by Rute Canhoto
CHAPTER TWENTY
Marina grumbled while walking to the room where she would have the workshop. Gosh, she hated drawing! Neither had been able to sketch a simple rubber as the teacher had asked her last lesson… When she reached the room, she found Joshua at next door, waiting for the teacher and much more excited than her. It was normal; he was in the workshop he had signed up for. As for her… With bright eyes, Joshua approached her and asked her what movie she would like to watch at her birthday party. Marina thought for a moment, but had no idea.
“Simplifying things, what kind of movies do you like?”
That was the simple question? She liked various kinds of films, from comedy and romance, to action and terror. ‘The Color Purple’ was one of her favorites and she didn’t even know in which genre it fitted in. She decided to enumerate her favorite movies, “I like ‘The Color Purple,’ ‘The Matrix,’ ‘Twilight’ and ‘The Grudge.’ I can’t be more specific than this, because I actually enjoy a bit of everything.”
Joshua reflected a little. Basically, what mattered to her was the plot and story told, not the genre. Thus, there was only one thing left to do: he would provide her a list of all the DVDs he had at home, so that she would choose one. If she wanted to, they could pick one the four of them liked, to meet everyone’s tastes.
The teachers of Painting and Design got to the classrooms at the same time, followed by Lucas. Joshua could see him, but Marina couldn’t, since she had her back turned to him.
Knowing that the rival could hear them, Joshua asked her, “So, we go down town together afterwards?”
“Yeah, it sounds good.”
Lucas heard everything as Joshua assumed, nevertheless he didn’t even look at them and entered in the classroom right away.
“We meet at the gate after the workshop,” proposed Joshua.
“Whoever comes out first, wait for the other,” the girl wrapped. With that, she went into the room and took her place.
After checking who was absent, the professor asked the students to go pick their projects to continue working on them. Lucas went to get his. He crossed with Marina in the way, but avoided any eye contact, which surprised and irritated her at the same time. She had prevented Joshua from being angry at her and now Lucas was grumpy. Great. Somebody give me some little bags filled with patience, urgent, please, she grunted inside.
Back in her seat, she stared at her paper and put out her tongue. That was a very odd drawing that didn’t look anything like the object it was supposed to represent. Marina took the rubber and deleted some lines. Then she put the rubber in front of her eyes and tried to redraw the extinguished lines. At least they seemed straighter after her new trying. Later, she got up to get the crayons and painted the sketch. The rubber was white, so there wasn’t much to color there. On the other hand, the paper that involved it had a very sophisticated logo, hence she lingered a little longer to paint it. With everything painted, she put the crayons back in place.
While returning to her seat, she observed Lucas: seated on a bench, he held a palette firmly in one hand. In the other, he had a brush that slid across the canvas with sturdiness. Marina was curious to see how his painting had advanced since last class, so she approached him. She stared at the canvas: it didn’t seem to have many things added, but they hadn't been there for long and he had been mixing the paint, while she had just gone for the ill-fated drawing that stubbornly refused to look like the pictured item. Some light strokes suggested that next he would draw a face on a large scale. For the moment, he seemed to be focused on the base of the frame, which he was painting in shades of red-earth. Marina pulled a seat and sat right beside him. Lucas lost concentration for an instant, but quickly sought to focus back on his painting.
She sighed when she noted he wasn’t speaking to her and decided to ask, “Are you mad at me?”
Lucas frowned. He gave a few more strokes and he replied with another question, “Were you upset that I kissed you in front of your friends?”
Marina bit her lip. It hadn’t exactly been a romantic kiss. He had just applied a peck on her cheek, it was no big deal. The crucial factor relied on who was one of those friends and the real intention of Lucas with that act.
After some brief consideration, she explained, “Upset? No. Sad? Yes. You know perfectly well that Joshua has feelings for me, and you didn’t hesitate in being mischievous and making him suffer.”
“Never mind. It seems that I even helped him. When he entered the room after that, he was in a very good mood and didn’t bother to hide it,” retorted Lucas amidst a smirk.
“And you saw the reward he got,” completed the girl.
Lucas thought for a while. Assessing things well, he had had luckier than Joshua, because while his opponent had taken a pinch, he had taken no physical punishment as a reprimand for his actions. Still, he wondered about why she gave such corrective. After some minutes in silence, he ventured to quiz, “Why did you pinch him?”
“Because he’s not allowed to harm you either. I won’t be a weapon in the middle of a war in which I don’t want to participate. I’ll always do what I can to prevent one from hurting another.”
Lucas’ countenance got heavier. What she had just said meant she cared enough about the feelings of both of them. Maybe she was divided between them.
Marina sighed and cut his thoughts by saying, “Lucas, I don’t wanna cause grief. Just want you to be happy.”
“But you know that, eventually, you'll end up hurting one of us...”.
Marina closed her eyes and massaged her temples. She didn’t feel like returning to the mood of the day before, when she felt guilty to the bone by having two guys interested in her and not knowing which one to choose. Although she had stronger feelings for one of them, she wasn’t willing to hurt the other. She’d do whatever necessary to prevent anyone from feeling miserable.
In an attempt to change subject, she opened her eyelids and approached the painting to try to decipher what it would become. Lucas studied her carefully. She seemed quite interested in the future of his art work. In an impulse, and taking advantage of the fact that her bench had wheels, Lucas backed his and made Marina’s slide to his front, adjusting it between his legs. He put a palette in her hand and the brush in the other. Then, with his hand on hers, he passed the brush through the red tones of the paint glowing on the palette, and led her across the canvas. Marina approached her face to the painting to see better what Lucas wanted her to paint and she analyzed the appearance it took after her inaccurate strokes.
“See how easy it is? You just have to let the romance between the brush and the canvas happen.”
Marina listened to him with attention. She couldn’t help but thinking that the metaphor might apply to them: he was the brush and she was the canvas – they just had to let things flow between them.
It was nice to be led by him and she felt her interest in painting awakening as she gave the finishing touches. It was then that the teacher got close to them and cleared her throat until both looked up and noticed her. “Marina, return to your place,” she ordered. “You might be enjoying painting, but the pose you’re in is too… suggestive. Let’s go now. Show me what you did so far.”
Marina felt her face burning as if she was in front of a very hot bonfire, while Lucas giggled and hid his face amid her hair. She returned to her desk, picked up her drawing and showed it to the teacher, who put on a look of aversion when she saw it. What’s new? She had already told her she couldn’t draw.
“It's better than the one you delivered last class, no doubt. Go get another sheet and try to draw your pencil case now.”
Obedient, Marina went to get a new piece of paper as requested. A student called the professor and she hurried to go to him, to the girl’s relief. She looked at Lucas and he winked his eye, while he showed a mischievous and insinuating smile, full of sensual compromises not vain at all. She hid her face in between her hands. The shame! The teacher had hinted that they were sitting in a pose t
oo lewd. That had not occurred to her. She was just painting under Lucas’ instructions; there were no ulterior hidden motives. She took her seat and focused on her task.
After the bell, the teacher collected the sheets and the canvas. While Marina stuffed her material in the backpack, Lucas approached her. “You’re going down town with Joshua,” he noted.
“Yes,” confirmed Marina, “Since he offered to keep me company, I thought it was better to accept it to prevent me from having encounters of the third kind as we know. But we go together only to the City Hall, then we follow opposite paths”
“You're right. See you after the City Hall.”
“Really?” Marina questioned with a sincere smile dancing on her lips.
Lucas returned her the smile, nodded and left the room.
He would escort her home? That was very unusual, even because, when classes ended, he disappeared to nowhere. That availability could only mean that he was taking serious concern to the injunction that had been made. Should she rejoice for his commitment or fear the seriousness of that threat? Joshua peeked at the door and called her. Marina came down to Earth and signaled him to wait a little while she grabbed the rucksack.
After crossing the school gate, the conversation returned to the movie they would watch the next day and the kind of pizza they preferred. Marina liked bacon and creams, while Joshua liked pizzas involving more exotic blends, like peeled shrimp, pineapple and crab sticks. Argh! She hated pineapple in the food.
As they approached the point at which each their ways would part, Joshua queried her a little embarrassed, “Would you like to invite Lucas to the party?”
Marina was petrified by the proposition. She hurried to say, “God, no! You two, together in the same place? I have enough torture in class. I appreciate your kindness, but no. Let’s stick to the four of us. I mean, the house is yours. You can invite other people if you want.”
Joshua shook his head indicating that he wouldn’t invite anyone else.
Marina wondered what kind of question was that. Would he be testing her feelings for Lucas? If he thought that she would say yes, he was wrong. It was her birthday. She wanted to have fun and not to spend the night refereeing peacocks’ battles. Before bidding farewell to Joshua, she inquired, “Do we go to school tomorrow together?”
“Sure! I’ll stop by your home, right?”
Marina assented. The truth was she had learnt her lesson: she wouldn’t walk alone in the near future, unless the bloody ghost went away for good. She said goodbye to Joshua and went home.
After passing City Hall, Lucas jumped behind the building and shouted at her "Boo!"
Marina let out a shriek and took a step back defensively. Lucas chuckled. Annoyed, she gave him a little punch in the shoulder by way of displeasure, but he hastened to embrace her and applied a kiss on her forehead among a thousand smiles. The gesture calmed her and she even laughed a little. Nevertheless, the nervousness didn’t take long to return as soon as Lucas held her hand. What if someone saw her and would tell her mother? She didn’t want to have more conversations with her about boys. She shook her head from side to side; it didn’t matter. He was keeping her company on the way home for the first time, and she was going to seize the moment without worrying about anything else.
They walked down the main street in silence and with no hurry. As she didn’t live too far, in less than ten minutes they were outside her door. Lucas let go of her hand, while Marina, impatient, passed her fingers by a lock of hair that escaped her pony-tail.
She bit her lower lip and asked him in an insecure intonation, “Do you want to come in?”
Lucas smiled with mischievousness. It was good to see him smiling. When she first knew him, he was a scowling guy, always angry. Lately, however, whenever they were together, he allowed himself to throw off his camouflage and smile. What touched her most was the fact that she felt he enjoyed doing so, as if it was something he didn’t do long ago and had just rediscovered. Seeing him joyful made her happy.
In response to her question, Lucas replied, “Thanks, but I have a mission to accomplish. In fact, if you go in now and check out the window, you’ll see me. I'm on guard, sat on the wall in front of your house. If you need anything, just give me a sign and I’ll come in no time.”
Marina nodded and started to unlock the entrance, while Lucas stepped away at the rhythm of her gestures. Marina put one foot on the step and Lucas began to disappear into the arcade. Both ran unleashed. When Marina got to the living room window, Lucas was already on the rail. How could he have done that? The distance he had to go was bigger than hers. He could have run very fast... or it was something related to his extraordinary abilities beyond the normal. She wondered who he could actually be and what other things could he do. She knew that he healed quite fast, ran hard and could be invisible to other people in crucial moments. Would he be able to turn into the same kind of black fog like the Gothic guy? Hmm, that seemed too much. Lucas... what truth did he hide?
Her mother arrived moments later. Without even greeting her, she flopped down on the couch with an arm over her eyes and moaned. Marina was intrigued about what could be going on with her to not pronounce a mere ‘hello’.
“Mom, is everything okay?”
“I have a terrible migraine. Can you go to the first aid kit and bring me a pill, one of those I usually take when I'm like this?”
Marina hastened to get her a pill and a glass of water. Her mother was not well. She knew that, sometimes, she had terrible headaches that could last for days, and they caused her a pain quite intense. Those days, mom came home, took a pill or two and stayed in bed, hoping that sleeping would keep the pain away.
Before going into the bedroom, mom told her that she wouldn’t have dinner, as she just was ready to go to bed. Marina was worried, but the only thing she could do was to walk on tiptoe and avoid making noise. When mom shut the bedroom door, Marina retreated to the living room window and peered out. There was Lucas on the same spot, watching over her. She waved to him and walked slow and very carefully to her room, not to disturb her mother.
Picking up her rucksack, Marina sat at the desk to do her homework. She started with Geography and next she moved to the Portuguese ones. There were only three questions to be answered, still she lingered on this work, since the excerpt from the ‘Sermon of Saint Anthony to Fishes’ was too long.
When she was putting the diaries and books back in the rucksack, she recalled Lucas. Would he still be on the wall? She tiptoed out of her chambers and went to the living room window. It was dusk and the wind was blowing stronger. The sky, pitch dark, showed that the rain that had fallen during the day was nothing compared to what was yet to come. Marina feared for Lucas and secretly wished that, once it began to rain, he would abandon his post and take refuge at home. However, there he was, on the same site as promised. Another thought occurred to her: if he was there, he wouldn’t have time to do his homework. He could not be harmed at school because of her. In wool feet, she returned to her desk, tore a sheet from a notebook and copied her answers.
Staring at the clock on the bedside table, Marina was amazed at how long she had taken to do everything. It was dinner time, so she walked into the kitchen, pulled a package of meat pie from the refrigerator, poured it in a dish and put it in the microwave to heat it. She heard her mother moaning and in vain to the microwave to hurry up.
The pie was tasty and she felt good eating it, since she was very hungry. A few moments later, she was done and ready to get back to her room. Before doing so, she passed by the window and made sure that Lucas was at the same place. Sensing her presence, he lifted his eyes up from the floor and looked at her with a smile, indicating that everything was fine. She was concerned. There he was, in the same spot for several hours and hadn’t even left to go eat something. Besides being cold, he should be starving. Marina thought about going to him, but decided not to. Maybe he would have enough and would go home, for his own sake. She ran the cu
rtain and left. As she had nothing else to do, she tucked up in bed and began to check the TV channels in search of something that pleased her. She ended up watching another episode of ‘The Simpsons’.
Hours later, a dripping sound caught her attention. She lowered the TV sound, listened with more attention and realized that it was raining. Maybe now Lucas would go home. She liked having him around, but his well-being was the main priority. The sound intensified; it seemed that was a great downpour. Marina got up from her bed and began walking from one side to another. The rumble of thunders contributed greatly to her increasing concern. Finally, she returned to the living room. Ran the curtains and looked outside. To her astonishment, Lucas hadn’t moved a single inch from his place. Would he be nuts? The strange man said that he would come after him first. Would that be a scheme to squelch his plans, kind of, if he got sick and died, he wouldn’t suffer at the hands of the monster? It made no sense. Suddenly, she made up her mind: she was going to deal with him with no further ado.
To avoid making too much noise, Marina filled the electric kettle and switched it on to heat water for a chamomile tea. Next, she put two slices of bread in the toaster. Pulled out a tray from the closet and covered it with two mugs, spoons, packages of sugar and napkins. When the tea was ready, she poured it into the cups. Then covered the toasts with butter and put them on the board. With everything ready, she returned to her bedroom and put the tray on the desk. After opening the closet, she pulled out a heater: it was cold and Lucas, in the rain, would be freezing. She turned it on to start heating up the place and went to the bathroom to fetch a towel for him to dry himself. With her hands on her hips, she took a last look in the bedroom to check if the place was presentable and ready to receive visitors. She concluded that it was.
Back in the living room, Marina leaned over the window ledge. It was raining cats and dogs, a real storm, with the sky often pierced by scary lightning that lit up the dark night. She waited for Lucas to look in her direction. When he did it, she waved to him to come to her. However, he soon understood nothing was happening and she was only concerned about him. To assure her, he picked up his phone, wrote a text and signaled her to read it. Marina read, ‘Don’t worry, I'm fine’. That was impossible! How could he think that she wouldn’t be troubled? She bit her lip in frustration. How stubborn! She had to take some drastic measures. Fast as a gazelle, Marina ran to her chambers, put on her blue flip-flops, went to the front door and went out. If Mohammed doesn’t come to the mountain, the mountain goes to Mohammed, she thought.
The precipitation soaked her right away. She took refuge under the arcade, wiped her face with the back of her hand and stepped down. Next, she ran to the road. Once he saw her, Lucas jumped from the wall, dancing energetically on the plants of his feet, and sprinted towards her.
“What are you doing out here?” he demanded brusquely.
Marina answered back in the same tone, “I came for you. You’re much more stubborn than a mule!”
“But I'm fine. Go back inside. You’re getting soaked.”
“No,” she refused. “I go back only if you come with me. If you stay, I’ll stay. It’s quite simple.”
Lucas rolled his eyes to the drama. That wasn’t a scene like the one from the ‘Titanic’. He gasped, grabbed her wrist and dragged her by force under the arcade. Marina protested, but eventually let herself go when she noticed they would climb the stairs towards her building. Lucas led her to the entrance and signaled her to get in. However, she shook her head, refusing to do so.
“I already told you no! I’ll only go in if you do too,” reaffirmed Marina.
Raising his voice a little bit, the boy said, “Are you crazy? You'll end up getting a cold.”
“So what? If I have a flu, we both do, since we're both out here.”
Almost losing patience, Lucas clutched her elbows and pulled her to him to scold her and make her understand that she was wrong. He looked into her eyes with a fierce expression. In that gesture, he betrayed himself: it was no longer the storm outside that roared, but the one looming within him. He could hear every single drop of water sliding her skin with such intensity that he could almost feel them on his. He followed closely the drop’s route, down her body, in a wet caress. The wind was like a cold kiss on her epidermis, making her shiver, while it played with her hair. Her white pajama was so wet that they became transparent and Lucas could see her lingerie. The desire that invaded him was growing faster than the storm itself and made him lose his breath.
Marina didn’t remain indifferent. She was very close to Lucas, so close that she could feel his panting breath crossing his mouth. Her body trembled, but not of cold: it was as if a force impelled her to come even nearer him and to claim what was hers. The atmosphere between them seemed populated by electrifying sparks. The hours, minutes and seconds seemed to be suspended at that unreal moment, so that nothing could intrude between them.
Her lips approached his dangerously. Lucas dropped her elbows all of a sudden and receded a step, breaking eye contact. Marina didn’t understand what was happening, but didn’t have time to think about it since he rushed into the house and signaled her to come in too. At least she had won that battle.
When Marina crossed the entry, she took the situation’s reins. She dragged Lucas into her bedroom and locked the door to stop her mother from entering her chambers and catching them together. What would she say if she knew that a boy was in her room? Yikes! Surely she would have to hear the same sermon for a whole month. A blast of hot air gave them a warm welcome without delay. Great, the heater was working.
“I have to go, Marina,” almost begged Lucas.
Before he could add something more, Marina took off his coat, catching him by surprise. She dried it with a towel and put it in the back of the desk chair so it would finish drying by itself. She put the towel on the bed and rolled over herself to get closer to Lucas. Her gaze met his. She gulped while trying to tame her uncontrolled breathing. With trembling fingers, she took his shirt and stripped it off with a slow deliberated gesture. Part of him wanted to resist, but he relented and let himself go with the moment.
The vision of his abdomen made her shudder… with horror. Over his well-worked abdominals were several reddish and brown lines that proved that he had been much mistreated. Upset, Marina bit the inside of her cheek and moved around him, sliding her fingers kindly from his belly to his back, which also exhibited severe marks of violence against that temple. Who could have done that? Why had he been hurt so bad? Marina returned to the starting point, but could not face him.
Lucas sighed of nervousness and hesitation, and ended expressing with sorrow, “I deserved all of them.”
How could he say that he deserved to have been so mistreated? Only a callous monster could have done that to him. Marina shook her head rejecting his claim. She made her fingers cross the abdomen scars, going up his chest until they reached the boy’s neck, to which they clung. Marina took his right hand and placed it on the small of her back, uniting their bodies. She took her other arm to his neck as well and intertwined her hands around it; she would not let him hesitate again. She approached him little by little, until her lips touched his lightly. Lucas vacillated, but she didn’t allow him to pull out an inch. In an impetus, she slid her lips on his and kissed him. First, it was just a small pressure, but then it turned into a deep kiss, in which she could have sworn that their souls had touched each other. It was as if her body was a sheet of paper and his was a vivid flame. Marina felt burning in an unrestrained fire. As if printed with hot iron inside of her, she knew that she would not give up on him: she had just handed over her heart and soul of free will to him.
Lucas slithered his free arm to her back, completely subjugated. They stayed there, kissing, as if nothing else mattered. The world could to be falling apart outside, yet it was a pittance compared with that fantastic moment. They were wrapped in an impenetrable magic glass case that isolated them from all trivial things.
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br /> At last their mouths parted, but they didn’t move away from each other. Lucas gave her a tender peck on her forehead and hugged her tightly. Marina responded by doing the same.
The clock on the night stand emitted a little ‘beep’ that made Marina move. She fended a little from him and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, furring his brows.
“For the best birthday gift of my entire life.”
Lucas looked at the watch and realized it was midnight. It was officially October 1st, her birthday. Lucas smiled, grabbed her chin and repeated the kiss. This time, he didn’t hesitate nor turn away at the last second. He had surrendered to her after a long wait and didn’t intend to go back.
The amazing sensation of before travelled Marina’s body once more, certifying the infallibility that she was doing what she was meant to do.
After one last kiss, Lucas pulled the towel that was on the bed and placed it over her shoulders. Marina returned it to him and complained through a laugh, “Hey, this one is for you! For me, I have another solution.”
That said, she went to the dresser and pulled out a sleeveless summer nightgown, very low-necked and almost transparent. It was a dared bet, but it portrayed accurately what was going on within her. With her back turned to him, she began to undress with no hint of rush, giving him the opportunity to observe carefully the clothes sliding along her body. He wished that touch was applied by his hands instead. It was his turn to nibble his lower lip to restrain himself.
Wearing only lingerie, Marina turned to Lucas and walked at a snail's pace toward him. She stopped only when their bodies touched, allowing her to feel his skin on hers like iced velvet. She was tempted to kiss him again. She snagged the towel he was holding and threw it on the floor. Leaned her head to his chest, walked her fingers over his body in a warm gesture and brought them down to the belt holding his pants.
“No”, Lucas instantly told, moving his hands to the accessory to prevent her from taking it away.
“Really? For someone so cheeky and full of promises, I must say that you seem a little intimidated,” joked Marina while she dampened her lips with her tongue.
Wavering, Lucas whispered, “Marina, do not tease me. Otherwise you take the risk of making me prove to you how serious I was every time I said less proper things. Please, let me go easy on you.”
“Do you trust me?”
Lucas looked at her with doubt grazing his mind. He didn’t want things to go any further, but if she continued to act like that... he wasn’t made of steel! He didn’t know how far could he go or if he would be able to control himself. She requested him with her eyes to let her continue. Reticent, he nodded and pulled his hand away from the buckle.
Skillfully, Marina unfastened his belt and moved to the buttons. As soon as she got them loose, she slid the jeans down his legs to the ground. Lucas was wearing some black Lycra boxers, very tight, and they fitted perfectly to the contours of his body. She avoided thinking about that.
After taking off his sneakers and socks, Marina bent down to pick up the towel. She opened it and slid it over his body, till there were no traces of water. Next she passed the towel on her body too and put on the nightgown, which made Lucas sigh with relief. She threw the towel aside and asked Lucas to sit on the bed.
“Are you sure? Your mother may come in here and she’ll get upset.”
Marina nodded with such safety that he ended up sitting next to a pillow. As he leaned back, the girl grabbed his t-shirt and pants and placed them on the desk so they would receive some warmth from the heater and dry. Then she took the tray that she had prepared and placed it in the bed between them.
“What is this?” Lucas asked, curious.
“Did you think I wasn’t going to take care of you? You spent the whole time outside in the cold and didn’t even slip away for a few minutes to eat. The toast will kill your hunger. And since the tea is hot, it will help you to warm up.”
Lucas examined the tray. There was no problem in eating, but he hadn't done it for a long time, although Marina didn’t even imagine that. Still, she was taking care of him and that felt good - it was nice to have someone who cared about his comfort. He took a piece of toast and took a bite. To encourage him to continue, she did the same and soon they finished the night snack.
After leaving the board on the desk, Marina turned off the heater, since the room was warm enough and his clothes would dry for sure. To Lucas amazement and distress, she slipped into bed and covered them up to the waist with a sheet and a blanket.
“Lie down,” requested Marina.
“But... What about your mother?” insisted Lucas.
“My mom is sleeping, and when she leaves in the morning, she never comes to my bedroom. Don’t worry. Furthermore, and if this rests you more, I locked the door. Tonight you stay with me.”
Lucas shook his head by way of protestation. “No, this is unwise. I cannot stay here. I have to protect you.”
“And what better way to protect me than to stay beside me?”
She was right about that and he himself had uttered that statement before. She stared at her long enough to make sure that this was what she wanted, and reclined in a horizontal position. With the boy lying down, Marina extended lengthwise on bed. She leaned on her right elbow and made her fingers drum around the scars on his chest once again. Lucas winced, but she was keen to put him at ease.
“Don’t worry about these details. You’re simply and wonderfully perfect.”
Lucas seemed a little aghast upon hearing those words, which didn’t go unnoticed by her. Yet, he hadn’t much time for sorrow, because Marina soon approached and kissed him effusively. Next, she snuggled into his chest with a big smile on her face and prepared to spend the night like that, clinging to him. She didn’t turn off the light, because she wanted to see him whenever she woke up.
The boy accommodated to the idea that he would have to stay there and settled better. In an unconscious act, he put a hand on her back precisely on the spot he had touched her when he pushed her away from the car. His touch, although cold, still almost burned her. The unexpected happened: Marina's eyes widened and, without expecting it, memories of when she had fallen into the river and of when she was almost run over paraded before her. It was as if she had left her own body and was now a mere spectator of those dramatic scenes. She could clearly see everything that was happening from a privileged position. Lucas was there, as she always had affirmed. If there was any doubt, it had just blurred. He was her knight, who did everything to defend her, and there was the proof of that.
Becoming aware of her shudder to his touch, Lucas withdrew his hand right away. However, Marina pulled it, kissed it and deposited it again at her back, reassuring him. She curled up on him even more and commented, “I always knew you had been there for me.”
Lucas’ countenance got a little heavier when he realized what had happened. He didn’t understand how it was possible for that to occur. As Marina glimpsed the fateful episodes, he also had recalled fragments of both. They had already touched so many times and that had never taken place... Could it be due to the fact that he had pressed the point where his palm had been printed in almost a burn? Maybe. There were still many things he didn’t understand about himself. What amazed him most was her reaction: he had thought that, when she got that confirmation, she would stress that she had always been right, but no. She had just told him a single statement that summed it all up and it even brushed a compliment.
Marina kissed his naked chest covered with marks and shut her eyes. Something assured her that she would sleep very well. The day was just beginning and it was already the best birthday ever.
Lucas crossed his left arm under his head and closed his eyes too, lowering his guard temporarily. She trusted him, he didn’t want to fail or disappoint her. What threatened them probably would return only after her anniversary, when the time ran out to fulfill the mission he had been assigned. It didn’t matter what happe
ned to him. He had to ensure in every way that Marina would be fine - she was above everything, including himself. It felt so good to be with her! He sighed and felt the restlessness multiplying within him. What would she do when she found out the truth about him and the reasons that had brought him there? How could he explain that everything had changed when they met? More important, how would he make her believe in him and the veracity of his feelings? It was approaching the day when all the revelations would be made and he had to prepare himself for it. It didn’t matter. At least at that moment she was his, and he had her in his arms. He wouldn’t dare to ask for anything more.Ouvir