Page 134 of Barbi and the Villain

“Since intimate relations are important to a couple, I think it’s better to lay it all out from the start. This way we will have a much more pleasurable time together,” I say confidently.

“And how would you know that?” He raises a brow. “You have no experience.”

“Maybe.” I shrug. “But that is how I want to acquire experience. Transparently. With communication. I want us to be honest with each other. If our souls are in agreement, our bodies will be, too.”

His eyes widen at my words and he averts his gaze. His chest moves up and down with every breath.

“You said you wanted your first time to be special. What is special for you?”

“Love,” I answer immediately. “I want you to love me. Be so irrevocably in love with me that you cannot envision us being apart even for one moment.”

“Love,” he repeats, tasting the word on his tongue and finding it foreign.

“Love me, Nykander, and I will give myself wholly to you.” I step closer. “Body and soul. I will be yours. Love me, and you will have my unfailing devotion—for an eternity.” I raise myself on the tips of my toes and lay a chaste kiss on his neck. “But cheat on me, and I will become your worst nightmare—for eternity and beyond.”

He gazes down at me with an inscrutable expression.

“See, I am a rather simple creature. I only require one thing.” I smile to make light of the situation.

He doesn’t share my amusement.

“You, Barbi, are far from simple, for what you ask is the most invaluable thing in the universe.”

21

We walk down the village square hand in hand. He’s so big by my side. So protective.

A dreamy sigh escapes me as I nestle closer to his side.

“Come with me. I have something to show you,” he says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

I let him drag me along to one of the village shops. As we make our way inside, the smell of sweets and pastries wafts toward me. I inhale deeply, my mouth already watering.

“Mr. Nykander,” the shop keeper addresses him, wiping his hands on his apron. He steps forward with a smile, inviting us to look around.

“Do you have those chocolate truffles I commissioned?”

“Yes, of course,” the shopkeeper replies. He goes to the back and in no time, he returns with a tray filled with chocolate truffles.

“We don’t have anything to trade in for this.” I get up on the tips of my toes to whisper.

“Do not worry about that. They are already paid for,” Nykander says with a wink.

The shopkeeper places the truffles in a carton and hands it to him, wishing us a good day.

I lick my lips as I stare at it.

We go out and take a seat on a nearby bench. Before I can try to steal one, he beats me to it. He lifts a truffle to my mouth.

My lashes flutter at his thoughtfulness, and I lean forward, wrapping my lips around the truffle and biting half of it.

He pops the other half into his mouth and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more erotic than this.

“You have something here,” he murmurs as he comes closer. He brings his thumb to my lower lip, slowly caressing it. His mouth nears mine, and I instinctively close my eyes, waiting for that magical moment.

Yet before his lips can meet mine, a loud bang erupts in the background. I startle back. Nykander does the same, his expression grave. Looking back, I note smoke coming from the western part of the village. Soon, screams accompany it as villagers run for their lives, only to be struck down by an invisible source, cut in two.

Nykander’s eyes flash and he immediately places me behind him, his shadows erupting from his body and surrounding me in a protective shell.

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