Page 51 of Framed and Forgotten
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KOEN
I didn’t think twice.Any fraction of a second lost could mean letting her slip away, and I couldn’t afford that. Avril was agile, a master at dodging, especially when it came to me. Regardless, she was no faster than I was ambitious.
As she took a step back, I followed her. I seized her, grabbing her face with both of my hands to hold her in place before crashing my lips on hers. My tongue pushed inside, exploring her mouth with an urgency akin to the first time we’d ever kissed.
Goddess, had I missed her taste.
For only a blink, she froze. Her stiff lips, paralyzed with shock, suddenly trembled against mine, softening, unsure. As if she was caught between instinct and rejection. For that single heartbeat, I thought -hoped- she’d kiss me back, and that would be all it’d take.
Then, she shattered my foolish dream, shoving me back with enough force to send me staggering a step. My hands slipped from her cheeks, the loss of her warmth striking like an icicle jab. She’d been so close, and now we were apart again.
“I know your games, Koen,” she rasped, furious. “They won’t work. Keep your hands off me!”
Her eyes blazed with wrath, but there was something beneath it. Fear. Hurt. As if she could fathom how dangerously irresistible our connection was even if she couldn’t remember our entire history. But I caught the way her voice wavered, uncertainty slipping through.
Proof that her armor was cracking.
I paid no mind to her warning. She was all I could see. All I could think of was my goal. It drove me, pulling me toward her, and I moved in her direction.
Avril stayed true to her threat. As soon as I was too close for comfort, her palm collided with my face, sharp and merciless, and my head snapped to the side. The sting bloomed instantly, a red-hot flash across my jaw. I didn’t flinch, didn’t even raise a hand to it.
I deserved worse.
Taking a breath, I marched forward again, like a mindless soldier whose only purpose in life was to succeed. My heart roared in my ears, my pulse deafening. Still, I closed the space between us, because she was right there.She was right there.
She didn’t hesitate this time, her fist striking my stomach instead. A solid, brutal hit. Pain shot through me, my knees buckling as the blow knocked the wind out of me. The world tilted as I hit the floor, coughing and gasping. I curled forward on instinct, one hand on the ground, the other gripping my abdomen where her knuckles had landed.
Even from my knees, I looked up at her.
Avril stood like a storm, chest heaving, wild hair tumbling around her face, rage dancing in her eyes like wildfire. Her fists clenched at her sides, like she wanted to swing again; like the weight of her emotions was too much for one body to bear. Yet, at the same time they quivered as if she regretted attacking me.
“I told you to stay away,” she cursed again, but her voice was different. It sounded like a prayer. Like she hoped I would make it easier for her and vanish from her life without a fight.
Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t ready to surrender.
“Is that what you really want?” I forced out, my voice rough and raw as I tried to recover from the punch.
Her mouth lingered shut for an instant, throat bobbing with the swallow she didn’t mean to show me. When her lips moved at last, they barely parted, reluctant to let the word out. “Yes.”
“Then kill me.”
My answer came fast as a bullet and struck like lightning. Avril went still - completely still - as if I’d struck her instead. Her eyes widened in confusion before narrowing again as she studied me, quiet, cautious.
I struggled to breathe in and out as I pushed myself up, slowly, standing through the pain. “The only way I’ll ever stay away from you,” I said, rising slowly, “is if I’m dead.”
And I stepped forward again.
With every step, I anticipated her next blow. I didn’t care if she clawed me to pieces. She could maul me beyond recognition and I’d still reach for her bloody hands. If becoming her personal punching bag was what it took to win her back, so be it.
To my surprise, she just stood, gaze flickering over me like she couldn’t decide whether to trust her mind or her heart.
Once I was inches away from her, close enough to feel the heat rolling off her, I murmured, “Until then,” I paused, my attention shifting to her lips. “I’ll keep coming back.” She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
I lifted my hand and brushed my knuckles down the side of her face, rejoicing when she didn’t flinch this time. A flicker of relief settled within me, and I relished it, touching my forehead to hers.
