The Mask Of The Monster - Chapter 75

The way Leandro was looking at me after I asked him if I looked okay, I felt like an invisible finger was tracing my skin. I thought about asking him if he was going to say something or not, but dear lord, that kind of focused face- I had never seen before.

And before I knew what was going on, I found him approaching. I wondered if he was going to kiss me again. I closed my eyes tightly with some kind of anticipation, a weird sensation in my stomach… But he did not kiss me. He loosed my hair from the bun and let it fall on my back, with wisps of hair falling on my face and chest causing a tingly sensation.

I opened my eyes and saw that he was holding a handful of my hair right beside my right shoulder very delicately. His eyes were penetrating through me and I again felt myself trapped in his gaze.

He slowly brought his face down, but not to my face… His lips brushed against the mark on my right shoulder and for a moment, I felt I heard some kind of whisper.

“Mine.”

He pulled away and looked down at my face. I wondered how long he could keep his gaze focused on me, but I did not dare to see that. I was afraid that I might get burned down in his gaze.

“You look perfect,” he whispered into my ear and I felt my heart swollen up. I had never cared if anyone praised me or not and even if anyone did, I never trusted them. But his words felt way too_ real.

“I don’t really wear dresses much,” I mumbled. “I don’t know how I should tie my hair. I mean, I never do care about my hair. Will it be bad if I go with my hair like this?”

My hair was messy. I did not bother to comb it in the morning. It was way too stressful. And besides, I was so busy thinking about what Leandro said last night that I did not care about anything else. Even in the castle, Jed said that I was zoning out.

“I can do it for you,” he said. I was shocked. I did not know he could tie hair. He did not look like the kind of person who would do so.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just sit down on the stool,” he said and guided me to sit down holding me by my shoulders.

“Are you sure? You’re not going to make me look like a pig, are you?”

“Just relax,” he said calmly.

He slowly combed my hair backward. The way he was holding the comb gave me the hunch that he was experienced at this. He combed very slowly until there were no tangles left. After my hair was smoothed, he combed all my hair backward and away from my forehead.

“Tell me the steps.”

He sighed. “If you do it by yourself, you should avoid looking in the mirror. In the mirror, you can only see the movement of your hands, which can be puzzling. First and foremost, divide a section of hair into three sections.,” he said, doing the same thing he told. “You’ll need to reach the crown of your head and pull out a large chunk of hair for this. Divide it into three roughly equal sections.

Remember that the larger the chunks, the larger the braid.”

“So you’re braiding…,” I mumbled, feeling utterly dumb. I knew how to braid my hair, but he seemed to be doing something else. I would start from the bottom, but he started doing it from the crown. It confused me. But I had a feeling that he was doing a French braid.

“The strands must then be held in place between your two hands.

One strand should be entirely in your right hand, another entirely in your left hand, and the strand in between should be held by both of your hands,” he said. “You must now begin braiding.

For the first braid, cross the strand you’re holding with your right hand over the middle strand.

The right strand is now the middle strand and vice versa. Do you get it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good. Then, in the same manner, cross the strand you’re holding with your left hand over the middle strand. Keep in mind that your former right strand is now your middle strand.

Do not cross your former middle strand with the left strand.”

“Got it, boss.”

“Then you must pull the strands together to form your braid,” he said pulling my strands. I had to admit that it was kind of relaxing as he was braiding my hair. “You must use your fingers to keep your hair in three strands separated. Transfer all three strands to your left hand with care.

Even if you’re holding them with one hand, use your three fingers to keep them apart.”

He continued, “Using your free hand, gather a section from the right side of your head.

You’re going to add some new strands to your braid. This section should be the same size as the sections in your left hand. Then, with your right hand, pass the strand you just made into the current right strand. Bring the sections together to form a larger and thicker right strand.”

“Done?”

“No. Then you must repeat the process with your opposite hand. That is, you must hold them in your right hand this time.”

He carefully braided all my hair. I was right. It was a French braid. He did it so amazingly that I could not find any fault.

“It’s a French braid,” I said when he was done.

“Perhaps. I don’t know the name.”

“It’s amazing! How do you know how to do it? Someone taught you, right? Who taught you? Your ex-girlfriend?”

“I never had any girlfriend,” he said coldly.

“That’s great! Then who taught you?”

“My mother did,” he said.

The way he said it, I kind of felt bad for him. It seemed like he loved his mother a lot, but did not want to admit it.

“I look kind of good,” I said, trying to change the subject.

I stood up to take a good look at myself in the mirror. I looked unfamiliar… I never tied my hair like this. I could not do it and no one ever did that for me either.

It was an empire waist dress that went up to my knees. My brown hair was tied in the braid that he made. I did not use anything on my face. I always felt that I did not need to. It would take a lot of time to do makeup, so I almost never did it.

He kissed the side of my neck and licked the place. I tilted my head subconsciously as if to give him more access. His hands wrapped around my waist and I gasped as he pulled me closer to him that my back touched his chest.

“You’re killing me,” he whispered into my ear.

“I…”

“I want you so bad every single moment that it hurt. But I can’t have you. You’re like the moon, beautiful, and seem to be so close, yet so far away in reality. Do you know what you’re doing to me?”

I did not say anything. My feelings were mixed, playing with my mind. No matter how hard I tried to make a decision, those thoughts would come back, holding me back.

“Let’s go,” I said. “It’s late already.”

He sighed and turned me by my shoulders to face me. “Let me kiss you one time,” he said. His voice was very desperate though he was trying not to show it.

I glanced up at him and nodded slightly. It was enough for him. He captured my mouth tightly as his lips moved like a rocket on my lips. I did not know what I was doing as I felt my knees lose control. His hands grabbed me by my waist tightly as if he knew that my body was going numb.

“Hm…”

He pulled back immediately the moment the moan left my mouth. He let go of me and went towards the closet. He took a black mask and a black cap from inside and wore them.

“The mask is quite handsome,” I said. “Do you have to wear it?”

“Yes. There can be shifters there as well.”

“I didn’t know there are baseball caps here,” I mumbled.

“You don’t know a lot of things here. Now come on,” he said.

He behaved as if nothing happened, but I could feel the tension. I had a feeling that he was holding back, controlling himself and I could not help but wonder what would happen if he lost control.

[Note- French Braid: A French braid, also known as a French plait, is a braided hairstyle.

Three sections of hair are braided together from the crown of the head to the nape of the neck in the three-strand gathered plait.]