Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Chapter 19- Like a fairy tale

MAIA'S POV

A couple of days had passed since I woke up to the beautiful set of art supplies. I drowned myself in painting whatever my brain wanted me to do. I had noticed, though, that some of my paintings had disappeared out of nowhere. When I thought of the culprit, only one person came to my mind - Lucius.

Speaking of Lucius, I had not seen him ever since the night that I waited for him. I did not even try to wait for him at night anymore because I was unsure if he always came at night or what time he would come.

The only people that I would always see were Emily and Neal. There were times where Neal would visit me and watch me paint or just talk to me about the painting that I was doing. Whenever I asked him if I could go outside the castle and paint outside, he would always tell me that he would ask Lucius. I guess it was safe to say that Lucius never allowed me because if he did, I would have already been painting by a lake or in the forest.

My daily routine now consisted of waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, painting, eating lunch, reading a book, taking a nap, painting again, eating dinner, and then sleeping. It sounded so boring but compared to doing nothing, I was perfectly fine with it.

I just had my lunch, and Emily took my plates when suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said, without looking at the door.

I continued painting the next masterpiece that I was working on. It must be Neal, or maybe Emily forgot something.

I happily hummed a song floating in my head as I painted when suddenly, I was engulfed in a hug.

The sparks were like fireworks after a very good show. His scent, the sparks, and his arms around were so intoxicating that I got addicted to it so quickly.

"What are you painting, my little painter?" he whispered in my ears.

Chills ran down my spine, and I think I even shuddered.

"Uh... It's... uhm... it's... It's... the lighthouse," I stuttered.

Being this close to him after not seeing him for so long was intoxicating. My head was being drowned with so many thoughts of Lucius.

"Do you want to go outside and have a walk?" He asked.

I quickly turned around and looked at him.

"Really?" I asked, excited to get out of the room for the first time in weeks.

"Yes. I know that you've been locked up in this room for weeks, and I am so sorry for that. I think it's time for you to get some fresh air," he replied.

I was more than happy; I was stoked to go outside.

I hugged him as I jumped in happiness. It was already too late when I realized what I had done. I immediately let go of him and looked at the floor.

"Why did you let go? I was enjoying it," he asked.

I did not lift my head up and just stared at the floor. I was too shy to do so.

He held me on the chin and lifted my head to look at him.

"Don't be shy. It's fine," he said with a smile.

Dang, those smiles were making my knees go weak. I would have already fallen to the floor if it weren't for his arms around my waist.

I did not know how long I was staring into his eyes.

"Do you need to change, or are you ready to go?" he asked, pulling me out of my fantasies.

"Uhm... I'm ready to go," I replied in a low voice, breaking the eye contact I was having with him.

"Okay, then. Let's go while it's not yet too hot," he said, taking my hand as he headed towards the door.

When he opened the door, I took the opportunity to remove my hand from his. I followed him to the elevator until we were out on the field.

I stopped for a second to let my body savor the sun. I looked up at the sky and smiled as the wind and sun touched my skin with my eyes closed. I don't even remember when was the last time I was able to savor the sun like this. It was like Heaven.

"If you want to sunbathe, there is a lake nearby. You can enjoy the sun and the water over there," Lucius said, pulling me out of my bubble.

I slowly looked down and apologized.

"There is no need to apologize. I must say, you looked quite angelic," he said.

I immediately blushed at the thought and hid my face.

"You should stop hiding your face from me. It's sad to see such a beautiful face go in hiding," he said.

Even though I knew he wanted me to lift my head, I still did not. I was too shy and too scared to do so.

"Come on. I am sure you will love the garden," he said.

He continued walking, and I followed behind him. I looked around as we walked by the castle. I had never been able to really take a good look of the castle when I first arrived here. It was really huge up close and very beautiful as well. No wonder there was an elevator inside.

I was busy appreciating the castle when I suddenly bumped into a wall.

Wait! A wall did not have sparks...

I slowly turned my head to the side and saw two feet.

'Shit! Really Maia? Are you for real?' I scolded myself.

'If I were you, Maia, I would have jumped on his bones when we were still in the room,' Avi commented.

'Not now, Avi!' I exclaimed.

'Just admit it. You want it, too. The longer you try to ignore it, the bigger the need is going to be,' she said.

'Just shut up, will you?' I snapped.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding me on my shoulders.

"Yes. I am sorry about that," I replied, nodding my head.

"No problem," he said.

I did not know what was wrong with me today. Why did I keep being like this?

"Well, here we are," he said.

I looked at where he was pointing and saw a beautiful garden that was as big as a park.

I walked over to the entrance and touched the closest flower to me - a dandelion. The whole place was filled with different kinds of flowers and roses of all colors. It was like Heaven on Earth.

I immediately went around the whole place, checking out all the flowers around. In the middle, there was a gazebo with climbing roses and scarlet runner beans all over it. It was just like the ones in fairy tales.

I entered the gazebo and slowly twirled as I looked at the flowers covering it.

Everything around me was so beautiful. I never thought that a place as beautiful as this existed.

'Avi, this is like living in a fairy tale. Everything here is so beautiful,' I said through the mind-link.

'I told you, Maia. There is so much more than what it would seem to be,' she replied.

My conversation with Avi was interrupted when an arm wrapped around my waist, causing me to stop from twirling.

Lucius pulled me close to his chest, so my hands touched his chest. My breath hitched from the close proximity of him. I could feel his breath on my skin, and his scent was stronger than ever, and those eyes... The way those eyes were looking at me was as if they were begging for something.

I was lost in his eyes when his lips were suddenly on mine.

Holy Fuck!

My hands immediately wrapped around his neck. My body was moving in ways that made it seem like they had a mind of their own.

I did not know how long we kissed, but I knew it was long enough to leave me breathless.

"I'm sorry, Maia. I wished it was so easy to tell you everything. You have no idea how much I have been wanting to kiss you endlessly, make love to you, and have a family with you. I want them so badly. I really do," Lucius said.