Page 146 of Condemned By Pain
“When will you come, Salvario?” I whisper to the stars.
I’m stuck in a time worse than when people communicated by pigeons. Those pigeons don’t exist anymore, and the devices that replaced them, that were supposed to bring convenience, have become my greatest enemy.
How long must I carry this ache? When will it get better? And how?
I take a deep breath, trying to fill my tight chest.
I walk back inside, grab my small keyboard, and carry it out to the balcony.
I settle onto the chair and begin to play. It’s the only way I know to pour out these suffocating feelings.
I start with a slow beat, letting it pulse in my heart, eyes closed. Slowly, the music leads me down the beautiful path of memories.
Memories of his touch. His eyes. His skin against mine. Memories of our love.
The ache tightens around my ribs. The composition carries it out—a melody of my incomplete love.
I let the music soothe me with a promise. A promise of happiness. A promise that this story will find its ending. A promise of forever in my lover’s arms.
I end on a hopeful note and open my eyes.
The silence of the night rushes in to fill the space my music left behind. I lean back and look out at the farmlandstretching before me, vast and dark. Moonlight sketches the shapes of crops and trees, rendering the whole scene hauntingly beautiful.
A rustle of leaves pulls me from my daze. I rise, cross to the railing, and grip it, peering down into the darkness below.
It’s dark there.What happened to the light?I make a mental note to tell Pa tomorrow.
I step back inside, Rosie at my heels. I leave the balcony door open and turn off the room temperature regulator.
I lie down on the bed, and Rosie climbs up beside me. I hug her, kissing her face.
“Good night, baby.”
She burrows closer, tucking herself against me.
I wake to the sound of Rosie’s barks. Half-asleep, I turn onto my back and look around. The moment my eyes land on the shadow standing in my room, I sit up, jumping out of my skin.
There’s a man in my room. Rosie is jumping around him, tail wagging.
It takes only a heartbeat for the shock to shatter. And then I’m off the bed, running straight to the tall, broad man standing inside my room.
He crushes me against him, lifting me, inhaling against my neck. I wrap my legs around his waist.
“You shouldn’t run into the arms of a man who broke into your room in the middle of the night, Princess.” His voice is a low rumble against my neck.
I pull back just enough to capture his lip and kiss him like a woman possessed.God, I missed him.He kisses me back with the same desperate hunger. It’s barely a kiss, we’re devouring each other.
My hands roam everywhere—his hair, the nape of his neck, his shoulders, his back. I want to touch every part of him, all at once. I cling tighter, terrified he’ll disappear again. Vanish for another three months.
He carries us to the bed and lowers us down, settling me on his lap.
I break the kiss, breathless, but keep my mouth a breath from his. He’s panting just as hard.
“I missed you so much.” My voice is thick with unsaid emotions, choking my throat.
He kisses me again. One hand cradles the back of my head, tilting my face for deeper access. The other bands around my waist, gripping tight. Our lower bodies press together in a pressure that’s almost painful, but still not enough. I want to be closer. I need him like air. More than air.
Salvario
