Black Romance Chapter 47

Salt

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I watched her as shelaid her hand across her chest, her breathing erratic and unhinged as stars twinkled in her eyes .

She was beautiful . In every way . From the color of her hair to the tips of her toes, Jessie was like a bright light, slowly being drowned to silence her beauty . Every scar, every bruise, every cut, each one had a story .

A story I wished she didn't have, memories I wished she never had to relive inside her head .

You really are too beautiful .

Resting my head in my hand, I looked down on her . "Tell me about yourself . How long have you been with him?"
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"You don't really want to hear my life story . " Her eyes fluttered up to mine, flicking back and forth as the question seemed to press on her chest . Inhaling a sharp breath, she held on to it for a moment before giving me a vague answer . "Too long . "

"No, really, I want to know . Exactly how long?"

I wasn't sure why, but I needed a real answer . I wanted the truth . I wanted to know all her secrets, all her pain, everything she had to endure that brought her to this point . And then I wanted to strip them from her, leaving her bare and weightless, new from the inside out .

You'll never fix her .

Rolling onto her side, she tucked her hands under her head and pulled her knees up, snuggling into the blanket . "What does it matter? Any time with that man is too long . "

"Why haven't you run?"

Glancing down at the light colored scars on her shoulder, she ran her hand across them . A feigned smile spread across her face as she softly touched the curve of her shoulder .

I had my answer .

"Those aren't scars, they're your strength . "

Blinking, her lashes fanned across her eyes like canopies as her lips parted like she wanted to scrutinize my comment . Her tongue came out, slowly licking her bottom lip . "I wish I could see it that way, all I see are reminders of a stolen life . "

Reaching my hand out, I stroked her arm, tracing the lines . "Every scar is a moment you found your own will to keep going . You could have given up, but you didn't . That says more to me about who you are than any words you could use . "

A slight smile teased the corner of her lip as she looked down at the healed wounds . Her voice was lost, replaced by a tender touch as she rested her hand on mine and squeezed . Her smile broadened, and that smile, fuck that smile could drop any man to his knees .

"That's the smile I've been waiting for . "

Dipping her chin into her chest, she moved her gaze around my face . "You said not to do it unless I meant it . "

Brushing my thumb across the soft curve of her jaw, the world around us became less and less vicious . We were both built and molded to only know chaos . Anything outside the boundaries of carnage would be out of reach .

We shouldn't know happiness, because it would destroy our version of normal .

We shouldn't know pleasure, because it would extinguish our need to feel misery .

It was a level of self destruction that we both hated and craved without truly realizing it . Because it was all we ever knew .

"You don't have an accent . "

"That's because I'm not from here . "

"You're from the U . S . " Brushing my hand down the outside of her arm, I tickled the tips of my fingers against her soft skin . Jessie nodded as her thoughts clouded her mind . "How did you end up here?"

"How?" she asked, letting out a light laugh . "It was a giant ball of fucked up that got me here . "

Arching a brow, I wanted more . "Where you traveling? Did he steal you off the street?" Every question held meaning . And every answer she gifted gave me more reason to keep her .

You can't keep her . You're giving her more than anyone else ever will right now .

It's all you can do for her, you know that .

"I was nine when he took me and eighteen when he brought me here . "

"Nine?" The number shot out on hard air as the shock must have been written all over my face . Flinching at the pitch in my voice, she seemed to shrink in size, folding up into herself .

Chapter end