Page 12 of Scent of Desire
His final thrust sent me to hell.
Separately, we were black and white, a world without color with two extreme scents.
Together, we formed a red-tinted one, a magical potion of scents.
My vision clouded with small stars like glitters. I didn’t trust my legs to support me, and when Radcliff put me down, I’d have tripped down the bath if it wasn’t for his arm hooked around me, holding me protectively. I buried my head in the hollow of his right neck, and he pulled me in his embrace.
“You caught me.” A soft smile slipped free.
“I will, always.” His tantalizing hot breath brushed on the left side of my nape, and in a murmur, he added, “Just like you’ll always hear my whisper on your left shoulder.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, it’s a promise.”
“It’s romantic in a way,” I mused, knowing that it meant his spirit would always be by my side.
“Having the Devil’s voice haunting you like a ghost isn’t something one would have described as romantic.”
So, we’ll just have to write a romance of our own.
One born of the madness in our hearts and the obsession of our souls.
Creating the perfect bouquet was like doing the most detailed personality test.
You had to take into account the physical aspect, then the size, the meaning, and finally, the smell.
Lying on the grass, I picked the narcissus flowers in the field. They grew by the cliffs, facing the devastating wind and unable to escape the most violent of vicissitudes. Narcissus, the flower that held the significance of joy and, at the same time, death. I rose up from the ground and brought her to my nostrils, smelling her heady and opulent, floral yet animalic scent. It was similar to a hyacinth in a way.
I added the narcissus to the poppies I carried in my arms. They were the color of passion and blood, with notes of vanilla and cherry blossoms. I completed my bouquet with a firewitch, the flower that could resist any type of heat. A divine flower sent directly from the gods. Purple calla lilies for a touch of darkness. And to finish, the passionflower, a sensual smell coming from another time and place.
My bouquet was a rainbow of colors and scents, yet it was for the tenebrous Radcliff.
I took the black ribbon from my pocket and tied a knot between the stems of the flowers. A butterfly landed there, finding comfort. I chuckled, holding out my finger so the butterfly would fly toward it.
“Spring is blossoming, cutie. Where are your friends?”
The butterfly, as he or she understood me, flew from my finger to rest on my bouquet, clapping her wings.
Flowers were her friends too.
“Yeah, me too.” I stroked a petal, remembering when I used to organize funerals each time Mom cut a flower.
I had my own cemetery, and each of them had their own name. Until one day, my mom told me it was okay to pick flowers—if you did it right. She said you have to cut a flower in such a way she’d grow back even more magnificent. Since that day, I abandoned the graves, and I grew with the certainty that I could immortalize a flower in time with a scent. By picking her, she could live more than one life.
The butterfly flew away, heading in the direction of the forest. Today, it looked welcoming, like Merlin had given all of his magic to enchant it. Through the immensity of the trees, I heard the engine of a car passing by. The ravens flew into the sky, not used to the sight of visitors, and the foliage stirred.
From a distance, I squinted at the red sports car stopping a few meters away from the gothic gate. A door slammed, and a man dressed in all white cut through the forest, not walking on the main path.
As he inched closer, fighting his way over with the wildness, I recognized his glowing blond hair and wide smirk.Adonis.He waved his hand at me, probably a sign to join him in the forest.
Without hesitation, I held my bouquet and ran in his direction with a smile. I opened the gate, which creaked with a shrill cry under the watching stare of the gargoyles guarding the property. I met Adonis half-hidden in the woods like he was a teenager going out after his curfew.
“What are you doing here?” I exclaimed.
“I came to see you, princess. We’re friends, after all.” His lips curved into a flirty grin, and he opened his arms.
He drew me into a caring hug, taking me fully under his embrace as if he had missed me for too long. I encircled one arm around him, the other protecting my bouquet from getting smashed against his torso. My head rested on his chest, and I smelled his purple scent, fading out with the overpowering scent of the flowers.
