EPS 8

“Dad!” she screams, her voice cracking as the car disappears from sight. My grip on her remains unyielding, my hands steady around her. I can feel her trembling, her shoulders shaking with sobs. She doesn’t stop struggling, but I don’t let go.

She turns to me, her face streaked with tears, her eyes brimming and swollen. Her cheeks sag, a picture of heartbreak.

“Please,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “Just let me go. Let me go back to my family.”

Her words sting in a way I didn’t expect, but I ignore the pang in my chest. She doesn’t understand—she can’t. I hoist her over my shoulder, ignoring her soft cries and the weak pounding of her fists against my back.

The walk to the house feels longer than it should, her muffled pleas ringing in my ears. I push the door open and head straight to my room, the only place where I can remind her what she means to me.

Her tears seep into my shirt, warm and wet, but I don’t stop. She’s mine. She belongs here.

I set her down gently, sitting her on my lap, facing me. Her legs dangle over mine, her frame so small compared to my own. She doesn’t resist now, just looks at me with tear-filled eyes that threaten to undo me.

“Please,” she whispers again, her voice breaking. “Let me go.”

For the first time, I look into her eyes, really look. They’re filled with pain, desperation—but there’s something else, too. Something that makes my chest tighten and my resolve waver.

I rest her head against my chest, stroking her hair as I lean in close. My lips brush against her earlobe, my voice low as I murmur, “I can’t let you go.”

Her sob catches in her throat. “Please,” she tries again, weaker this time.

“I can’t do that,” I reply, my tone firm but quiet.

“I want to leave,” she insists, her voice trembling. “I want to see my family again.”

I cup her face in my hands, tilting her head so she’s forced to look at me. Her eyes glisten, but I see no hate in them, only anguish. “You are mine now,” I say, each word deliberate and heavy. “I can never let you go. You belong to me.”

Her body goes still, her breath shallow as she stares into my eyes. For a moment, the world feels suspended, and I see something shift in her gaze.

Her lips part as if to speak, but no words come out. Her eyes—wide, vulnerable, and impossibly beautiful—hold me captive. How could I ever let her go? The thought is unthinkable. She is mine. Always.

She pauses, her eyes gazing into mine, I could already see stars, it was like I was intoxicated, how could I ever let her go when she looks at me like that.

I lean forward and kiss her face, her tears dripping into my mouth, I wipe them off her face.

My eyes drop down to her pink lips calling out to me, I am drawn to them like a siren, I want a taste. I crashed my lips on her and damn this feels good. She tasted like strawberries, and boy did that draw me in, hell yeah it did. I bit down on my lower lip and kissed those lips again, I could be stuck there forever.

My hands run up her thigh and I held them tightly, my thumb caressing her soft silky skin.