Page 60 of A Foster Fling
I’ve always been able to keep myself entertained. I read books, I watch the animals in the meadow outside, and I could sing all day long. But since Abbe came here, since that attack, he’s opened up something inside of me. He made me realize I was utterly and completely alone. And now, for the past couple of days, I’ve been pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what the wordfamilymeans.
Where is my family? Where did I come from? Who am I? Why am I locked up in this tower? Is it really for my protection that I’m kept here? To be kept safe from the outside? Or am I truly a prisoner?
Just as I slump to the floor, my legs spread out in front of me and my hands covering my face, I hear the distinctclop, clopof a horse’s hooves. I hold my breath, listening, straining my ears, and then… There it is, clop, clop. I’m quick to jump up from the floor and run to the window. I know I should be afraid. The last time this happened, I was brutally and savagely attacked. But now, the emptiness inside of my chest is healing with the hope that he’s back, and maybe he’s the only one that can save me. I lean my head out of the window, my fingertips gripping the stone sill, and I listen. The air holds a damp humidity, the feel of it soaking into my skin, making my hair feel heavy. Even so, I lean out farther.
The sky is darkening with storm clouds, and something inside of me warns, maybe Abbe is a storm bringer. Wherever he goes, dark clouds follow. That has to be an ominous warning, so I beg my heart to listen to the logic my mind is spewing, but to no avail. My heart has won the battle. I watch with narrowed eyes at the corner of the meadow, and I wait. It doesn’t take long for that first crack of thunder to boom over the tower, and then Hans appears. His flowing mane is blowing in the breeze, and then Abbe is there sitting on the horse, his eyes searching for me. Our eyes meet as a clash of lightning brightens the sky, and I’m shocked in place. The air sucks back into my lungs as I try my best to take a breath. My chest is so tight, my heart is beating so hard against my ribcage. My fingertips are white and cold, numbing against the stone, but I can’t move, can’t breathe, and I can’t look away from him. The spell worked.
He stops in the center of the meadow, looking at me as the first drops fall. His head tips back, the water drops onto his face, and I can see his chest rapidly moving. I envy his lungs for the air they’re breathing, because mine just will not work. He finally tips his head to look at me, and a small, sad smile coats his lips.
“Zelinda,” he calls. “Do you forgive me?”
I open my mouth; I try to suck in the air, but nothing works. As I stare at the man who violated me, I lose my voice to the beat of my heart. This is the man I desperately want to forgive.
Because I’m alone.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
Instead of answering him, I push back from the window and turn quickly to run down the stairs. I hear Hans’ hooves hitting the meadow ground as they begin to leave. He can’t leave yet. I try my best to suck in air, and finally, my lungs expand as I throw open the door.
“Abbe!” I scream.
He’s nearly at the other end of the meadow, but he stops the horse and turns in the saddle. His eyes look hopeful as his hair is being dampened by the soft fall of rain.
“I forgive you,” I tell him, because I do. I truly believe Abbe was under a spell, that no man could be that bad.
Then Pearl’s words ring back through my mind, her warning about bad blood, but Abbe doesn’t have bad blood. I can see through his eyes, they’re pouring with humanity. Surely someone with bad blood doesn’t have humanity.
He slowly turns Hans around and comes back toward the tower. When he dismounts, he holds up both hands and stays rooted to the spot on the ground.
“Zelinda,” he calls. “I don’t know what came over me that day. I don’t understand what happened, only that a monster lives inside of me. Maybe he’s still there, and I don’t want to come too close.”
“I don’t wanna be alone anymore,” I confess, my hands dropping by my sides. “I don’t wanna be a prisoner anymore.”
He takes a few steps forward and stops. His eyes never waver from mine. “Who has you trapped here?”
“A witch.” It’s barely a whisper, but it’s out there, nonetheless. My chest lightens as my mind clears. “I’ve been held prisoner… By a witch,” I say a bit louder.
He takes a few more steps, and now he’s standing nearly in front of me, just an arm’s length away. If I reach out my hand, my fingertips would glide along his chest. That chest rises and falls with each breath he takes, but those eyes never leave mine.
“Zelinda, will you let me into your tower?”
“Abbe, will you stay with me and free me from my loneliness?”
Two more steps bring us inches apart, and his hand cups my cheek, his thumb running along my cheekbone.
“Zelinda, I don’t know how to be a savior. But I’m willing to learn... If you’ll have me.”
I rise to my toes, bringing our mouths parallel. His breath fans over my face, and my body breaks out into goose bumps.
“Kiss me, Abbe, and this time, kiss me gently. Kiss me as a lover.”
He bends at the knees, wrapping his arms around my waist, and lifts me. My legs wrap around him as my arms land behind his head, my fingers dipping into his wet hair. Then he kisses me. His lips brush mine, gentle at first … wary, but as soon as my lips open, his tongue snakes inside, and I moan at the delicious feel of him. His velvet tongue brushes against the roof of my mouth, and his moan escapes his mouth, only to be trapped in mine. He breaks the kiss, and I look around to find us both standing in front of the stairs. I watch the conflicted feelings flicker across his face, and I let them. I let him feel everything he did to me because not only do I have to forgive him, but Abbe has to forgive himself as well.
“Do you forgive me, Zel?” he asks, his voice a hoarse whisper.
“Yes,” I tell him. “I forgive you for the monster you set free.”
Then his mouth is back on mine, his hands gripping my ass as he walks us up the stairs. He lays me gently on the bed, and then his body is over mine. His hands slip into my hair, and when he takes a deep inhale, I swear his pupils dilate and begin to glow.