Page 34 of Scent of Desire
“Where?” I squared my shoulders, trying to mask my feelings.
“We’re going to Grasse.”
My mouth opened. My eyes widened. “Really?”
Radcliff’s lips twisted into a snarl.
Grasse. We’re going to Grasse.A bolt of excitement ran through me, and all the scents around me had seemed to burst into a festival of fireworks.
Radcliff readjusted his cufflinks, which shone like diamonds. “It’s your birthday, if I recall?”He knew.He then opened the passenger door with that cold-blooded grace of his. “We’re leaving now. Your bags are already packed.”
I didn’t move, still shocked that Radcliff had planned this trip for me. I didn’t bother to ask him how he knew about my birthday—after all, Radcliff knew everyone’s secrets.
“You remembered.” I was breathless.
He had remembered the talk we had that day on the cliff about my mother and about the place I dreamed of going to. It was the most wonderful surprise someone could ever do.
“Of course, I did.” He gave me his hand so I, the witch, would step inside her carriage.
There was no word I could possibly speak to describe how I felt. I shot a last glance in the direction of the greenhouse, a part of me wanting to share my happiness with the Devil’s Corpse. I wanted to tell her that I was wrong. Someone was here.
“I don’t even know when your birthday is.” I smiled at the man who could read my soul. The one whose secrets remained to be unfolded.
“And you don’t have to. My birth isn’t worth celebrating; that’s why I never gave it any importance. Yours, on the contrary, is a different matter.” He invited me once again to grab his hand in his gentlemanly manner.
“I disagree.” My smile deepened. “One day, you’ll tell me. You’ll see. I’ll make you change your mind.”
His lips curled into a thin line. “I wouldn’t bet on it, flower goddess.”
I seized Radcliff’s hand and stepped inside the Devil’s car. And soon, we’d be on our way to my heaven.
The fields of flowers were never-ending.
I’d stepped inside a sugary world, a rich spectacle of rainbows of colors, from sweet pink to crystal white and purple love. Radcliff’s private plane had landed, wafting on the flowers like a heavy breeze. Flying in luxury had been a new experience for me, but this scenery was like nothing I’d seen before.
I stepped outside the plane, rushing to the fields like it was my oxygen. A need. The floral scents tingled my nostrils—creamy tuberose, bright peony, purple-hazed lavender, magnificent jasmine, and roses—and a smile took over my face. The sun was beaming on this paradise, and I had only one desire.
“It’s wonderful.” I took off my ballerina flats for my bare feet to touch the grass. I reeled around to peer at Radcliff behind me. “Can I?”
He nodded as if he knew this question was coming. I laughed and didn’t wait for him to rush through the field. My hair swayed with the wind, the spring breeze bloomed my cells, and the grass on my bare legs was the touch of freedom and wildness. I passed my hands through the plants like one felt the need to hug.
I engulfed myself deeper in this paradise, becoming one with the flowers. I ran through them until the sun arrived on my back. I stopped at the view of the forest standing at the end of the path. It was the opposite to the one at Ravencliff Manor. This one was bright and welcoming, holding the power of white magic with birds singing the melody of love. A realm of scents, a kingdom where humans weren’t allowed and where faeries ruled.
I turned around, finding Radcliff far away behind me. I waved at him, impatient for him to join me. But then, seeing him in the midst of the flowers, it tightened my heart and cut my breath short. My cells reacted, puffing up with a whole new feeling—something more powerful than lust and more destructive than an aphrodisiac.
I tried to ignore it, but the feeling inked through my core. The gleaming sun tinted the flowers in a golden undertone; its rays gilded the whole surroundings as an offering from the gods. They hit Radcliff’s back, like a dark king braving the field of rose centifolia.
I had to glance away before my heart combusted. Next to the jasmine field, the sight of another field shot me with an electric shock.
“I can’t believe there is a field of lilies of the valley here,” I said breathlessly, hypnotized by their clusters of little white bells and glossy leaves. “This place is heaven.”
I hopped in their direction, and a feeling of nostalgia rocked me. My mom would have loved this, her Lily in the middle of the lilies. I twirled around the flowers in a circle, and in the middle of one of my spins, the view of Radcliff under the shadow of a tree, leaning casually on the branch, made me stop. I blew out one of my locks of hair that had fallen over my eyes and returned his ghost of a smile with a full one.
“Seeing all of this is the best birthday gift I could ever receive.” I bit my lower lip. “I can’t thank you enough.”
Radcliff grabbed a vibrant red apple from the tree that he examined before keeping it locked inside his palm. “What about owning them?”
“What?”
