How could a night that had started out so wonderful turn so
unbelievably terrible in seconds?
There was little I could do about it now. At least I had come
out of my ordeal alive and without a scratch – thanks to the fact that Brandon had
gotten rid of it, of course.
Unwilling to relive the attack, I undressed and hurried into
the shower. I settled in with the spray falling on my head and down my back.
The warmth calmed and relaxed my frantic nerves. By the time I was finished
conditioning my curls, I was ready to face whatever life tossed my way.
Once I was done with showering, I donned the clothing Brandon
had provided me with. They were big on me, of course. But considering that I
had something clean to wear, I was not much for complaining.
After making myself presentable, I opened the door slightly
to ask Brandon if he had a spare toothbrush. He shouted back a response from
the living room, informing me of the box of spares under the sink, and I immediately
shut the door again and went in search for what I needed.
Once I brushed my teeth, I grabbed my now-ruined dress and
used it to hide my underwear. I had not been wearing a bra under my dress – mainly
because it was a sleeveless dress and I did not own any strapless bras – and
now I regretted the decision against the other five dresses I could have used. We
had opted for the short, dark grey, cocktail dress because it was not too tight,
had a layered skirt that made it fun and youthful looking, and it showed off my
great legs. Had I known that by the end of the night I would be staying at
Brandon’s apartment, I would have made a wiser decision.
Well, it was too late for that now. I was surely going to
spend the rest of the night trying to hide the fact that I was not wearing a
bra. Hopefully, Brandon would not notice.
He’s a guy! What guy wouldn’t notice? But I’ve never
caught him checking a girl out. Maybe he won’t notice. Then again, I did catch
him eyeballing me at the restaurant when he thought I wasn’t looking.
Alas, my current predicament could not be helped, so I piled
my once-beautiful dress into a ball and held it tightly against my chest. My
hand hesitated over the doorknob for several seconds. Brandon was out there.
Facing him had just gotten a lot harder now that I knew something about him
that probably no one else did. I could not help but think how that would change
the way we behaved around each other.
Twice tonight he had confessed a secret about him, and I
still had no idea how to handle either of them. I could not decide which of
those secrets was more mind-blowing. The fact that he loved me, or that he was
part of some ancient breed of people put on this earth to kill beings that
would otherwise terrorize the human world and kill hundreds of innocent victims
by consuming their souls.
Brandon told me he loves me, and that he always had.
Ever
since we met that fateful day sixteen years ago, he had harbored these feelings
for me and I had never noticed. Once I stopped talking to him we were worlds
apart, even though we were virtually in the same classroom for years. I paid no
mind to whether or not he suffered. Or if he was tired of being treated like a
freak by others.
Worst yet, I never bothered to ask if he actually had any
friends outside of school because I figured his life was not my business. There
were a few times I caught him staring at me in a way that made me blush and
squirm uncomfortably in my seat, but I had dismissed the tingling in my body,
the butterflies in my stomach, and the coloring of my cheeks, and pretended
none of it ever happened. And yet, despite the fact that I disassociated myself
from him, that I ignored him most of my young life, that I never spoke to him
again, he still loved me. How could I deal with that? What if I could never come
to love him? Wouldn’t he just end up hurt again? Hadn’t I done that enough over
the years?
And then there’s this whole thing with him being the last Enchanter
left alive. That was hard for me to wrap my mind around. To make matters worse,
now that we had been seen together, my life could possibly be in danger too. Of
course, they had attacked me that night when I had been on my way home from
work, so maybe they had been after me even longer than we knew.
These creatures from hell could hurt me to get to him, or
they could kill him. How was I to fight beings that should not be real? That
could disappear and remain invisible? That could kill me without the world even
knowing what truly happened to me? That could feed on Brandon and absorb his
beautiful soul?
With my mind still in knots, I exited the bathroom and walked
into his bedroom just as he emerged from the hallway, carrying a white plastic
bag in one hand.
I noticed he no longer wore the dark jacket he had been
wearing earlier, and was now barefoot. It was nearly impossible for me to not
stare, especially since my eyes automatically drifted to his naked torso.
“I thought you might want to use this to put your clothing
in.” He handed the bag to me which I took.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling awkward for gawking at him.
If he noticed me rubbernecking, he did not let it show.
“They’re big on you,” he pointed out, smiling as he assessed
my tiny frame being encased by clothing that was fit for a tall and handsome
creature of at least six-foot-two.
“Yeah, I can fit another person in here with me,” I muttered
as I turned and strolled toward the bed so that I could place my pile of
clothing inside the bag. “But at least they’re comfy and clean,” I added as I
tied the flaps together. Clothing safely tucked inside, I placed the bag on the
floor next to his bed and crossed my arms over my bosom before turning to face
him.
Smooth move, Leah! I’m sure he won’t notice with you
making it that obvious!
“I called Dmitri, and he’s going to hold on to your purse—”
“Clutch. It’s called a clutch.”
“I doubt that information will prove useful to me.” The way
he said it forced a laugh out of me. He rewarded me with a wide grin before
continuing, “Anyway, he said we could pick it up tomorrow.”
“Did he wonder why we ran off?”
“I explained as best as I could.”
Brandon did not elaborate further and I did not want to ask
what kind of an “explanation” he had come up with.
“Are you hungry?” he asked me.
“Not really.”
“Tired?”
“A little.”
He nodded then pointed toward the bed. “You’ll be taking the
bed for the night. I’ll crash on the couch,” he said while moving to the
dresser again. After removing a pair of black shorts and a navy blue tee, he
headed for the bathroom. “I’m going to freshen up before I head out to sleep.
You can go ahead and make yourself comfortable.”
I watched his tall form move toward the bathroom and I
wondered why he had gotten so serious all of a sudden. “I need to brush my
hair.”
He stopped, turned toward the dresser, picked up his
hairbrush and offered it to me. I hurried to him and took it, but not before
our gazes met. There was so much I could see behind those orbs, so much he
wanted to say but did not dare to. Brandon might be acting as if nothing was
amiss, but I could tell he wanted to communicate something to me and kept
hesitating. For whatever reason, he thought it best not to say a word. His
hesitation unsettled me because Brandon was one who usually spoke his mind and did
not hold back.
Do I really want to hear what he has to say?
What I
did
want was for him to kiss me, but I did not
think it was such a good idea. I thought that it was better to maintain a
distance because I was way too confused to offer any comfort to the uneasiness
I saw behind those icy blue eyes.
Brandon was not sure what to make of our time together now
that he had confessed his feelings for me, and he was clearly waiting for me to
try and make a run for it. Had my life not been in danger, I probably would
have.
“Thanks.” I turned my back to him and headed for the bed.
****
By the time he emerged from the bathroom, my hair had been
thoroughly brushed, braided neatly and tied with a piece of string I found on
top of his dresser. I was also comfortably lying under the covers – which had
not been ruined when he had laid me on them before wrapping my wound with a
towel – and was propped against the headboard by a couple of comfortable
pillows.
As soon as he saw me, Brandon tossed a sheepish smile my way
and sauntered over toward a door that was next to the bathroom, opened it, and
placed his dirty suit inside the white hamper before closing it.
“Comfy?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Well, good night, Leah.” He started for the door. “If you
need anything, let me know.”
“Wait, Brandon.”
He stopped just seconds before reaching the doorway.
“Can you stay here with me, at least until I fall asleep?”
Perhaps it was fear of the unknown, perhaps it was the dread of having
nightmares throughout the night, or perhaps it was simple loneliness, but the truth
of the matter was I did not want to be alone.
Ever so slowly, as if he feared that by facing me I would
change my mind, Brandon turned toward me. His blue eyes watched me intently as
I sat up in bed and patted the mattress next to me.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
With a simple nod, he ambled toward the bed, lifted the
comforter and slipped in next to me. Satisfied to see him comply with my
request, I immediately shifted on the mattress so that I was lying on my left
side and we were facing each other. For a few time-stopping seconds, we only
stared into the other’s eyes.
Although content to lie near me, Brandon kept at a distance.
That did not suit me at all however. I wanted him near me – closer. I needed
him to know that, despite my reservations, in spite of how scared and utterly
confused his earlier confessions forced me to be, I was not planning or running
off on him.
As he laid his head on the soft pillow, with his long locks
still wet from the recent shower, I scooted on closer and reached up for his
face. Before I could stop to analyze my actions, I pulled him in and kissed him.
Brandon groaned as our lips came in contact and I welcomed
the sound so much, I actually moaned too. Soon our sounds filled the silence in
the room. It was not long before his tongue found its way into my mouth and, as
it did, my hands followed a path up to his head. Within moments, my fingers were
knotted in his long hair and I was gently running my fingers through the locks
as he increased the intensity of our kiss. Heat radiated throughout my body
with each stroke of his tongue and my pulse quickened with each of his groans,
making me painfully aware of my female anatomy.
Sure, I’d gone to second base with a guy once before, but it
had never felt nearly as good as making out with Brandon did. However, as far
as going all the way, that never happened. At the time I wasn’t ready and
although Chang had been disappointed when I told him as much, he didn’t push
me.
As Brandon and I continued to kiss, I was certain that,
should he ask, I would give in. Being with him felt too good, too right. As if
we were meant to be together. By this point I was not afraid of what would
happen – if something did in fact happen. At twenty-one, I figured I was more
than ready to take this step, but I had not realized just how important being
with the right guy was until now.
He made me feel alive. He made me forget that all my life I
had seen him a different way than how I saw him now. Whatever society or my
friends may think about us did not matter anymore. God, his kisses had a way of
making me forget my own name. I wanted Brandon, desired to be with him and
share a part of myself I never had with anyone else. And should he wish to take
my virtue, he could have it.
Just as I was getting extremely comfortable with how
passionate the kiss had gotten, Brandon tore his lips from mine and my heart
nearly stopped when I looked up only to catch the lustful haze behind his eyes.
His expression matched what I felt, no doubt about that.
All coherent thoughts fled my mind the second he came up and
draped his heavy body over mine. The boldness of such a move forced a gasp out
of me, but I was secretly pleased. Holding his weight on both elbows, Brandon
accommodated his body over mine and as he did our bodies touched in all the
right places in all the right ways.
We both sucked in our breaths when I wrapped my legs around
him and used them to pull him closer. The friction of our bodies brushing
against each other forced a moan out of me. Blood rushed to my face with the
realization that we were as intimate as only lovers should be. I squeezed my
eyes shut for a few seconds, trying to regain control of my erratic heartbeats,
until another thought crossed my mind: Brandon and I fit together perfectly, as
if we were made for each other.
That thought alone caused me to unwillingly shiver. The way
his eyes appraised me, as if he feared I would disappear should he blink,
warmed my heart. Secretly thrilled with his appraisal but hating the distance
between us, I reached up again and pulled his face closer to mine. He rewarded
me with another mindboggling kiss that would have made my knees buckle had I
not been lying down already. It was the first time in my life I was ready to give
up my whole self to a man, and it only felt more right to know he harbored the
same feelings for me. I could feel my desire reflected in him.
Ever so slowly, his long fingers pushed my white tee-shirt
up until my stomach was exposed. He was careful not to reveal my naked breasts,
and I was grateful for that. Even though I was ready to go all the way, I was
still apprehensive about being completely exposed too soon. I needed time to
adjust to the idea, and apparently he understood that. He did not seem in any hurry.