She gave me a little wave, even though I was only a few yards away from her. I nodded back at her, the muscles in my face stretching weirdly. It took me a second to realize that I was grinning like a fool.
I tried to school my features to something more serious and intimidating. There might not be any immediate threats lurking around this room, but I’d accompanied Sofia to campus in order to protect her.
No silly smiles for me.
“What are you going to sing for us?” Professor Lassiter asked her.
I was only peripherally aware of his presence by Sofia’s side. Her stunning emerald eyes captured and held my full attention.
“Ave Maria,” she replied to her professor. She didn’t take her gaze off me.
“Okay, let’s hear you go through it once, and then, we’ll address how you can improve your technique on the second time around.”
She nodded to acknowledge his instructions, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Her smile softened, her features taking on a peaceful, beatific glow.
Then, her lush lips parted, and the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard issued from her delicate body.
I forgot how to breathe, stunned by the pure, powerful notes that reverberated through the room. They sank beneath my skin and reached a dark place deep inside me. Heavy, honeyed warmth settled in my chest, filling me up and soothing tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been carrying.
The sound was too ethereal to be real. I couldn’t understand the language of the lyrics, but the profound sense of peace that blanketed my being couldn’t have been attained through any words I knew.
The notes that had started with exquisite power flowed into a pitch so achingly delicate that I wasn’t certain if it was even audible sound or simply the sensation of floating.
I filled my lungs, as though I could breathe in the resonance of Sofia’s soul along with oxygen. She felt just as essential, just as life-sustaining.
Something burned behind my eyes as a lifetime of volatile emotions were soothed by her angelic voice.
The sound softened, becoming quieter and trailing away. I leaned toward her as it receded, attempting to follow the warm peace she provided. I wanted to hold it close and wrap myself up in it, so I would never lose it.
Her perfect lips closed, but I could still feel her song in the room, gently rolling back to her like a tide flowing out to sea.
Her lashes fluttered, and her lovely eyes opened to peek up at me. The uncertainty that tightened her features for a fleeting moment melted back into the radiant smile that was bright enough to blind me.
My jaw was hanging open, but I didn’t feel any shame at the unadulterated awe I displayed. I craved to close the distance between us and run my hands all over her divine form to remind myself that she was real. To remind myself that she was mine.
The possessiveness that had gripped my heart before I’d heard her sing now consumed me. Sofia belonged to me, my captive angel.
“That was great, Sofia,” Professor Lassiter said.
She broke her attention away from me to focus on her teacher, absorbing his praise.
Somehow, I forced my body to lean back into the chair, restraining myself from going to her.
I couldn’t punch her professor’s teeth out and carry her off like my personal prize, my most jealously-guarded treasure.
This is important to her, I told myself. Don’t fuck it up.
Sofia wouldn’t thank me if I ruined her academic reputation by brutalizing a faculty member.
“Let’s go through it again,” Professor Lassiter prompted. “This time, I’m going to call your attention to what we’ve been practicing with the Alexander Technique. You’ll notice a remarkable improvement.”
Improvement? How the fuck did the fool think she could improve upon absolute perfection? The notion that his idiotic posture exercises would somehow affect her astounding capabilities was absurd and offensive in its arrogance.
Sofia didn’t seem offended, though. She appeared focused, determined.
I gritted my teeth and stayed seated. Sofia obviously valued her academic achievements. Even if I knew her professor was full of shit, she still wanted to excel in her program.
She took a breath and began to sing, the ethereal sound filling the room once again.
Before I could relax and fall back under her spell, Professor Lassiter placed his hand between her shoulder blades.
“Let your torso soften and widen.” He spouted his nonsense over her perfect song. “Let the air come all the way down to the base of the lungs.”
The fucker bracketed her waist with his hands, feeling her breaths as she created divine sound.
I tasted blood in my mouth, but I was too concerned with clinging to my tenuous control to register that I’d bitten the inside of my cheek.
“Loosen your spine,” he instructed. “Don’t occlude your voice box. Let your neck move freely.”