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“I’ve already taken too many liberties with you,” he mumbled awkwardly. “But I want you to know that this has never happened before to me… Having such a strong reaction to someone…” he swallowed hard, almost as if he were at a loss for words. “What I’m trying to say is that,” he cleared his throat, “I don’t expect you to sleep with me. This will only go as far as you are comfortable. More than anything, I’d like us to start something—something real…”
“Something?” she repeated curiously.
He was too adorable. And circumspect. Far too circumspect than she would have imagined—and that was saying something considering she already knew him to be a gentleman.
“A commitment.”
Her eyes went wide at his words.
“You want to…”
“I don’t want you to think I’m using you, or that I’m taking advantage of you.Neverthat,” he stated vehemently.
“My commitment is yours, Raf,” she replied softly, cupping his battered cheeks and caressing him lightly.
She leaned forward and dropped a kiss onto his eyes, a feather-like touch to soothe him, not pain him further. Then, she turned her attention to his cheeks, nose, and finally his mouth. Noelle laid a lingering kiss to his lips, savoring the specialness of the moment.
“And you have mine,” he whispered.
Noelle could swear she detected a blush, but he was too bruised to tell for sure.
Before she could say something else, he reached behind his neck, the movement eliciting a small groan of pain from him as he unclasped his necklace, placing it into her palm.
“Why are you giving me this?” Noelle uttered in shock. “It’s the only thing you still have from…”
Rafaelo had told her it had been a gift from his mother on his eighteenth birthday, and despite their strained relationship, he’d kept it for sentimental reasons—for the fact that despite his handicap, his mother had stuck by his side.
“Do you know what stone this is?” he asked in a low voice.
Noelle shook her head, whispering a small no.
“Garnet,” he continued. “It symbolizes victory.”
“Victory…” She wet her lips as she tasted the sound on her tongue—the one thing she’d chased from the beginning, but each time she was closing in on it, it proved ever so elusive.
“There’s another meaning,” Raf mentioned, almost embarrassed.
Noelle fluttered her lashes in confusion.
“Really?” Noelle squeaked when she felt his fingers trace the column of her throat, taking the necklace from her hand and fastening it around her neck.
“Eternal love,” he whispered, laying a kiss at the base of her throat.
The necklace was still warm from his skin, and as it rested against her own, she felt like he’d given her a little piece of himself. Noelle’s throat clogged with emotion—so much love, she felt like crying because she wasn’t sure she deserved it. Not when she was guilty for his presence in this goddamn place. For all her efforts to save him, she’d only made things worse and the knowledge tore her on the inside.
“Raf…” she started, about to protest that she wasn’t worthy of it, regardless of how much she wanted to be.
“Shh. I want you to have it,” he told her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. “When you think you can’t bear it anymore, think of me. Just like I think of you.”
She swallowed down the cry that threatened to erupt from her throat as she simply hugged him. Such a wonderful gift, and she wasn’t deserving of it. But she couldn’t tell him that—she couldn’t tell him anything yet. She just prayed that when the truth surfaced and he would realize who she really was, he would take pity on her.
“Always, Raf. Always.”
He held her in his arms as he recounted a short history of the garnet and that it originated from Mali, a country in West Africa. Noelle listened attentively, tasting the name on her lips.
“Mali,” she whispered. “Mali garnet.”
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