Once Upon A [Stolen] Time - [Stolen] Series I

CHAPTER 16

MYRA
MAY 2015

Today, I was invited to dinner at the Bernards' manor. Steve had visited me many times after we returned from Morocco. My parents had asked me about my experience, but I was so lost that I couldn't find a way to escape Edward's world. My life was stuck in the fifteenth century. Mum advised me that things might change if I spent more time with Steve or stayed at work to distract my mind.

But nothing changed.

At work, I was always lost in my thoughts. Not a moment was spent thinking about anything other than Edward. He was with me without being with me. I wish I could share my feelings with someone, but who would believe me? If I told anyone that a man living six hundred years ago desired me and I met him through a magical mirror and exchanged touches, they would think I was crazy. I knew Julia, Steve, and Tyler believed me, but they thought it was too risky to go back to Hue Castle. They were afraid of what else I'd find out there. They thought I might have seen Edward's ghost. How could I make them believe he was real?

Steve had set his dream of making a game about Hue Castle aside because he believed others' lives to be more important than his game. He was right, obviously, but I wasn't scared of taking the risk. I would trample any barrier if it meant I could meet Edward once before I died—to tell him that I existed.

We were at the Bernards' manor, waiting for dinner to be served. I had come with my parents and gone out to the manor's huge terrace without talking to anyone. I didn't even bother looking for Steve. My parents were extremely worried about my behaviour. I knew I wasn't acting normal, but I wanted nothing except to touch that mirror again and try to see Edward.

It was twilight, the warm May breeze played with my hair. It was a beautiful view from the terrace out into their garden. I watched the sky as it filled with darkness. I hadn't wanted to come here. Steve and I now had a very stilted relationship. I'd thought he was my honest friend, but he changed the day I finished the book.

The night we returned from the bookstore, I stood outside on the hotel balcony, watching the majestic city of Casablanca. Our room was on the twenty-sixth floor. We stayed there for five nights. Steve considered me his friend, and we bonded in a sacred relationship. But Tyler had left the day before due to a family emergency, and that night, Steve and I were alone in the suite.

I was engrossed in watching the city life below me when I felt Steve's hand on my shoulder.

"Still thinking about him?" he asked.

I turned around, noticing he was shirtless. He was wearing only his beige pyjama bottoms—his walnut hair wet from the shower. He smelled of musk and mint. His body was beautifully tanned, courtesy of the California sun.

I nodded, looking down at my feet. He held my chin up to get my attention. Touching my cheek with his warm fingers, he moved closer to me. "Do you know you're very beautiful?"

I smiled at his comment. "You said that before."

"If I say that whatever I said in the past was all a lie to see how honest you were...would you believe me?"

That caught my attention. "What do you mean?"

With a heavy sigh, he came an inch closer to my mouth. I didn't expect he would kiss me. I never thought a person who told me on our first meeting that he had a boyfriend and was homosexual would kiss me. He'd asked me to reject him for marriage the first time we met.

I closed my eyes, shutting down everything. I was not prepared for his kiss when his warm lips touched mine.

I didn't feel anything.