Page 11 of The Guru: Shadow

The floor.

Spinning so far away.

I can’t feel my feet anymore.

Grounding.

I need to stay…to stay.

And just when the world disappeared around her a shudder rushed through her entire body. So uprooting, she had to close her eyes for a second. The presence behind her engulfed her before she even heard him.

“Are you leaving already, ma belle?” he asked with a deep, calm voice while his breath trailed against the back of her head.

Fuck.

Not right now.

She couldn’t be seen like this.

Especially not by some random guy.

Despair added to the cocktail of self-loathing, panic, and fear, intoxicating her entirely.

Her heart hammered against her chest.

Faster.

And faster.

And faster.

Skipping beats, her mind became fuzzy.

There it was, the all-consuming fear of dying.

Not getting enough air.

She sure would collapse any second now.

I need…I can’t – fuck.

Stretching out her arm, she tried to find the wall and tried to keep herself steady while she was being whirled through the universe.

And that very moment, she believed the world to collapse around her, he stepped around her. His hands wandered around her waist to her back as he pulled her strong into his grip.

Physical touch.

She tried to push herself away from him. Being hugged or, more like, pressed against the body of a total stranger was certainly not something she would do. And yet, she could not deny the sensation of calming warmth radiating through her chest from it.

Consuming physical touch.

It can’t be.

So she tried to push herself off him, buthe did not let go. His hand even wandered further up behind her head and pressed it forcefully against his chest, right where the opening of his shirt was.

Everything in her revolted for a moment.

But the second she rested the side of her face on his chest, the slow and steady sound of his pounding heart resounding in her ear while his calm breathing lifted his chest up and down in a slow rhythm of relaxation, something in her gave in.