Clara Carter

'Don't rush something you want to last forever'

That quote astonishes me in light of my present situation.

I drive all the way to that street, a few miles from Aerilon.

Ironic, isn't it? The first time I came here, I was terrified of what was happening in front of my eyes. That was the day Stefan left me.

But here I am, yearning for my forever and hoping to meet the unquestionably handsome and the fiend who left me undone.

How will I react when seeing him after years? What will I say? Should I really slap him, as Christopher advised?

I don't have any answers to these questions. All I know for certain is how my heart will react. The way I will scatter all the build-up walls around my heart.

Does Stefan still love me?

My palms sweat as I near the location I was four years ago. I grip the wheel on a painfully tight hold.

Maybe I can't do this-meet Stefan without breaking down and crying.

Today's weather is anything but dark and cloudy. The sun shines brightly, gentle breeze teasing the stillness. The Horizon seems to be a few miles away.

I spot the familiar sleek black Bentley standing by the side of the road. But it's the man leaning on it that deepens the abyss within me.

He's clad in the same suit that I saw him in outside the café. The compelling impression of powerful demand in his stance, as well as the arrogant narrow line of his lips, are impossible to miss.

He senses me the moment I'm on the viewable radar of his sharp gaze.

Why does he still have this effect on me after all these years? Or has it only become more prominent when he started dressing like the hot and sexy, know-it-all CEO he is?

I turn off the engine and exit my car. My heart beats in my throat as I lean against my vehicle in the same way he does. We're now facing each other, a few agonizing meters apart.

A sigh escapes our lips simultaneously. I get acutely aware of his presence.

I stay leaned on my car, not wanting to miss how he reacts to seeing me.

Which he does with a sweet, and sincere smile.

Some may find it strange, but only Stefan's closest know of how beautiful his smile is.

I don't smile back. Nothing within me allows me to believe that he is really here-in flesh and blood. He notices that and his smile disappears.

He takes a huge, determined step towards me. Once I don't oppose to his intention to reach me, he walks slowly enough for our own good until he's an arm's length away from me.

And there it is, the indescribable pull towards him. Those brilliant hazels of his are questioning my entire life decision involving him. My chest tightens as his eyes fall on my lips, then back in my eyes.

A rapid-fire series of events flashes through my mind, highlighting each time I kissed him whenever his gaze lingered on my lips like that.

"Why?"

That's all I manage to say. He gets the message, the huge array of things, and words, and questions crammed into that single word.

He exhales sharply.

"You don't want to hear it."

The vibration of his voice stirs an impatient feeling in me, impatient to touch him.

"Then tell me what I want to hear."

Water prickles at the corners of my eyes that don't go unnoticed by him. He chooses to focus on our conversation.

"I love you."

I gasp and turn away from the man who is saying such heart-achingly beautiful words. I couldn't keep the tears from falling streaming down my face any longer.

"Don't." I struggle to say one-word replies now.

I never believed I'd cry in my sleep over a man, whenever I missed him when he'd leave me.

But Stefan isn't just any ordinary guy. He knows that too.

"Please, Clara." He begs, his voice shaking. "Look at me."

When he doesn't get a response from me, he does something that always melts me.

He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder. I shudder as his intoxicating cologne hits my nostrils. "I'm sorry for everything I've done that hurt you. I'm not going to justify leaving you because the thought of being away from you kills me over and over again." he breathes heavily, "Anything you want me to say, Clara."

As tears run down my cheeks, I clench my fist, my heart stammers, and strive for the next breath. This is too much for me to endure. He never backed down from confessing his feelings. It makes it more difficult for me to hate him now.

"I love you so much. You possibly can't imagine to what limits I can go for you."

That hits me straight in the face and in the heart. My eyes shoot open. Did he set fire to that car with a person inside for me?

No, no, no. This can't be true. I block off the memories of that day and concentrate on what's going on right now.

"Do you have any idea how I lived all these years while you were busy building your shining career?" I clench my teeth, aware of how selfish I must sound.

He pulls me back onto his muscled chest.

"I don't care what happened that forced you to leave. Why did you leave me out of it? Did you not think of me once before deciding on disappearing from my life as if you never existed?"

As I unleash my rage out on the man who isn't complaining or trying to make his point, my hands subconsciously clasp his arms that are wrapped around me. "You were stuck in my brain even when I tried to forget about you, Stefan."

"How did you try to forget about me?" he asks almost immediately, breathing on my neck. The rasp and possessiveness in his voice send shivers up my spine.

At a different circumstance I would have lied to him but today he's just. . . there to let me say all the things I want to.

"By trying to date other guys."

He spins me about at the speed of light. Before I know it, his lips seal over mine. All kinds of sparks and tingles I feel it in that one touch of his. The hunger for redemption, the cravings in the force at his lips move-I feel every bit of it.

For us, the time has come to a complete halt. The flutter grows stronger as my heart beats inside my cage. My knees get weaker with each slant of his lips.

"I love you." He whispers between our lips, tattooing those words in my brain.

And this time, I don't hesitate to say, "I love you more, Stefan."

With the same hunger, I shove my hands into his long, styled hair and kiss him again.

He groans in my mouth and sweeps me off my feet-figuratively and literally.

This is what I've been missing all along. No one kisses me like Stefan Pierce. I hold his jaw with one hand while the other rests on his nape, seeking a steady angle to invade his mouth.

When we part, our breathing entwines together.

"I can assure you, Clara, no one can love you like I do."

He lets me get back on my feet. Everything, including the missing pieces of our puzzle, comes into place.

A bark forces me to open my eyes. The back door of Stefan's car opens, drawing our attention to the movement happening there. With a huge jump out of the vehicle, a trained-looking German shepherd steps out. Ocean.

His ears pressed backward on his head as he walk warily towards us.

"Oh my god!" I exclaim. Too stunned to believe Ocean is standing right in front of me. He's grown a lot since he was a scared little puppy, shivering and stray.

I kneel down and wait for him to recognize me. He immediately bounces on me after sniffing my hands. Due to his extraordinarily large-grown form, it takes me a few struggles to eventually get a hold on him.

"I missed you, Ocean baby." I rub his back and hug him while he never stops jumping. I missed it all-the never-ending panting of his breath, the bond I had with him in a single day.

I meet Stefan's gaze as he watches Ocean shower his affection for me. "I assumed you'd get rid of him."

An arched brow on his handsome face challenges my statement. "You think Charlie would have left me alive even if I thought about it?"

That makes me laugh.

"But to be honest, I've grown fond of Ocean's wiggling, growling, and occasional licking. I never considered sending him."

All the nervous fire I had for seeing Stefan dies away as I look at the selfless and admiring man I let go of Ocean, only for him to walk in circles around the two of us.

Stefan takes another step closer, his fingers reaching for my face. This time, I don't force myself to not move. I give him the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not running away from him. His thumb brushes at the corner of my lips. He urges my gaze to his eyes and off his lips, which I'm sure he enjoys a lot seeing that slight curve of his lip.

He will say everything I want to hear from him. He'll give me any explanation I ask for, but I don't want to hear it. Not now at least.

I just want to be here. With him.

People find his each movement intimidating. But only I know the man beneath the power he possesses.

Those sharp eyes of his are ruled by fear in them. Fear that I will leave him. A fear that he should never be afraid of.

"Please, come back to me, Clara."

"I never left."

THE END

Thank you so much for giving this story a chance <3

If you would like to read more of the Pierce Family's Universe,you can head over to the next story, Mae.