What I have with you… Is it a sandcastle? Will I one day have to watch it broken by time and nature’s waves?
I gently lifted his arm away from my waist, careful not to wake him. I sat up on the bed, over the edge of it, groaning at the slight ache I felt in my body. I got up and picked up my black lace lingerie from the floor, slipping them back on. As I pulled a silk night shift over my body, I kept my eyes on Derek, trying to recall what had been going through my mind as I bared myself before him the night before.
I knew what reason dictated. He was immortal and I wasn’t. I would grow old one day and he would remain the same. I dreaded the day he might grow tired of me. What we had was a sandcastle, beautiful but temporary. So why did you give yourself to him in this way, Sofia?
I made my way to my bedroom as noiselessly as I could and retrieved my sketch book and pencil from my belongings. I returned to his bedroom relieved to find that he was still asleep. I saw the trace of blood on his bed sheet, a reminder of what I had surrendered to him.
I pulled the red velvet ottoman near the edge of his bed and sat down across him, and began sketching him, never wanting to forget that moment. I knew why I gave myself to him and I didn’t regret it. Just because sandcastles are temporary, it never stopped me from making them as beautiful as possible. As I sketched his appearance, I couldn’t shy away from the truth that was staring me right in the face. I was in love with Derek Novak and the idea that he returned my affections thrilled me.#p#分页标题#e#
Beginning to focus on the quick sketch I was trying to finish, I didn’t realize that he’d already woken up until I looked up to find his stunning eyes on me.
“You’re so beautiful.” His gaze was hooded, his voice husky.
I blushed in response, winking at him before continuing to put the finishing flourishes on my sketch.
“Come here…” He tapped the empty space on the bed beside him. “What are you doing all the way over there?”
“Creating a masterpiece…” I grinned, crossing my legs as I lifted my sketch in the air to get a better look at it.
“Show me.” He was speaking in his typical authoritarian tone, reminding me of his station and authority.
I pouted at him. “No.”
“Will you just come over here, Sofia?” As an afterthought, he grinned and spoke the magic word, “Please?”
I placed my pencil on the nearby bedside table and dragged my feet toward the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed, sketchbook still clutched in one hand. When I got close enough, he took my free hand and pulled me on the bed beside him, making me gasp at the sudden motion.
Before I could object, he grabbed the sketchbook from my hand and lay flat on his back. Mischief traced his face as he watched me for a reaction. I curled up on the bed beside him and gave him my blessing.
“Go ahead. Look.”
When Derek shifted his gaze toward the most recent sketch, I felt my stomach flutter at the reaction on his face.
“Sofia, this is … incredible. I had no idea you could draw…”
I chuckled, recalling what he told me when I first saw him play a tune on his grand piano. “There are lot of things you don’t know about me.” I rolled to my stomach and rested my arm and chin over his chest and shoulder, watching his facial reactions as he thumbed through my sketches.
I knew every sketch by heart. They contained fond memories of him. A sketched copy of the Polaroid picture Corrine sent over. The confused look on his face as he tried to figure out how to navigate through a smart phone. His fingers over a grand piano. Our hands clasping each other’s, fingers intertwined. The way he looked standing on the balcony during our first night at The Shade, breath-taken by the incredible view.
After he finished browsing through my sketches, he eyed me questioningly as if to ask what it all meant.
“I never stopped thinking of you.”
Guilt marred his countenance. My gut clenched. He set the sketchbook aside and brushed a hand over my hair. I was curious as to why his fingers trembled. I ran a hand over his bare torso. All those times Ben tried to get me in bed with him, I held out. I didn’t know it then, but now I understood. I was holding out for Derek. He was the man I wanted to share this with, yet the apprehension looming over his countenance shook me.
“What’s wrong, Derek?”
“You were constantly on my mind too, Sofia. Trust me when I say that… But while you were away, I just… I lost myself. I can’t even…”
Vivienne, Corrine, the girls… they all said that he was different apart from me, but it still meant a lot more when I heard from him. “I’m here now. I’m here for as long as you want me here.”