Page 66 of Resilient Love

“Elise, I’m not taking you for mass or even a confessional, though the Lordliterallyknows we need it. And it’s a basilica, not a cathedral, not that it matters. Just shut your pretty mouth and wait to find out what the surprise is, okay?”

I smirk up at him as he shifts his hand from my chin to cup my jaw, lowering his voice as he says, “And baby, I don’t have a single fucking interest in washing away a goddamn thing that happened last night. In fact, I think we should do it again,tonight.”

A shiver trails down my spine as he presses a firm kiss to my lips, dropping his hand and resting it at the base of my spine, ushering me up the slippery marble steps.

My trainers make a squeaking sound as we walk up to the tiny reception desk covered in rosaries hanging off of jewellery racks. A thin man stands behind the desk, nodding as we approach. “What can I do for you?” he asks, a thick Kent accent lacing his words.

“Two tickets to the top,” Rafael whispers, not wanting to disrupt the nearly three hundred people sitting in the wooden pews, listening to the morning service. I didn’t even know churches had services on Fridays.

The man collects his payment and points over to a thick pillar with an open archway that’s about four feet tall. “You can enter from there.”

Rafael thanks the man, taking my hand in his and leading us toward the small alcove.

My heart starts to speed up as we step inside the tight space, and Rafael grips my hand firmly in his. He takes the first few steps up the winding brick stairs, andveryreluctantly, I follow him. The space is so tight, if my tits were any bigger, I might not fit in here at all. And these tiny stairs are barely big enough to place the top half of my foot on.

“Why are we doing this, exactly?” I ask, following behind him, reluctant as ever.

“You’ll see,mi vida.I promise it’ll be worth the climb.”

I’m not sure I agree, but I continue up the claustrophobia-inducing staircase, wishing there was a genie nearby to grant me a wish. I’d kick this fear of heights to the bloody kerb.

After a solid twenty minutes of climbing, the narrow stairs begin to widen, opening up to a large domed room with a wooden cross-bridge.

My eyes swing from the ground, which is quite literally the top of the mosaic glass ceiling that I’d seen when we first entered the building, to Rafael’s smirking face. “Absolutely not,” I huff out, shaking my head, fully prepared to turn around.

He tugs me to him, winding his arms around my waist and snuggling his face against my neck in just the way he’s learned makes me melt. “Not fair.” I breathe.

“What’s not fair?” he asks, his breath tickling the thin skin over my thrumming pulse. He laughs softly, and I’m certain he’s more than aware of his wrongdoings.

“This is manipulation, and I won’t stand for it,” I say, but the further his hands travel down my waist, the less determination my words seem to hold.

“Come on, baby,” he whispers, cupping me between my thighs.

“Sir, we are inchurch. This is a place of worship,” I whisper-yell at him even though we’ve just climbed three hundred steps, a fact I’m painfully aware of thanks to the number painted on the side of the last brick step I took, and there’s clearly no one around.

He chuckles deeply, the sound vibrating through his chest and against my back. “If you do this, I’ll let you take over tonight. You can doanythingyou want with me.”

My mind floods with images of all the ways I could wield that newfound power, and I’m suddenly standing a little taller and with a renewed sense of resilience.

I nod, taking off ahead, but as the wooden beam making up this horrifying bridge over the stained glass beneath us creaks with my weight, I take a step back and push Rafael forward. This was his dumbass idea, which means he better be there to catch my fall if this shite goes down.

My knees wobble as I hold my breath; clutching onto the side rails with a death grip, my throat constricts and my heart hammers in my chest. We finally make it to the other side, a fact that shocks me seeing as I almost passed out from holding my breath, and I feel warmth spread through me from the accomplishment.

Rafael peers over his shoulder at me, wearing a knowing smirk, but it turns out he’s suddenly on his best behaviour because he remains quiet, not calling me out.

We make it around a corner that reveals possibly the biggest obstacle yet. “How does it keep getting worse?” I squeak out, feeling a little lightheaded as I stare up at the hollowed-out tower. The architecture in this area is clearly not something that resources were focused on. It’s merely an extremely tall tower with metre-wide steps, railings,thank fuck, that wind up the sides of the walls, climbing higher to a point I can’t even make out yet. All I know is that the windows in here are smalland provide minimal visibility, but thereisa burst of light somewhere at the top, and if I were anyone else, that might make me feelbetter.

But I’m not just anyone. No, I’m Elise Auclair, fear of heights extraordinaire and apparently a closeted baby-back bitch. So instead of relief, I’m filled with a thick sense of dread at knowing this trek to the top is likely to lead me somewhereoutside,and I might just die if I have to face this same fear again so soon.

“Wasn’t fucking me over the side of a skyscraper enough for you?” I ask, whimpering.

Rafael squeezes my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips, pressing a warm kiss to each one. “You’re gonna be fine,mi vida.What did I tell you that day on the roof?”

I joggle my mind for an answer, but nothing comes to the forefront.

“I said,” he whispers, “I’ll never let anything happen to you.” I feel my chest squeeze and my legs nearly give out as he tugs me to his chest and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll protect you with my life, because youaremy life, Elise.”

Everything is buzzing as the meaning of his words burrows into my skin. I’m tingling as they absorb into me and wriggle their way into my blood vessels, searching for the very marrow of my bones to settle into.

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