𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔇𝔲𝔰𝔨 (The Legacy Duet - 2)

Stellae

Taimoor

𝕿hick locks of dark brown hair cascaded like a waterfall down her back. Rich brown locks curtained her neck, brushing the sun-kissed olive skin. But that was where the monotony ended. Her kurta was an array of vibrant colors the likes of which I felt like I hadn't seen in ages. For years I'd trained myself to see only darkness or light. Evil or good. For years I'd trained myself to ignore the color of life. But I couldn't ignore this. I couldn't ignore her. She was both the dark cloud of the tempest and the rainbow of temperance. She held the promise of beautiful peace, but only if you could survive her storm. I saw the moment the soft slopes of her shoulders pulled tight, her body reacting to the threat, to the undeniable warning in my voice.

Staring with open hostility at each other, neither of us said anything. Large doe-like eyes searched my face, rimmed with a smattering of long eyelashes that fluttered as she blinked. And her lips... Blood pooled in my lower half, noticing their fullness, parting to let air in through their soft seas. Set amongst aristocratic cheeks and a small nose, I had no words for her beauty. The girl was gorgeous, undoubtedly so, but a nuisance. Just like her father.

"Just what I needed," my patience was beginning to fray. With a frustrated growl, I stepped backward, not enough to bring me out of the slash of light in the center, but enough for her eyes to catch and lock onto where I was. "You're insinuating that you'll kidnap me?"

"Go get your father. The police station tends to be a dangerous place."

If I were a better man, I would have ended this right here. But I was made differently, carved from stone like the very people who'd created me. I wanted to push her out to the edge. Her audacity and brazenness had lit a fire within me. This woman with her colors and her attitude was driving me mad. And the look in her eyes when she first saw me, she had looked startled, slightly embarrassed, and morbidly fascinated. There was something that darkened her intrigue. Something that made this whole encounter tempting and dangerous. She was a cohesion of multiple colors, all of them clashing against one another, fighting for dominance.

"You'll live to regret this. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm a man of my word. Prove me wrong and I will concede defeat. But," her eyes blazed with fury at the but, her hair strewn about her face, the scarf around her neck untidy, and her crystal-adorned khussa's tapping on my carpeted floor with disdain. "When you find out that you're wrong... I won't give you the luxury of stepping back from your word. I will come for you and your father and believe me, there will be no mercy from my end," I growled the last part, hoping to scare her and drive her away, escaping back into the shadows.

The apples of her cheeks flared red from her anger, and the elegant column of her throat flushed with healthy color. My eyes tracked the journey, fascinated by her reactions, her emotions, all of which were displayed so readily on her face.

"I will see you on Monday."

Good God, this woman did not know when and where to stop. She was adamant about hurtling down this path. She wanted to confront me. To fight with me and the darkness in me welcomed that. Wanted it to a fault. And far be it for me to deny myself.