Opening My Heart

The world stopped around him.

She loves him.

Overwhelmed with happiness, Dylan stared at Evelyn in disbelief, her confession rang in his ears on a loop. With trembling hands, he managed to hold her face and tried to look for any lies in her eyes.

“What did you just say?” He spoke, still in a trance. Evelyn nodded with a blank face.

That’s when his heart swelled and a wide smile etched on his face. His happiness knew no bounds.

“Even after everything you did, I failed to erase you from my mind. Yes, your betrayal killed me. It was true that I hated seeing your face. Even breathing in your presence revolted me but the day you saved me from Miller, you revived those feelings which had ignited the flame of love in my heart around three years ago. ” She spoke, her eyes bore nothing but truth.

Dylan felt his heart somersaulting watching her brown orbs teeming with love. Oh, how badly he had waited to see that affectionate smile of hers.

“You stirred those emotions again when you saved my dignity. I won’t lie, I didn’t believe you blindly and did my research to see if you had a hand in it but found nothing.”

Dylan who was listening to her attentively instantly turned furious. He gripped her shoulders before pulling her to his face level, “How can you even think like that?”

“Why can’t I?” Evelyn jerked his hand away, “You were the one who made me lose my trust in you. Did you forget when you used that guard to scare me so that I accept becoming your Genie?”

Dylan was taken aback. His guilt resurfaced as he looked at her with sad eyes.

“But that was in the past Eve. I am not like that anymore” he pleaded to her. Evelyn looked away.

“That past is still stuck in my hand. Trust is earned Dylan and you lost my credibility many years ago. That’s why I had to read between the lies, I can’t afford any betrayals. But there you proved me wrong.”

Her gaze softens. Dylan looked at her.

“Even when the truth was in front of me, I deliberately ignored it and renamed it as a debt that I needed to repay. I owed you for saving my dignity and decided to cooperate. Tolerated you only because I wanted freedom from this cobweb you have weaved around me. And it wasn’t because I hated you but because I was so sure that the vestige of that dried love that I was searching for was nothing but a mirage. You and I can never be together. But fate has other plans. The hatred unbeknownst to me blossomed into something else. I tried so hard to not stray but in the time we spent together, those feelings only turned stronger. And by the end, I fall in love with you. Once again.”

Evelyn stated and soon a tear slid down her eye. Dylan instantly collected it on the pad of his index finger and tried to wipe it away but she gripped his hand. Her hold was warm and firm.

“I can’t hate you anymore Dylan but I can’t love you either. This time I don’t want to regret my decisions. There is a part of me that is still scared of you. Just like today, you tore my dress, I can’t let you manhandle me. You need to control your anger and learn how to behave.”

Dylan immediately cupped her face, “I promise you, I’ll change,” he spoke desperately but Evelyn shook her head in denial and peeled his hand away.

“No, this time I wouldn’t lend you any reprieve. Moreover, I am still in a quandary that whether this relationship will work out or not. And for that, I need time and expect the same from you.” She spoke and gripped her hand with both of her hands and hugged it closer to her chest.

“Give me a break, Dylan. That’s the least you can do for me.”

She looked at him with hope but Dylan rejected it straightaway.

“I-I can’t,” he whispered, not having the strength to lose her again.

A zap of current buzzed through him when he felt a soft touch on his chin. He slowly lifted his head only to find Evelyn holding his chin with two of her fingers.

“Promise me you won’t bother me anymore.”

She spoke and waited for his answer. Dylan, on the other hand, was having a battle inside. The muscles in his jaw tightened, and his chest turned heavy as the scorching pain of staying away from her turned unbearable. Evelyn understood his turmoil.

“Dan,” she called him softly. Dylan heaved a frustrated growl and slammed his palms on the wall, trying his best not to lose his composure. But this time Evelyn didn’t flinch. It needs to be done. The call will be hers and he would be at the receiving end.

“Dylan, promise me.” She repeated in a monotonous tone.

“Fine.”

He spat and punched the wall in anger. His skin was cut open and blood oozed out of his knuckles. Evelyn frowned, feeling something wet on her right shoulder. She looked up but was startled when Dylan grabbed her face in his palms and slammed his lips on her.

“No-“ she immediately resisted when he cupped her chin and made her look into his bloodshot eyes.

“I did what you said.” He sneered and leaned to capture her lips in his mouth but Evelyn covered his mouth with her small palm.

“This won’t work like this Dylan. I need you to behave,” she chided him with stern eyes but jolted when he licked her palm.

“Stop it, disgusting,” Evelyn immediately retracted and wiped her hands while giving him a stink eye. Dylan on the other hand smirked and snaked his hand down her waist and hurled her closer.

“Cut me some slack,” he husked seductively and before she could object, slammed his lips on her. Evelyn tried fighting him but eventually gave up. He wouldn’t listen so she acquiesced. But made sure that it would be only the last time.

Loud sounds of wet smooches echoed in the wall; the air even blushed watching their nasty eyes.

Evelyn opened her mouth to inhale when he thrust his tongue and plundered her mouth, feasting her sweetness like a caveman. She pulled her elbows to the front and plastered them against his hard. But Dylan wanted her to hold him so he peeled her hand away from her chest and pinned them on the wall. Evelyn was still embattling with her mind that was raging at her to push him away. She didn’t resist him but didn’t reciprocate either. She let him do have the upper hand.

But all the thoughts flew out of the window when he jerked open the lapels of his suit that she was wearing and grabbed her soft melons in his callous hands. His desperate fingers toyed with her breasts, feeling the softness of her flesh while he kissed her madly. It was too hard to restrain when the pleasure was too much. Dylan pulled her nipples and kneaded them roughly to show his anger. Yes, she earned her consent under duress but there was no way he would leave her without any punishment.

Evelyn threw her head back, relishing the pleasure when he detached his lips and took her right bud in his mouth before giving it a rough suck. She moaned in pain when he sank his teeth in her areola but later soothed it with his tongue.

Devouring her chest, he again brought his face up and pulled her lips into a deep kiss. The torture prolonged turning the atmosphere steamy. Evelyn was the first to pull away as her lungs burned for oxygen. Dylan then followed her suit and joined their forehead while catching his breath.

“Take as much time as you want but don’t go to anyone else please.” He begged her. His heart ached to send her away. There’s no way he would survive it but he was still holding onto that thin string of hope. Maybe she would realize that he is the only one for her.

The pain in his voice turned her rueful. Evelyn closed her eyes, heavy tears flooded inside them but didn’t answer him. She had nothing to say.

But Dylan wanted proof. He grabbed her face and made her look at him. She slowly opened her teary eyes.

“Please, Eve. Don’t leave me. My life would lose all its purpose. Please don’t go.” His voice cracked and soon tears tumbled down his eyes. Evelyn immediately cupped his face, shock filled her eyes.

“Dylan-” his tears twisted her heart.

“No promise me, you wouldn’t leave me. I can’t survive without you.” He pleaded, showing her his vulnerable side. Evelyn had never expected a day when he would be on his knees begging her love.

“Dylan, please don’t make it harder for me than it already is.” Evelyn tried to make him understand when he pulled her closer to himself with a jerk. She winced in pain as his hold turned brutal.

“No,” he raged while boring holes in her face, “Take as much time as you want but at the end of the day you will only be mine. You will bear my name. My wife.”

Evelyn was shell-shocked. The man was surely bipolar.

Dylan slid his palm behind her back and groped her rear before flushing her body to his chest. She tried to push him but he gripped her hand and pressed it firmly against the wall stretching her body.

“You won’t double-cross me, Eve.” His voice dropped an octave, “I love you and I am willing to give you time but no way I would tolerate it if you tried to erase me from your life. I am trusting you but I will set the whole world on fire if anyone tried to snatch you away from me. I swear to God Eve, I would pull the trigger without blinking so better keep this in your mind.”

He shot her a clear warning that would heed no mercy. Evelyn sighed in disappointment.

The man was in dire need of some anger management classes.

****