Chapter 38 - Where It All Began: Part II

JEROME DAWSON's POV

Luna suddenly placed her palm above my hand. Despite the cold temperature coming from the breezing air of the air conditioner, Luna's hands seemed to be much cooler than that.

"But if I simply follow what they tell me to do, then what difference does it make from having no future?" I questioned her even though I knew that she might have difficulties with finding comforting words to say. "I don't want to be someone's pawn, Luna. I want to set a future for myself, I don't want to dance through their strings."

"I don't want to say that I understand how you're feeling all of those since I'm not in your shoes but, at least let me do this."

Luna almost bent down both of her knees just to be able to reach me. Even her embrace was precisely cold.

"H-hey..." I was at a loss for words.

In this world, I had always been given such a strong impact of mixed emotions. But somehow... I don't know what type of feeling I should express during this whole time of Luna's arms encircling onto my body.

I'm not quite sure but... it's like a relief that she's by my side.

"Luna..." I called out her name in between my short gasps. Her endless hug was making me short of breath. "You're too close. Shouldn't you ---"

"Whether it's a baseless rumor or not, I don't care if you end up biting me all of a sudden," Luna cut me off as she gazed upon me. "As long as it's you, Jerome, I don't care whatever you'd do to me. I may sound weird but, I just really wanted to let you know how I felt," she added.

Ah, this must be what those older people call love.

This burning sensation inside my chest, the urge to not let go of her no matter what happens, and most of all... the temptation to give her my mark. It's like I'm malfunctioning. The voices in my head kept on repeating the same word: mate.

I placed all of my strength to push her away from me. Luna completely lost her balance so she stumbled to the ground. "A-ah, I'm sorry," I sincerely apologized at the same time that I stood up, in an attempt to lend her my hand.

Luna didn't hold my hand. I thought that she ignored me, but in reality, she was quietly crying with her clenched fists in front of her face to cover her tears, which explains why she didn't notice my attempt to assist her.

I instinctively locked her up in my embrace, stronger than what she did to me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you so hard," I repeated my apology, thinking that she might have not heard it the first time.

She shook her head. "It's fine, Jerome, I'm not injured... I-I just didn't expect that you'd hate the thought of having someone like me interested in you," Luna said.

The words that she mumbled didn't get through my head. I didn't let any more time be wasted on anything. I held both of her cheeks. I saw how her eyes have turned red because of her sobs. "It hurts for me to see you in this state, Luna, please stop crying..."

I played with her hair until my hand stopped on her nape. I controlled her head with the use of my fingers to tilt it sideways. Her neck was wide open for me to bite her, and she didn't even give any signs that I should stop what I was about to do.

Even if she doesn't say it herself, I can sense how much she trusts me with her life... that I wouldn't dare to devour her entirely to the point that she'd die.

"Don't blame me, you provoked me to do this, Luna." My mouth reached for her neck and the instant that my lips touched her skin, I was ecstatically happy. "I thought it was just my imagination, but your skin... really is colder than mine."

She didn't even flinch. There wasn't any hint of her having any urge to resist, so I continued to mark her as much as I wanted to. It was hard for me to do at first, but the way that I kept on sucking onto her skin surpassed my dream. If I have anyone to thank right now, it would be the butler, Jin, who infuriated the hell out of me. If it wasn't for his constant attempts to get me to train, I wouldn't be here inside the library, marking the mate of my life.

"Hot..." Luna suddenly mumbled to herself as a short gasp escaped from her mouth. "I literally feel like my whole body's boiling." She wrapped her hands around my neck out of the blue which made me pause for a short while. "Please don't stop, Jerome..."

Both of us might be clueless about what we will face after this, but it was the least of our concerns.

We didn't notice how time flew by. We were forced to stop midway when the door slammed open. I was the first one to turn around and there I saw some familiar faces of elderly people.

"What's going on here, Luna Asterbelle?" asked the man who seemed to hold so much authority.

I glanced at Luna who was blankly staring at the person who spoke, as if she wasn't expecting for his sudden appearance here. "D-dad... I mean... Mr. Asterbelle, you're here... Why?" She was obviously confused about the situation.

"Is it wrong for the parents to come to the orphanage without prior notice to see the girl that we're about to take home?" the woman questioned, which is most probably the wife of Luna's dad. "From our perspective, we believe that what we just witnessed right now was a grave mistake and a disappointment to the whole Asterbelle clan. You have no right to question our arrival here, Luna."

They all sounded serious. And judging from what I've heard, they're about to claim Luna from the higher ups and that only means that she would no longer be staying in the same orphanage as I do. I don't think that there would be another chance for us to meet one another.

If there's an opportunity, I'm quite certain that it would take us a few decades. There's a chance that she won't even remember who I am and what we've done during this day.