Meadow

e raw, primal connection we shared was instantly overshadowed by a cold, familiar dread. My

voice trembling. "We

couldn't do it. I couldn't watch his eyes, currently filled with such raw adoration, tra

He didn't reach for the mask. Instead, his voice was gentle, but laced with an unshakeable resolve

o soothe, but they onl

ll see it, and you'll leave me. Just like he did." The memory of Za

ontact was grounding, his skin warm against my own. His voice was a low, sincere vow that vibrated

around my heart. He saw my resistance waver. Slowly, with a reverence

my body rigid, bracing

The mask loosened. Then, the shield that had both

d my scarred cheek, and I flinc

was the frantic, terrified pounding of my own blood in my ears. I waited for his shar

shaky exhale. A sound o

dared to o

luminous, and filled with a blazing, ecstatic intensity. His gaze was fixed on my scar, not

a whisper, he traced the jagged line from my brow to my jaw. His touch didn't burn wit

e, to breathe. I couldn'

ed, his voice hoarse with emotio

barely audible. "What's

ith mine, fierce and certain. "It is no

a gesture that shattered my entire understanding of mys

a profound tenderness. He wasn't kissin

nt of his kiss, flowing through me, healing cr

of pain or shame. They were tears of overwhelming, heartbreaking relief. For the first

oftly. "Their ignorance is what scarred you, not this. From this moment on, I will m

e since I was a child, I allowed myself to believe, just fo

ed, his voice a velvet caress.