"Look me in my eyes, doesn't that feel nice?"



25

How can someone have the power to break you into pieces—and yet make you feel so seen? People often mistake intimacy for just sex, but it's so much deeper than physical touch. For me, intimacy is about living in your truth. There's something about being completely yourself with the person you trust, something that stirs me. To have the constant reminder that you're safe in their arms—alone—doesn't that, in itself, define intimacy?

I caught the eye of a selfish man. His family didn't make him this way; he wasn't shaped by circumstance. He's the most guarded, hopeless person I've ever known. He willingly walked into a cage, locking the door behind him so no one could see the parts of him hidden beneath the cold steel of his walls.

If he wanted to escape, he could. The key's always been in his hands, but it's the beating heart in his chest he refuses to listen to. I'm not a hero; changing him isn't my mission.

However, I do know we look at the same sky meaning we see the same worlds. I can feel our souls touch when our eyes lock. Often times when he looks at me I notice an invasion going on in his mind. He was like something from another planet.

His careful body movement, his nonchalant reactions, I would look up to see him rubbing his facial hair in deep thought. The way he would walk around the bedroom shirtless. When his tatted back would flex so chiselled so muscular.

I would catch myself smiling when I wake up with only his shirt on after I know he fucked me bare the previous night. Even the way he held his cigarette between his kissable lips, so cryptic. Oh but when he smiles, a man with a personality so dangerous and hurtful. His smile is worth a thousand of anyone else's.

The first time felt like entire universe stopped moving when I made him smile because of dear old me, but I learned to never make that smile fade, what a disaster that will be.

"Miss, Reign calls for you outside he's waiting in the car." A maid knocked on the bathroom door.

Reign called me everyday while he was away, we spoke for hours about nothing really. I got to see a side to him I didn't think existed.

I finished up before making my way down. I fiddled with my sleeves a little anxious about seeing him. I spotted the all black car parked outside, and there he was leaning against the passenger door on the phone.

I shyly walked over when he noticed me I saw a small smile within his eyes. He reached his hand out for my waist pulling me into him still speaking on the phone.

Placing a kiss on my forehead, I closed my eyes against his chest taking in his scent. Reign finished up his call before leaning down to whisper in my ear.

"Get in." He opened the door for me then walked around to drivers side. I got settled in the car, placing my hands nervously on my lap.

"How are you feeling.?" He asked starting the car. I remember telling him on the phone I caught the sniffles a few days ago.

"Better now thanks for asking." I mumbled.

He looked at me before driving off.

I clear my throat, "Where are we going Reign."

"Gelato sounds good da?"

I furrowed my brows vividly mentioning my favourite sweet treat, "You remembered?"

He smiled keeping his eyes on the road.

He reached for my hand raising it to his lips, "You can be hard to forget Amina."

•••

"Thank you for this." I smile, once he glanced over at me.

"So tell me," I licked on my pistachio cone, facing him in the parked car, "How does a man like yourself enjoy strawberry gelato." I smirked.

He smirks eating off his spoon, "This image in your mind of my childhood being very terrible has you to far gone princess." He chuckled.

A thought popped up, "okay tell me about it."

"Tell you what hm?" He whispered making me blush shying away.

"About your childhood."

Reign simply looks at me raising an eyebrow, "I mean what made you this way?"

"What am I Amina?" He teased.

I swallow, "A psychopath who murders people for an income."

He suddenly busted out laughing making me jump, "You think I'm a psychopath baby?" He knew full well how attractive he was since the reaction always sparked in women.

I continue to test the waters, "well yes, no sane person tortures, and kills, not to mention harm a girl they apparently like."

He sucked his spoon smirking, "Good thing I'm not sane." He took some of his gelato bringing it up to my lips, "Amina? "

I opened my mouth letting him feed me, I kept my gaze on him actively listening.

"We spoke about you and I before da? It confuses me you think I simply still like you." He used his thumb to wipe off the side of my mouth.

"You my princess are mine even in our deaths. I've expressed that I don't mind hurting anyone who gets in between having you for myself, so I guess that makes me no sane man or a psychopath if you prefer nyet?"

His own demented way of getting me aroused. Reign is a house on fire, and I would be considered mentally ill to walk into it. He flaunted it pro-vocatively, it gave him a sinister charm, a seductive, most devious one of a kind appeal.

I think I melted in my seat, nope it's just the ice cream. I looked at it quickly licking up where it ran down my fingers. I face forward looking out the window.

I'm taking a risk in letting my guard down. I must be dreaming and right about now I don't know if I want to be awaken. I've literally taken the word falling out of falling in love. This can't be right.

"What about your abnormal income, I seen your financial papers. You got me a really expensive gift upon meeting you. Those numbers are statistically uncommon." I licked the gelato off my lips.

He kept his expression the same not moving a feature, he took a minute before responding, "One question at a time da?"

I can taste my own heart as my mind raced. I don't want to get hurt for saying the wrong things. Instead I nervously shook my head yes, we then finished our desert in a settled silence.

"Reign, I would like to visit my mom again." I gave him a small side-eye, but he didn't respond right away.

I watched him as he finished his bowl, the sound of his spoon scraping the edges filling the silence.

"I'm waiting for you to tell me when, little one." He smirked slyly, his gaze never leaving his bowl.

I blinked, taken aback by his calm response. Suddenly, he started counting down.

"Wa—what are you...?"

"Two."

"T-Tonight." The words slipped out. "I would like to leave tonight."

He chuckled darkly. "I enjoy your squeals."

"Tonight it is," he confirmed, that same smirk tugging at his lips.

I let out a small, sarcastic laugh, finishing off my dessert.

"Did you enjoy the library?" he asked, his voice casual. But my mind immediately flashed back to the man I had come across there.

"Uh, yea—yes, it's beautiful. And there are so many books I loved reading." I gave him a quick, distracted smile, but his eyes never left me. His head tilted slightly, his unreadable expression never shifting. It was like he was studying me, trying to decipher something behind my words.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized how vulnerable I was under his look. The memories of when he had hurt me came rushing back, and fear slowly began to fill my veins.

Somehow, strangely, a small part of me welcomed his intense, unsettling presence. I glanced down at my hands, feeling pathetic in that moment.

"Amina." My eyes moved to his, instantly softening under the weight of his gaze. His thumb gently traced my lips, his eyes darkening with a quiet intensity, like a warning.

"Anything you ask for is yours, but I want you to understand the lengths I'll go to keep you."

Confusion surged through me, only to fade as quickly as it came. I think a mental switch had been flipped. His dark eyes held me captive, and for a fleeting moment, I wondered what they would look like if he ever fell in love with me.

"You're the worst," I muttered, more to myself than to him.

But he only chuckled, his dark charm sliding through his voice as he pulled me closer. "Moy. Vsy moye." (Mine. All mine.)

•••