Saorsa

Desire

"Alright I'll tell you about my life," She sighs, exhaling smoke into the surrounding air.

I've never been so excited to hear someone talk about themselves. Serena is like a big question mark to me and the prospect of finally unravelling some of her secrets has me on the edge of my seat.

She leans back, her head coming in contact with the grass behind her as she looks up at the starry night sky. I join her, our bodies side by side as we lay under the moonlight.

"Well as you know, I grew up in Naples with both of my parents," She starts. "Things were good for a while, we didn't have much but we were happy."

"Then.. when I was about seven they slowly started changing, getting involved with drugs and gambling," She recalls, her voice quiet.

"Until eventually we had nothing left and my parents were just shells of the people they used to be," She continues. "I lived with them until I was fifteen, enduring their constant fighting, having to pick up jobs to pay our rent because they'd spend what little they made on drugs and having to watch them run our family into the ground."

"Until one day they finally snapped, my dad told me he hated the way I thought I was better than them and how even the sight of my face made him sick so they kicked me out after my fifteenth birthday," She says, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry Serena, that's so fucked up," I tell her, hearing how hard her childhood was making my stomach drop.

"That's not even the worst part," She laughs bitterly, taking another hit from her blunt. "Them leaving me so vulnerable made it easy for him to take advantage," She grits, obviously harbouring a lot of animosity.

"Him?" I question, trying to keep my calm.

"My ex.. fiancé," She trails off, almost as if admitting that they were almost married is shameful to her. "Fiancé?" I repeat much louder than I had intended, propping myself up on my arms.

She nods, avoiding eye contact with me. "Tell me about him," I urge, feeling the anger rising.

"Well it wasn't the best relationship," She laughs to herself. "I met him just after I had been kicked out and he was thirty," She reveals.

It takes me only a few seconds to do the math, she'd been kicked out at fifteen.

I almost feel sick after hearing this information, my fists curling in rage.

"Fucking hell," I blurt out, running a stressed hand through my hair after fully sitting up, no longer feeling so relaxed.

"You can't even call that a relationship Serena, he was a pedophile and he groomed you," I tell her. "You know that right?"

"I know," She sighs. "Well now I do but at the time I loved him so much it didn't even matter what he was or what he did to me," She says regretfully, now joining me in sitting up.

"What did he do to you?" I ask hesitantly, scared to hear the answer. She doesn't reply though, her body tense as she looks out at the ocean.

Her silence is enough of an answer and I suddenly get the urge to punch my fist through a wall or maybe shoot her fiancé in the skull.

"What's his name," I ask softly, trying to mask my true intentions. "What does that matter," She mumbles, her eyes now finding mine.

"Just wondering," I shrug. She smiles, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Sure or maybe you just want to hunt him down," She snorts.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" I ask seriously. "You'd never have to worry about him again," I reason.

"I'm not worried about him," She replies nonchalantly. "I ran far enough so that he won't be able to find me," She reveals, causing me to have a revelation.

That's why she was in that hostel, she was running and had nowhere else to go.

She's so strong it's admiral, even after all she's been through you'd never be able to tell there was something bothering her.

But despite the walls she puts up I can still see a glimpse of desperation and fear in her eyes and I would do anything to make it go away.

"I'm serious though Serena if you want him gone I can have it arranged," I assure her. "And I want you to know that as long as you know me no one will ever lay a hand on you."

His words bring me a type of comfort I've never experienced before. I feel safe with him, protected.

I look at him, appreciating how gently he's looking at me although I can still see the anger he's trying to suppress.

He's so sweet, if I had met him in any other circumstance I would have never guessed he's a criminal.

I lean in closer, wanting to be near him. His green eyes hold contact with mine unwaveringly until they eventually shift down towards my lips.

I reach out for him, his soft brown hair intertwining with my fingers as I pull him closer.

Our lips meet, the warmth of his body distracting me from the chill of the night air as our bodies mould together.

He kisses me earnestly, our bodies tumbling onto the grass as he looms over me. His tongue pushes into my mouth as my leg rides up around his torso, pinning him closer to me.

"You're so beautiful," He mutters into my neck as he plants kisses along it, trailing across to my collarbone.

I want him, more than I've ever wanted anyone before. I know it isn't fair to either of us but I'm desperate to feel some connection, some type of bond before it's too late.

He pulls his head away from my neck, our eyes meeting again. He looks at me with that same passion and hunger I'm feeling towards him.

I nod my head, silently giving him permission.