Madness or Love (Be With Me Book 1) (12 page)

“Here, drink!” He shoved a plastic bottle in her face.
She frowned, avoiding his eyes, but took the water and gulped the cold liquid.
The moment of the clash had come. She opened her eyes and looked firmly at him.
Ian’s face was worried, gentle, a bit tense, but his eyes sparkled with ill-conceived
anticipation. He kneeled in front of her and touched her thighs. “Feeling
better?”

The compassion in his voice almost melted her
determination away. Victoria nodded. She couldn’t speak, not yet. He sat next
to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “You scared me.” His words came
muffled through her hair. Her body stiffened, and he pulled away. “What’s
wrong?”

It might have been a simple question, but the answer
was not.  She looked at him and let all of the emotions boiling in her heart to
the surface. Love, fear, insecurity, and passion mixed with a pinch of anger
flashed in her deep-green eyes. He gazed at her, mesmerized, slowly taking her
expression in.

A sudden realization made him jump. “Oh. My. God.” He
stood up and made several steps in the opposite direction before walking back.
“It wasn’t the ride that made you sick, was it? It was me; what I said.” He sat
next to her once more, avoiding her eyes. After several long seconds, he faced
her with a sheepish expression. “I kind of hoped for a better reaction. You are
the first woman that I made feel sick. My ego is officially wounded.” He smiled
insecurely.

Victoria blinked, surprised by his humor. “Please
don’t make jokes out of it.”

Ian grabbed her hands. “We don’t have to do this right
now,” he pleaded. “We can talk at home. Why not enjoy the rest of the day?”

“You cannot drop a bomb and then walk away without
consequences.”

Ian sighed. The park was full of people who didn’t pay
much attention to both of them, but still, he felt overexposed. He looked
around, searching for a solution. He knew Victoria well enough to recognize the
stubborn look on her face. He stood up. “Fine. Come with me.”

A confused look crossed Victoria’s eyes.

“If we’re to do this now, at least, I’ll try to find
some privacy.”

She nodded and followed him. They walked in silence
for a couple of minutes. Ian was gaining speed, and Victoria barely kept up
with his pace. They passed by the lake and headed to the Towers. Several
evergreens on the side were providing good-enough privacy.

He stopped under a pine tree. “I guess this is the
best we can hope for.” He looked away, blankly staring at the breathtaking
scenery. He hadn’t imagined his confession exactly that way, but Ian felt
determined to make the best of the situation. He faced the green-eyed woman.
“What do you want to know?”

The question took Victoria off guard. “I don’t know.
The truth.”

“Ha,” he laughed nervously. “The truth is that I
—
” He paced back and forward. “When did it become so difficult
to talk with you?” he mumbled under his breath.

Victoria was still, wide eyes staring into the only
man she’d ever wanted.

Ian breathed in and took a step toward her. “I love
you. That’s the truth. I don’t know how or when you became so important to me
that I thought about you every waking moment. You were always there in my mind,
smiling, when I closed my eyes. You sneaked into my life and stayed there. The
sound of your voice became a remedy, but one morning, it wasn’t enough anymore.
I wanted you. All of you. I love you.” He stopped and made a second step in her
direction. “Say something. Please.”

Victoria gathered all her strength.  “You are mad.”

“Mad?” Ian stepped closer. “Do you want to know what
madness is?” He was less than a meter away, and she looked for an escape,
retreating slowly until her back slammed into a tree. There was nowhere to run,
no place to hide, and she stared hopelessly into the darkened eyes of the man
in front of her. A hint of danger played in them. “Madness is,” he continued, “to
close my eyes and you were there. To search for you in every crowd even though
I knew I wouldn’t find you. To imagine the sound of your voice saying good
night. To crave the taste of your lips, the touch of your skin, the smell of
your perfume. I’m so tired of pretending not to love you, V.” He sighed. “And I
know how you feel; I can see it in your eyes.” He reached out and touched her
cheek. Her heart skipped a beat. “You see? Why do you keep denying it?”

“Stop. Please, stop,” she pleaded.

He didn’t. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t
feel the same.” He cupped her face. “Look at me.”

Victoria slowly raised her gaze and met his eyes. The
deeply-hidden love rushed in her veins and colored her cheeks a deep red. She
couldn’t lie, couldn’t hide the passion that clouded her judgment. She loved
him.

“Maybe you’re right; I’m mad. I can’t shake you off. I
can’t get enough of you. I can’t think straight. I need you.” His breath
brushed her lips. “I am madly in love with you.”

She made a final, desperate attempt to reason with him,
but her words came out like a whisper. “There is an ocean between us.”

He pulled away a fraction and, for the first time, saw
the fear in her eyes. “You will never lose me,” he vowed. “There is no force in
the world that can tear us apart.”

Her tear-filled eyes saddened. “You can’t promise me
that. Ian . . . the distance is not the only problem; it’s just the tip of the
iceberg. We can’t be together.”

“Why are you so afraid to be happy? Are you trying to
convince me or yourself? Let your heart believe.”

She sighed. “Love is fickle, demanding, selfish
sometimes, even cruel. It’s a hard job twenty-four-seven. I don’t want to end
up hating you.”

“Victoria.” He pulled her closer and moved away a
strand of her hair. His fingertips left a burned mark on her skin. Her
deafening heartbeat killed all the sounds. His voice was the only guiding light
to sanity. “We are stronger than all odds. It’s not madness, V, it’s called
love. A simple love.”

She dived into the deep-blue, searching for hope, for
that one-percent chance that they could survive life—they could beat the
statistics. She let go of the fear and welcomed the unknown. Life was too short
to run and hide. He saw the surrender in her tender eyes and did not waste a
second.

Their lips clashed.

And the light exploded.

THE END  

Selina Bodur
was born and raised in Bulgaria, but currently lives in the UK. Becoming a
writer is a childhood dream of hers. As a teenager she ventured into poetry,
and published few of her poems. In 2013 she released her debut novella
“Fighting the Impossible” followed by the poetry collection “The Death of the
Rose”. She still dreams of becoming a full time writer.