23

DEREK

She looked so peaceful, so serene, so innocent as I carried her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. No other woman – and believe me when I say that I’d been with many – had the same effect that Sofia Claremont had on me. She was fragile and vulnerable, and yet strong and resilient at the same time. She’d only recently entered my life, yet it felt like I’d known her for ages.

It was strange the way I felt about how she listened to me and tried to ease my mind after my tempestuous outburst. I was grateful, but at the same time, I was mad at her. Inside the music room, she listened to me give in to my passion for music. She listened until exhaustion and sleep stole her attention away from me. Lying on the cushioned wooden bench inside the music room, she was a feast to behold, with her dress hiking up those long, milky white legs of hers, her locks of red hair cascading down the edge of the bench and her pink lips slightly parting as she breathed. My stomach clenched just looki