"Do you want me to kiss you again?" she flushed, as he suddenly leaned in closer to her, "You want me to actually sleep with you?" she could feel him breathing on her face, and her heart raced faster than it was supposed to.
"why do you want to sleep with me?" He inquires.
"W__Why don't you?" she manages to blurt out, smartly sliding backward a bit, trying not to show the extent at which his closeness was burning her from the inside.
"Well, what's the rush? Why do you insist on sleeping with me?" he slides closer to her again, his lips only a breath away from hers. Any minute now, any minute now, she kept telling herself in her head, she kept expecting something, something hot and moist, coaxing and soothing, she was expecting his lips, on hers.
"Well, because you said you would teach me how to do it tenderly." The words were barely a whisper, swallowing back on her saliva, her eyes closed, as she waited, it was coming, anytime soon, soon…
But…
"And I did, I gave you books that explicitly explains the love between a man and a woman, explained what sex and making love meant, those books clearly explained tenderness." He wasn't even close to her again. He was sitting up straight again. She wasn't getting anything.
"I know," She sits up straight, disappointedly. "I'm just confused... Because I don't know why you're doing this to me. Nobody has ever been half as nice to me before, no one has ever done a quarter of what you've done for me, and yet they all wanted something back, but how can you be with me in the same house and not want to sleep with me? It makes me wonder if you want something else from me. Every one of those men…"
"Now that's enough," he abruptly interrupts her. He was angry for some reason.
"Stop trying to compare me with those men all the time, I'm not them. They paid to have sex with you, but I paid to set you free. They beat the shit out of you, and forced you to do things, but I _ I want to protect you and coax you."
"Mea," he suddenly takes her hands in his, causing her to shudder, but not with fear, but with desire, and a burning fire, looking straight into her eyes, "Mea, they forced you to have sex, but if ever we will do that, it shouldn't be by force, or because others had done the same to you so you expect me to do the same,"
"I'm not like the others, and I believe I've tried my best to show you that. And neither should we do it because you want to practice what you read in novels. Mea, if we will do that, then we won't just be having sex, if I just wanted to have sex, you wouldn't still be here, but Mea, I don't want that."
"Mea, you see sex as something horrible, something disgusting and horrifying, but I don't want you to think that way. You are scared of being hit, so you dread the idea of sex, but I don't want you trembling with fear if I'm to touch you, I want you quivering with ecstasy, I want you to enjoy every bit of it. I want to change your perspectives about the things that happen when a man holds a woman in his arms, both of them in full naked glory. And if I ever were to hold you in that manner, Mea, I won't just be having sex with you, I will make love to you Mea, tender and sensational or harsh and sweet, just like in those novels, but then from the moment I'm inside of you, I belong to you, you will own me, and you will be Mea. Mine..."
She could see the sincerity in his eyes. It was something she'd never seen in anyone before.
"So Mea, the question isn't_ why don't I want to sleep with you... Mea, the real question is... can you keep me?"
...
IN a few hours, Zeno and Luna had reached the Island. Beautiful, it was. Mesmerizing, was the view, but it was much more colorful when he came here with Dan-a, he could still see it clearly, the days and nights they both spent here, away from everyone, just the two of them together 24/7. Now it just feels devastatingly lonely.
Especially when this little Luna of his still refused to say a word to him.
"Let me help you with that." He offers, but she just slaps his hand away annoyingly and drags her boxes on the sand.
"For Christ's sake Luna," he hissed frustrated and annoyed, as he yanked the boxes out of her hand, also making sure he didn't hurt her as he did so.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I already said I'm sorry like a hundred times now, what else do you want me to do huh? It will just be me and you on this whole goddamn island, and you want to start it out like this, huh?"
Like a statue she stood on one spot, and like an endless fountain, tears began to trail down her face. He could see her chest rise and fall, could see her lips quiver, and he hated it. He hated it when her eyes were filled with tears. The sight only angered him even more.
"Goddammit!! Don't f*cking cry." He dumps her boxes on the sand angrily, his hands akimbo in frustration, looking out into the open sea, trying to calm himself down, he could hear her whimpers, and it touched every cell in his body.
With one long stride he towered over her, his hands landing softly on her shoulders, "I'm sorry Piccola... Again." He says softly, neshly wiping the tears from her eyes. Gently lifting her chin so she would look up at him, and Lords! Those dark gems were covered by tears, and he hated the fact that it was his fault.
"Don't cry because of me." He tenderly presses his thumb on her eyes, squeezing the tears out of them, and urging her to open them again. And a smile tugged on his lips, as clear and beautiful, her eyes were now. Still a little wet with tears, but clear.
"I'm really sorry, but__ don't wake me up like that again. I just_ I just can't control myself around that time." He honestly says. He really didn't mean to yell at her that morning, it was just wrong timing.
"Hug me." she demands, and he laughs, moving some strands of her blue hair from her face, and sweetly tucks it behind her ear.
"come here..." He pulled her tiny frame into his arms, wrapping his arms completely around her, "You know... You're the only living person who makes me say the word sorry like a mantra." He chortles, kissing the side of her head, and she equally rested and breathed on his chest, firmly wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I'm hungry." she blurts into his chest, and a throaty laugh escaped his lips, and she could feel the vibration on his chest where she rested her head, and she loved the feeling.
"you crazy little thing. Come, let's set things up in the house first, I think we will have a lot of cleaning to do too."
*
*
Chapter 16-25 Epilogue.
Some days ago.
"My world, Luna, your mother in heaven will strike me dead if she knows I'm setting up her daughter to go_ to go_ Ay-ay-ay, I can't even bring myself to say it out loud." Edoardo grumbled.
"So you're gonna help me?" she asks.
"Marco, I can't believe you're also in support of this arrangement. Zeno will kill you if he finds out."
"Old man, stop thinking about it too much and agree to it. I know you also know that he's not been the same since Dan-a, he needs someone new in his life, he needs some kind of light in his life, but he is never going to go find that light himself. He's just not ready to come out of his misery. So I agree with Luna. We should give this a shot." Edoardo just eyed him wickedly as he spoke, but he was right.
They all knew how much he loved Dan-a, so after she died, they knew he would not get over her easily, but they hoped he'd get better, but instead he'd gotten worse, he'd tried to kill himself multiple times, they'd forced him to undergo therapy then, hoping it would help him, but it's been five years now, and he was still suffering.
It was like Marco had said, he would never walk out of his misery himself, so he needed someone to pull him out of it. And Luna wanted to be that someone.
"Come on papa, just help me, help him. I can't stand seeing him so depressed anymore. I want to try and do everything I can,..."
"And if he still doesn't change?" Edoardo suddenly asks. "if you give him everything, your heart, your love and even your_ your body, if you give him everything and he still has her in his heart, what then? It's never easy to get over your first love, I of all people know that. After your mother, I could never find anyone like her. So, how are you sure you can help Zeno"
She had thought about this, but she had decided not to see the possible negative outcomes of her actions, but only focus on the positive part. She'd make him love her, and he will love her and they'll live together happily. End of story. She wasn't going to waste her time thinking negatively.
"We won't know until we try." she simply says.
"You_" he didn't even know what to say to her. He loved her, he didn't want to see her get hurt, but he also loved the man named Zeno. And he too was tired of seeing the man depressed, they were both important to him, and if things didn't go as she hoped it would, the both of them could get really hurt, the nice relationship between them now could also be lost. But if things went the way she wanted, then… everyone might end up happy.
"So what do you say old man, are you in?" Marco raised a brow, his fingers crossed behind him, waiting for his response.
Edoardo looked at his little girl, and then the picture of Zeno that was on a wall in the room, and he just couldn't say no…
"OH! Your mother is definitely going to kill me."