when you picked up all my stupid candy wrappers I leave everywhere and never once complained. I knew when you held a gun, when you let me make love to you. And I know it every time you look at me, Raven. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve never said those words to me, but it’s the things you do that tell me day after day how you feel about me. I’ve been such a coward not to say it until now.”
“I suppose we have both been a bit nervous, then,” I confess.
“Maybe so, Lainey Bird, but now you know. You can be sure. I am absolutely, and completely, in love with you.”
His lips fall over mine and we are lost in the kiss, the touch, the taste, the lust and the love that exists between us. We celebrate it over and over again as our bodies come together in nothing but love. #headoverheels
* * *
The concert is magnificent. The Philharmonic plays a collection of music from Mozart, and the performance is flawless. I am captivated equally by the genius of the music and by the generous man who brought me to hear it. My love for him, his love for me, and our love for the music intermingle with the night and the city lights and everything beautiful the world has given us. Moonbeams radiate through every pore of my being, giving my skin a mesmerizing aura. I’m absolutely glowing, and I can’t stop smiling.
“How about drinks at the Russian Tea Room?” He asks, kissing my bare shoulder.
I hum my approval.
“OK, I’ll get the car. You just wait right here, and try not to get lost in this crowd, Lainey Bird.”
I stretch up, which thankfully for the three-inch heels I have on, isn’t as far as I normally need to, and kiss his mouth. “Or, we can skip drinks and I can just have you.” I hum again and feel my inner lion start to purr.
A few minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn, grinning widely, ready to see the face of my lovely lion staring back. But it’s not him. The face in front of me is cold, pale, and thin. and The steel in his eyes instantly sends ice into my veins. Jemmy.
“Hello, Raven,” he says. I never realized how nasal his voice sounded before. I didn’t realize what a small man he really is. Not just in character, but in stature as well. Next to Connor, Jemmy could hardly be called a man. He isn’t a man. He’s a troll with a penis.
