Craving Her Enemy's Touch

It was as if he was letting her go, allowing her to walk away and find her destiny. Did he not know he was her destiny? That if he didn’t want her she didn’t have a life to return to? She couldn’t stop her limbs from trembling and couldn’t find the words to tell him what he needed to know.

‘Sandro, I...’ Her shaky voice deserted her; she began to feel suffocated, as if she couldn’t get enough breath into her lungs.

He looked over at her, his brow furrowed into a frown, but it was his eyes that finally showed her what she needed to see. His gaze darted to her as her words died as she saw it. In the dark depths she saw the same hopelessness which filled her heart and she knew she had to say those words. With a jolt she also realised why he wouldn’t say them first.

I don’t do for ever.

Her words on that first night they’d made love drifted through her mind like a haunting spirit. ‘Sandro, I have to say this. I can’t go without telling you.’

Slowly she walked towards him, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she almost couldn’t think. He looked away from her and jabbed his fingers through his hair, turning his body away, deflecting anything she might try to say. Had she misread the hope in his eyes?

‘Just go, Charlotte. If that’s what you want to do, there is nothing more to say.’ She saw his jaw tense as he gritted his teeth, felt the raw pain and knew she hadn’t misread anything.

‘I love you, Sandro.’ The silence that suddenly shrouded them was so heavy she almost couldn’t stand and for a moment he didn’t move, frozen in time.

When he did, it was such a small movement, disbelief all over his face as he stepped towards her. In slow motion he reached for her hands, taking them in his and drawing her towards him. She was desperate for him to speak, to say something, but he just looked at her, his hands firmly wrapped around hers.

‘Ti amo, ti amo...’ His seductive accent caressed each word and his lips, which had moments ago been pressed into a hard line, smiled. Wonder and happiness sparked from his eyes and she fell into his embrace, feeling as if she had come home. She’d found where she needed to be to move on in life.

Right here in the arms of the man she loved.