1927: Redemption

Challenge

“It never is the event that defines what happens after, yet the attitudes and manner of those involved. You can meet challenges with humility, grace and a brave soul... or you can do the opposite. And though these things are never easy, that each time is significant and important, and we need love to get us through, we do get to choose our response and how open we are to learning the lesson and emerging more empathic than we were before.”

2021-DECEMBER-FLORIDA

“Who are you, stranger?” Adeline spoke quietly, her eyes still on him.

In a move that surprised her, his dark eyebrow lifted and his golden gaze remained locked on her, she felt her eyes lock in on his own and she froze when his hand reached toward her face. The move that should have been too gentle for someone his size, he let his pointer finger touch her cheek. It was so quick that she hardly had time to register what happened.

When he pulled away, Adeline finally realised why he had done that. A traitorous tear of hers slid down his pointer finger. Her face heated up as she wiped the spot in hurry.

“So, are we going to talk about it?” She asked again, restlessly.

The stranger or call him a beast, all the same, simply stared at her, adding to her discomfort and irritability.

Adeline waved her hand in front of his leaned figure, but nothing, absolutely no response or any indicator has shown that he had heard her. He simply stared at her with his unwavering gaze.

“We made a deal, remember?” She found herself asking him, wanting to hear just a taste of his voice again.

Her eyes widened, “No.” That was the only word that emerged from his tight lips in his deep monotone voice. Adeline glared into his dark eyes and resisted the urge to punch him in the face, which would be fruitless considering his build

She was too stupid to actually trust him in the first place as Adeline finally knew that this had been a trick to get him doing what he was, treating her knee QUIETLY.

When he backed away a bit, Adeline immediately jumped from the table to approach him, but at the end winced in pain. The stranger stepped forward to steady her as she looked at him with wary eyes. The way he made her feel strange, she was struggling on if it was a good feeling or not.

Her eyes lingered on his untidy chocolate hair, wondering if it was as soft as it looked. He stood there and watched Adeline, his eyes remained on her face but they were as calculating as ever.

“Why even bother wearing this mask?” She found herself asking him and despite everything, Adeline almost expected an answer.

her lips parted in shock when he rolled his forest greens, something fluttered in her stomach, and that something urged her to continue.

An errant thought ran through her mind, it would not be such a bad idea to make him as uncomfortable as he made her.

Adeline closed the distance between them and stopped when their bodies were an inch apart. His dark eyes looked down at her, and she could tell if they were giving her a warning or hiding something else in their depths.

Raising her hand as quickly as she could, Adeline aimed for the black mask that hid the lower half of his face. Again, he was much faster than any normal living being should be.

Even at her quickest, he snatched her hand out of the air as if it were nothing. This time he held onto his wrist, his touch sent shivers down her spine as she felt incredibly warm in this chilly weather of December. Adeline sucked in a sharp breath as golden flecks swirled in his eyes, something was stirring his insides and it had to be her.

Adeline made a quite obvious guess that he did not like someone pushing his boundaries, well he was not the only one.

He held onto her wrist as he raised a finger at her and wagged it, a low sound rumbled from his chest.

Her heart had to be beating at a million miles an hour, and she could not help but get lost in the golden flakes that swirled and dipped in his irises.

His gaze remained on her own for a few more seconds, long enough for her to notice the nerves and butterflies swarming in her stomach, creating one big mess. Finally, he released her wrist and let it fall lifelessly to her side.

“Keep this clean and dry.” After saying that he was out of her room in the blink of an eye.

But, Adeline was not far away from commenting, well basically yelling after him, “Avoidance! One of my favourite techniques!”

She nibbled on her lip and turned around away from the door. As she walked toward her bed, Adeline could easily feel his scent lingering in the air. His presence felt close enough to protect her, and far enough away to keep her from trying to touch him.

The more she thought about it, the more clear her insane decision had become.

Adeline would not behave, she would not change anything about herself. But, the seed of curiosity in her was growing at an alarming rate, which the beast knew clearly and he had his own plans for her.

She was not sure when or how, but she would see his face. And, if she was lucky, she would get him to have an actual conversation with her.

That was the challenge Adeline was up to take and get success but before that, tomorrow might become an informative day for her as she would be meeting Ace.

Well, let us see what might happen tomorrow.

What does Ace have to say?

Why did he call her to meet?

Will the stranger ever reveal his intention or does he have his plans?