I Make This Promise

“Ours, hopefully.”

The moment he uttered those words, panic rose from my stomach, burning through my oesophagus and into my mouth.

I pulled open the door and tumbled out onto the sidewalk and threw up everything that I had consumed not hours before.

It was too much. All of this was far too much.

“I can’t be here.” I mumbled more to myself than anything. But it was loud enough for Mason to have heard it.

As if my body was controlling itself, my feet shuffle forward. I had no idea where I was, or even how to get back to the orphanage from here. All I knew was that I needed to get away.

Get away from Mason.

Get away from the stifling confines of the car.

Get away from the nightmare I seemed to be living.

My feet moved forward blindly. I barely noticed the direction I was travelling, much less where.

I barely noticed the sound of the car door opening and then slamming shut. I took no note of the gentle tug on my hand, or the strong arms that came to stop me from wondering further than I had already got.  I didn’t notice, but my body relaxed back into the arms. It was as if I was attuned to his every touch.   

“This is exactly where you should be Sienna.” His words were supposed to be a comfort. But they weren’t. They just made the panic soring in my gut worse.

“No, you don’t get it do you? I don’t belong here. This isn’t me. Its not my life. I am just a girl that comes from nowhere. I am normal. I don’t belong to this world.” By now, the tears were falling freely from my eyes and spilling out onto the floor. “I just want to go back to how things were.” My eyes closed, trying to block out the hurt expression on the face before me.

After a few moments, his arms moved around me, pulling me more securely back into his arms. Placing my head on his chest, and his arms around my body. It felt so completely wrong to be in the arms of a stranger. Yet, it also felt so completely right. His warmth trickled through me. And the sparks that began with just a touch of his fingers, now spread throughout my body. Tickling and tingling at every point our bodies merged.

“Tell me Sienna. Does this feel wrong? Does it feel unnatural to be here in my arms?” He said the words quietly, just above the curve of my ear sending delicious chills down my spine. “I know you are scared. And I know none of this makes sense right now. But just trust in this feeling Sienna. And I can help you through this. If you choose to go back to your old life, I will not stop you. But I beg you, give me a chance.”

I pulled back and looked into his hazel eyes. There was nothing but honestly in them, and something else. Hope?

It was hard to say no, when he was looking at me as his way. The fact that in that moment, all I wanted to do was lean forwards, and capture his lips in a kiss. They were so close. Could I do that? Would that have been crossing a line. Why did I want to kiss him so badly?

He had noticed the inner turmoil. His brows furrowing, just ever so slightly, as he waited for my reply.

“I will give you a chance Mason.” I finally breath pulling my mind back to the here and now and pulling away from his perfectly kissable lips. My heart feeling slightly more at ease as I said the words. “But please don’t break my heart.”

I guess I had never been put into a position that ever really tested me before. Never had the opportunity to realise just how messed up I was. But I guess it made sense, after being abandoned from a young age, that I should have issues with trust and not wanting to build relationships with people that could just walk out on me.

The only person that I had truly let in, was Elle. And that was only because she was just the same as me. I didn’t make friends. In fact, I never had any interest in making friends. Friends let you down. They cancel on you at the last minute. They make promises and can’t keep them. They drop you and move onto the next friend. It was easier to only rely on myself.

As for romantic relationships. I had never been kissed. Never looked at anyone with longing. And as far as knew, no one had ever been interested in me.  

That is until this moment.

How could I go from so guarded, to all of a sudden willingly placing my heart into someone else’s keeping?

I wasn’t sure I knew the answer. It was an odd feeling. One that I wasn’t sure currently if I liked or not.

“I make this promise to you Sienna. You are my world. From now on, everything that I do, every decision that I make, you will be the first person that I think of. You have become my reason for being. The air I breath. You are my world, Sienna. I will never break your heart. I will never leave your side.”

“How can you say that, you barely know me?” Tears still flowed from my eyes as I listened to his vow.

“It doesn’t matter, my love. You are my mate, and one day, you will realise just how sacred that is to our people. Your life is the only one I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

I didn’t know how to respond to his proclamation. They were words you would give a lover, not someone you just met. But, even if I wasn’t yet willing or ready to admit it, and perhaps I never will be, but I was beginning to understand exactly what he meant.

Leaning forwards, Mason places a chaste kiss to my forehead before pulling me up off of the cold floor.

“Come, your freezing cold. I need to get you warm and something to eat.”

He gently pulls me forwards towards the white mansion. My bare feet followed reluctantly, holding onto his arm, tighter with each step forwards.