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But as I eyed them, I noticed the row of plants behind them.
They were white carnations. Just like the ones I brought here before.
Those are the flowers of God. And God isn’t here.
With Caius at my back, I could feel his hand grab me tenderly, turning me to face him. The humidity was slick on my skin, causing a light layer of moisture to form on the surface.
But I was too focused on his stare to notice.
“It’s for you.”
I tilted my head. “What is?”
“This. The greenhouse.”
His words were like an electric current through my body, pulsing my heart with adrenaline.
“I had it built the day after you came here for the first time. I saw you with the ivy, and the way your face lit up at the sightof it. So, I had it made and imported every kind of flower I could think of.”
My breath stopped in the bottom of my lungs, swirling in astonishment.
“All of this,Meum Caelum.This is all yours.”
His hand slowly brushed up my arm to my shoulder, his touch passing over the thin strap of my dress gently. He moved to my chin, his grasp delicate as he lifted my head up. A lock of dark hair fell over his forehead, his face covered in the fine mist as well. He closed the gap between us, our bodies pressed against one another.
My heart lurched into my throat as his grey eyes ached for me, with a need I’ve never felt, a bright need I’ve never seen in the darkness before.
I could feel that same ache hidden in the hollows of my being, trying its best to claw its way out.
With our eyes glued to one another, with the rush of blood beating throughout my body, I managed to speak. “How can this be real?”
Caius lifted a half grin. “Do you mean—”
I stopped him before he could finish. “Purgatory. This. How is this possible?” My voice hovered gently above a whisper, my tone mixing with the hiss of the misters. This was my vulnerability shining through in a sensitive moment.
“There are things in life that can never be explained, Celeste. The sooner you realize you’ll never have all the answers, the sooner you’ll have peace of mind about it. But in the unknown, there is familiarity. There is intimacy. There’s perfection in mystery.”
I could feel his free hand glide up the length of my arm. His touch skimmed my skin gracefully, creating invisible lines in the water that rested on the surface. Goosebumps broke through thehumidity, piercing my pores in an act of defiance, as not one part of my body was cold.
There’s perfection in mystery.
The heated look in his eyes was telling. There was a double meaning hidden in his words. He may have been talking about the afterlife, but I knew he was also referring to me.
As my heart continued to race, my hand moved up to his arm, resting gently in the crook of his bent elbow. I had a sudden desire to touch him, to move even closer to him, to squeeze myself into him more than I already was.
“You really did this for me?” I asked, my voice even quieter in my state of fascinated disbelief.
The hand that held my chin moved to my neck, with his thumb still on the side of my face. Reactively, I tipped my head back by a fraction.
Caius nodded, never tearing his eyes away from mine. “From the moment I saw you,” he said, his tone deep and rich, “I knew I had to give you nothing less than everything.”
And with that, he dipped his head low, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips to mine. Our souls as one, connected, entangled.
Every part of my body gave in to him and his ability to captivate me. My knees grew weak from the pressure of his lips, and a sultry fire began to kindle in the pit of my stomach. The feeling was breathtaking and enchanting. It was addictive.
He gently pulled away, leaving his lips to hover over mine as he slowly opened his eyes. When I managed to open mine, I found him watching me. His gaze was filled with adoration and reverence, a look I could never come to forget, no matter how hard I tried.
“Why do you do that?” he asked with his lips still brushing against the skin of mine, his tone somber yet quiet.
