Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“I had a life before this,” she continues, her gaze still fixed on the distance. “A normal one, or at least it felt normal at the time. But that all changed when… well, when everything fell apart.”
She pauses, and I can see the struggle in her eyes, the way she’s fighting to keep her emotions in check. I want to reach out, to touch her hand, to offer some kind of comfort, but I don’t. Instead, I stay still, giving her the space she needs to tell her story.
“It was a few years ago,” she says, her voice steady now, as if she’s made a decision. “I was in love. Or I thought I was. But it turned out to be a lie. Everything I thought I knew, everything I trusted, it all came crashing down. And I couldn’t stay. I had to get away, had to find somewhere to start over.”
Her words hang in the air, heavy with the weight of her past. I can feel the pain behind them, the hurt she’s carried with her all this time. And I understand it, because I’ve carried my own pain, my own scars that never seem to heal. I finally allow myself to look at her, really look at her, and I see the strength beneath the surface, the resilience that’s kept her going despite everything.
“That’s when I found the circus,” she says, finally turning to meet my gaze. “It wasn’t what I expected, but it was what I needed. Zeus… he saved me in a way. Gave me something to hold on to, something to care about when I didn’t think I could care about anything anymore.”
Her voice falters, and for a moment, I see the girl she used to be, the one who was hurt so badly that she had to rebuild herself from the ground up. And damn it, if I’m not completely captivated by her, by her strength and her vulnerability all at once. But there’s also guilt, gnawing at me, because I’m not being honest with her. Not completely.
“Sophia…” I begin, my own voice softer now, tinged with the conflict that’s been brewing inside me. “I know what it’s like to lose everything. To have your world turned upside down and not know how to put the pieces back together.”
She looks at me, curiosity and something else—something warmer—in her eyes. “What happened?”
I hesitate, choosing my words carefully. This isn’t something I share with people, but she’s opened up to me, and it feels right to give her a piece of myself in return. “There was someone,” I say slowly, the memory of it still raw even after all these years. “Someone I loved. But I lost them, in a way I never saw coming. And after that, everything changed. I changed. I had to.”
She’s silent, but I can feel the tension between us shift, becoming something more intimate, more charged with the weight of our shared experiences. It’s like we’re both standing on the edge of something, something we’re afraid to name but can’t ignore.
The conversation winds down, the air around us growing thicker, heavier with each passing second. We’re so close now that I can feel the heat of her body, the way her breath quickens in the dark. I know what’s coming, and I know I should stop it, but I don’t. I can’t.
She leans in slightly, just enough to close the distance, and I feel her breath on my skin, warm and inviting. My pulse races, my body aching to close the gap, to give in to the pull that’s been building between us since the moment we met.
Sophia stands inches from me, her breath uneven, lips parted just enough to drive me wild. The tension between us is thick, electric. I’ve been holding back for weeks, and I can feel it now, burning at the edge of my control. She’s not mine—yet. But the way she looks at me, the way her body responds when I’m near, I know she wants this just as much as I do.
She’s holding back, though. It’s in her eyes, the slight hesitation that makes her wary, the small distance she keeps between us, like she’s afraid of what will happen if she crosses that invisible line.
But I’m not afraid. I step closer, closing the space between us, the heat radiating from her body drawing me in like a flame. My fingers brush her bare arm, trailing up to her shoulder, and her breath hitches. She’s soft, smooth beneath my touch, and it takes everything in me not to pull her against me right now, to crush those lips with mine.
“Sophia…” I say her name low, almost a growl, and I can see the way it affects her, the way her eyes darken, her pupils dilating with the same desire that’s been twisting me up inside. She’s trying so hard to hold it together, but I can see the crack in her defenses. She wants this, wants me, but something’s stopping her.