Soft thud of shoes on the floor had him turning around in a blink of an eye, only to be awestruck at the beauty before him. Beauty was an understatement; she looked like a precious fallen angel from the heavens! The dress fitted her body just perfectly. It was as if someone kept her figure in mind while sticking it to utter perfection. And boy, was he wrong about those heals! Allarick thought those were the dullest, plain green heals Loraine had brought him and that it would most likely ruin the show of the dress-not that he cared tho-but seeing it hugging her creamy, smooth skin made it look like a masterpiece worth every penny spend on it.
His slow gulp, as his eyes trailed the length of her body, was enough indication of his loss of words and it made her even more uncomfortable than anything thing else. It was his gaze that was glued to her. It watched her as her wide eyes screamed of unease she felt deep inside and it watched her as she pulled on the hem of her dress as if it would grow long enough to cover her up.
" Stop pulling on it unless you want to tear the lace off."
And there, he was back to being himself! Back to being totally unaffected and unappreciative of the lady before him.
She kept standing as he walked to the one-seater couch by a coffee table and made himself comfortable. Sure, her friends-even Jasmine- would see no issue in standing before a man in a dress as pretty as her's, but Daisy was different. She knew it. Allarick knew it. Despite it being a little below the knees, she couldn't help feeling exposed and humiliated.
" I hate you," her low, uncertain voice tore through the thick silence in the room.
Allarick crossed his legs one over another, hands tapping against the delicate fabric of the armrest, as his eyes kept on studying the mouth that spilt the venom at last.
Each second passed slow and painful under his scrutiny. It still felt unreal, like a dream- or more like a nightmare- and Daisy wished hard she would wake up any second now and realize it was all nothing but a fabrication of her mind and that she was still in her world of rainbows and sunshine. But a part of her knew how real it felt being subjected to someone's interest. The goosebumps on her arms were another prove to add to the cart.
"Come here." His voice snapped her out of her little bubble of anticipation. Had it not been so commanding, Daisy wouldn't have budged an inch. But out of fear of the consequences, she stood right next to his legs, eyeing him with a look that asked him to stop.
Why did her looking down at him excited his nerves and set his heart on fire? She wasn't the first one and for sure won't be the last. He would have blamed the look of innocence sticking her features, which all the other girls he had been with were short of, had he not known better.
"Sit." He whispered, craning his neck to look into the most magnificent brown eyes he had ever seen in twenty-three years of his life.
With a gaped mouth and wide eyes, Daisy asked " What?" as if the mere word was foreign to her ears.
Allarick took hold of her hand, gently, patting his leg with the free one. "Sit," he said, again. Daisy watched his adam apple move as he swallowed slowly.
"I...I"
Loss at words, she wrecked her mind for anything to avoid his intentions. If diverting eye contact was something that would have helped, she would have been sitting in her room by now. When her gaze met him, the last bit of restrain she had, seeped out of her body. His gaze was 'expecting.' It was as if he knew how his demand was oceans away from something she could even think of and yet, he used just that against her. He knew she had never been with a guy before and he took it upon himself to make sure she wouldn't want to be with one once he is done with her.
" Allarick-"
With another slip of his name, his lips pressed together as he pulled her with a force she hadn't anticipated, causing her to trip over her feet and land right on his legs.
He always had his ways to do things might it be cruel or vicious or both.
A gasp escaped her lips on the sudden realization of what just happened. Being thankful for the darkness for shielding her now tomato look from him, she began pushing herself off him.
If she had thought her feathery push against the hard of his chest would help her get away, she needed to think again. Allarick circled his arm around the small of her back, crushing her attempts with a simple pull.
With a thin layer of air being all that cushioned the space between them, her trembling hands gave in to his hold, despite her brain screaming to make space. It was not as if she didn't want to, his closeness simply iced her energy.
"Hate..." his breath fanned her ear as her eyes looked anywhere but into his. A low chuckle brushed her hair, "Dog..." he uttered again, bringing back the memories from the night she was tricked into this terrible mess. "Those aren't the words for a woman like you… They just... what should I say? Reflect straightforwardness?"
"That's what I feel about you," she whispered, barely audible.
"Word it right. What do you feel about me?" He asked, voice stern as if he was keen to know the answer.
"Let me go." Daisy pushed him a bit harder for once, "please."
" Eyes at me, flower." And just like before, there went her strength!
That marked the third time he used that title for her and even though she had thought it wouldn't affect her anymore, the gaze she graced him with clearly showed hurt his words caused her.
"I despise you with every fiber of my body!" She hissed, a lone tear falling on her cheek. "Now let me go." This time her tone was harsh, conflicting the weakness those eyes carried.
A smile broke loose on his lips as his gaze travelled to her quivering mouth.
" Too bad," he uttered, "The hate you carry... and the hate I'll give..." he toyed with the words, knowing how torturous it was for her, "your little body won't be able to sustain all this 'hate,'" he spoke, slow and low, tugging her hair behind her ear, "since the game's mine, I should be the one to decide who gets what." His smile was as wicked as he, Daisy knew it, yet something about it put her skin on fire.
"I want you to love me." With those set of words, the smile vanished like it was never there to begin with.
"Never!" Daisy eyed him with something similar to fire in her eyes before putting all she had to get up. "let me go-"
"Don't humiliate yourself, flower. I thought you would put a stronger battle to back your words... but you're already falling on your knees, begging me to let you go."
"Alla-" she stopped, "I wanna go home... please" her voice sounded softer-the typical of Daisy. Even if he lets her up, where will she go? The door won't open until he wishes for it to. There was no use in struggling.
"Okay," he whispered, his eyes lost as he pinned her with a look that reflected all the pondering his brain was doing. " Fine, I'll let you go," he said after some time, " if you tell me you love me."
Before she could sigh a breath of relief, another bomb exploded on her head.
What's worse than being called a flower? Telling Allarick you love him!
Humiliation washed over her at the very thought of what his motives were. If one thing Daisy was sure of, it was that Allarick Hemsworth won't ever give a damn about her feelings for him; love or hate-the latter being the only she cherished. And she very well knew why he would ask her to confess her non-existent love for her: to humiliate the courage out of her.
"Allarick ple-"
" No..." he interjected, " I'll tell you when to take my name, okay? " As if his demand wasn't enough to throw her on edge, his mocking tone had her struggling to keep the tears at bay. Little did she know, that night was just a blessing compared to what was on her way.
"I won't."
"Yes, you will."
He grabbed her chin to face him. " Say Allarick I love you. "
Her eyes searched for anything that would give away any sign of the boy she shared years with, someone who watched her from afar and someone who never, for once, made her feel embarrassed as she was then. Only if the girls drooling truckloads of saliva after him watch him as raw as he was now, they would run places, thought Daisy.
"You say it nice and you're free to go. I'll drop you off myself," he said with no remnants of a heart.
Gulping down a lump, Daisy licked her bottom lip, gaze floating in every direction but to his.
" All...Allarick I... love you."
His stare was keen and deep, satisfaction coating the pride dancing in the darkness of those orbs. His lips twitched. "I don't like it. Say it again."
Her gaze was glued to his as if a mere movement would only add to her humiliation.
"Allarick pleas-"
"Again."
If she had any plans of keeping up a front till she's back in the safety of her apartment, it flushed right there and then.
"Come on." He used his free hand to lift her face to him, the very look on his feature said it clear that he wasn't messing around. His grip tightened with a drop of tear-pure like her superficial existence- that slipped down her lashes. "Now!"
"I love you."
Her light sniffs were all that kept the aura engaged between them. Daisy kept on batting her lashes, eyes assaulting every inch of her lap yet never bearing enough strength to look back in the ones prying on her.
"Again." He commanded, voice low with a hint of pleasure.
***
Time passed painfully slow like a turtle crawling out of a cave. The night gradually dissolved into the newborn light of the day and the white smoky clouds hid the stary sky away as if it was a thing worth care and protection. It wasn't exactly full bloom day yet. The sun was awaking but the slumber still fell heavy on it, dimming its orange glow so much so all it could do was spread a shade of blue across the skies.
But it was enough sign for Daisy to realize what she had gone through in the span of one night as she sat on the edge of the bed, watching the man before her peek through the curtains.
"I don't remember asking you to stop." His voice sounded from behind the curtains; casual and utterly unaffected, while his fingers fiddled with a small black ring box in his hand. She remembered seeing it on his nightstand when she first stepped in the room.
Daisy wiped the remains of her tears from her face, pursing her lips together and making a small prayer for all of it to end.
She was tired.
Exhausted.
And emotionally drained after telling this heartless man that she loved him in a row.
And all he did was to ask her to repeat herself each time she said it.
" Allarick...please.," another tear tracked the path of those before it.
Allarick closed the curtains, waking to rest his side next to the wall. His appearance wasn't a bit as cold as it was in the darkness of the night, in fact, he looked rather relaxed and satisfied with a small, hardly noticeable smile lacing the corners of his lips.
"Come here."
Not wanting to continue this for a minute longer, Daisy obliged, knowing it well she'll have to either way.
"I fathom you won't ever do the mistake of 'despising' me again, will you?" He questioned, taking her hands in his. " And even if you do, which I have no doubts about, you don't look half as stupid to make the sin of confessing it."
"No." Daisy replied short only to change her words as Allarick raised his eyebrows, " I mean yes..."
"Good."
After a minute of looking her in the eye, Allarick walked to the door, pushing the handle down and opening it with such ease as if the door knew who to serve... which it technically did.
"I'll drop you off."
"No. I'll take a cab-" Daisy interjected.
"Until you want to stay here till the sunlight, walk with me."
***
"Wait for a second and I'll give you the dress back," Daisy muttered low to a whisper.
"I don't take the trash back to my home."
As if the mere ride wasn't enough to keep her on the edge, his remark threw her off. Without another word, she got off the car and climbed the stairs to her apartment, not bothering to look back once.
Despite the fact that she couldn't contain herself back with him, she still managed to keep her pieces together, at least till she shut the door behind her.
Once the door closed and the feeling of being safe and away from humiliation took over her, Daisy broke as she had never before. With her back resting against the main door, she let her heart cry out as the events from the night played like a roll in her mind.
Everything made sense except for a simple 'why'. Why would Allarick treat her as such?