Inspiration Point (12 page)

“That’s the whole point though, you were the one who needed
support and I just left,” he said shaking his head in disbelief.

“I understand Zeke, really I do, it freaked you out,”
I said as he reached out to hold my hand.  “I’m still trying to wrap my
head around the fact that I don’t have a real mother.”  He moved closer to
me now and grabbed my other hand and brought them together sandwiched between
his larger, warm ones.

“I guess I was a bit freaked out, but I am so sorry
Hayln you have to believe me.  As soon as I drove away I regretted it, and
it didn’t take me long to realize that what we found out today makes no
difference to how I feel about you,” he said as he softy reached to trace a
finger across my lips and then placed his hand against my neck.

“Did Emin convince you about his plan to get you all
out of here?” He whispered.

“Yes tomorrow, during the benefit,” I confirmed as I
followed the line of his jaw feeling the stubble on his chin under my
fingers. 

“So, tonight is the last night we have together before
you leave,” he stated because he knew it was true.

“Yes,” I said as I withdrew my hand from his face and
returned it to my side. 

I was nervous now, not quite having thought through
what I was about to say to him. 

“I need to tell you something before I go, it will
probably make things harder, but I need you to know anyway.”

“Okay,” he murmured a little apprehensively. 
“Say whatever you need to Hayln.” 

“I told you that I needed time to sort things out, but
I'm not sure I truly did.  I think I always knew, even from the beginning,”
I said still sounding a little nervous.
 
“And then
when we kissed last night, it was clear – I want to be with you Zeke.  And
I'm sorry I didn’t say it earlier, especially now I’m leaving tomorrow.” 
I didn’t get a chance to continue, his arms brought me into his chest, and his
lips found mine. 

I didn’t think we could find more passion between us,
but we did.  His lips felt urgent, as if he truly believed that this might
be our last kiss.  My hands found their way under his shirt and traced the
curves of his back while holding him as close to me as possible.  He
quickly did the same and a wave of heat rushed through me as he touched my
skin.  I could feel a smile on his lips as he was kissing me – he was
enjoying this, and so was I.  I pulled back to see his face to know what
he was thinking, but he wasn’t going let me get too far. 

He leant his forehead on mine.  “Do you think
your parent’s would let me stay in your room tonight, since this will be out
last night together?”  He said joking with me, but I could tell he had
been thinking about it, and I had to admit, so had I.

“Not a chance,” I said kissing him softly down his
neck.  “But I would like you to stay the night, so I can see you in the
morning.”

“Anything you like,” he said enjoying my kisses. 
“But you better stop that or I won’t be able to let you go at all.”

“Okay then,” I sighed not wanting this to end just
yet.  “Maybe you could walk me to my room then,” hoping that would prolong
things.

“I’d love to Miss Knox,” he said taking my hand in
his, and we walked towards the stairs when we were interrupted by Emin. 
He stood at the bottom of the stairs arms crossed in front of his chest and a
look of shock spread across his face.  He had obviously seen us in the
kitchen.

“Ezekiel Banner, what the hell do you think you’re
doing with my sister?” He demanded.

We both stood there stunned, neither of us had heard
his approach, he continued to glare at us – well Zeke actually, and then he
spoke again.

“Do you have any idea what Hayln has been through
today, and then you pull that stuff on her,” he said accusingly.

“No Emin you don’t understand,” I tried to explain,
but he held his hand up to stop me.

“This is between me and Zeke, Hayln,” he said. 
“Well Zeke, what do you have to say for yourself?

“I would never hurt her Emin, you have to know that,”
he said calmly.

“Really? You did a pretty convincing job of that this
afternoon when you ignored her,” he shot back at him.

“I know, I'm ashamed of that, and I have apologized,”
he said, although I don’t know if it was making any difference, but he
continued anyway.
 
“Emin, this isn’t something I
just thought I would take a shot at to see what happens, I have been thinking
about it for ages.  Why do you think I wouldn’t come here with you over
the past few months?” He paused, but Emin didn’t answer.  “I have genuine
feelings for Hayln, and I tried to ignore them but,” he said as Emin butted in.

“You should have tried harder, She. Is. My. Sister.”
He spelt out.

“I know, which is why I didn’t say anything for so
long,” he said as he pulled my closer to his side.  “I have never felt
this way about anyone Emin, I love her.”

Everyone went silent, I saw Emin’s mouth hanging open
as I looked up to Zeke’s face.  He was looking at me, his eye’s glowing
again as they did before our first kiss.  We both looked back to Emin to
see his reaction.

“Well, it doesn’t make much difference anymore since
we are leaving tomorrow,” he said as he started up the stairs, then he stopped
halfway and glared at Zeke.  “But if I hear you go into her room tonight I
will personally drag your sorry arse out!” He said as he stormed away.

Once we heard him go into his room Zeke pulled me into
his arms again.  “Well that went better than I expected,” he said.

“Really? You expected worse?” I questioned

“You're his little sister Hayln, he would do anything
to protect you,” he said smiling at me.  “Now, I better get you safely to
your room, before he comes back down here.”

“Well at least he knows now.  It will make it a
little easier to do this,” I said, as I stood up on my toes to kiss him.  

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up
against his body.  My tongue touched his and a shiver went through my
spine, Zeke moaned softly as he pulled away.

“I doubt we will be able to do that in front of him,
even if he does know how I feel about you,” he said, and I laughed a little.

We walked to my room and stood by the doorway as we
had done for the last three nights.  I thought to myself, I would be happy
doing this for the rest of my life. 

“I was wondering if you have any plans tomorrow?” Zeke
asked.

I laughed, “Well, only planning to escape from the
government – what did you have in mind?”

“A first date actually,” Zeke said grinning.  “Do
you think you’d be up for it?”

“It would be a perfect distraction,” I said truly
pleased I could spend the whole day with him before I left.

“Good,” Zeke said as he smiled at me softly and leant
in to whisper in my ear.  “Night Hayln, sweet dreams,” and then kissed me
on the tip of my nose and went to his room. 

I wanted to go in after him.  I hadn’t had nearly
enough time together especially since I would be leaving tomorrow, and after
all Emin hadn’t banned me from Zeke’s room.  But I knew he would be
listening to make sure I went to bed, so I did – wondering if I could even
sleep this wound up.  All I could hope for now was that my dreams would
carry on from where reality had stopped with Zeke rather than dwell on my last
day at home.

I woke early in the morning after a restless
night.  I didn’t get the dreams of Zeke I had hoped for.  In fact, I
didn’t dream at all, I just tossed and turned all night.  I desperately
needed a shower to rejuvenate myself for the day.  I washed my hair and
got changed into my white linen dress, it was sleeveless and fell to my
knees.  I felt like wearing something nice, and it would be perfect for a
warm day and my first date with Zeke.  I dried my hair and left it out
just pinning a section back to keep it off my face.  Once I was happy with
my efforts I headed down to the kitchen, looking forward to my day.

I was surprised to see that only my parents were up
having breakfast, and suddenly I was worried what Emin might have done to Zeke
overnight.

“Good morning Hayln, you look lovely,” my mother said
appraising me from head to toe.

“Thanks, how is the patient?” I asked, looking at my
father, his face looked much better. 

My mother had taken his bandage off, and you could see
the wound now just below his hair line.

“My ribs are still sore but apart from that pretty
good really, thanks to your mum,” he said smiling at my mother. “I should still
scrub up okay for the benefit tonight I think.”

“Don’t tell me you're still looking forward to that
with everything else that is going on?” I queried.

“Well, it will be the last time I see a lot of my
friends for a while, and we are all going together, so we may as well make the
most of it,” he answered.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered as I sat at the
table.  I truly hated the benefits that the university held, but at least
we wouldn’t be staying long.

“Speaking about the benefit Hayln, do you have
anything to wear?” My mother asked.

Damn it, this was the other reason I hated these
things, and no matter how little time we would stay at the benefit I couldn’t
get away from having to dress up.

“No, I try to keep formal wear out of my wardrobe.”

“That’s what I thought,” she said smiling.  “How
about I take you shopping later to pick something up?

“Um… okay.” I silently wondered what had happened to
my mother overnight to make her so happy?

The boys came into the kitchen together looking like
they had just had words about me.  I couldn’t help myself though, as soon
as Zeke’s eyes met mine a smile came over my face that I couldn’t contain, his
smile beamed back at me too.  Emin saw us and rolled his eyes. “I’m glad
we’re leaving tonight, I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” he
complained as Zeke sat next to me.

My father looked confused, but my mother smiled
knowingly at me. 

“Cut it out Emin, leave your sister and Zeke
alone.”  Now I am confused, when did my mother find out?

“What are we doing today?" Emin asked clearly
wanting to change the subject.

“Packing,” my father replied still watching both Zeke
and I.  “We each need to get a bag of essentials ready before the benefit,
apart from that we just need to keep a low profile so we don’t raise
suspicion.”

“Well I was wondering if I could steal Hayln away for
a little while,” Zeke asked as he held my hand in front of my whole family -
Emin was growling at him.

“I’m not sure if that is such a good idea actually,
Zeke,” my father responded.  “Hayln has to pack and go shopping with her
mother today.”

“That won’t take all day!” I argued.

“No, but we have people watching us and I don’t want
you too far away Hayln,” Dad said with a finality in his voice.

“Zeke,” my mother interjected.  “Maybe you could
stay with Hayln this morning while she packs.  I won’t take her shopping
until just after lunch so you could still spend the morning together. 
Emin and I have to go home and collect some of our things, so it would help in
case Ethan needed anything while were away.”

I was left surprised again with my mother’s support,
did the fact that I knew the truth make that much difference to her?

“Well it wasn’t what I had in mind, but as long as
we’re together it’s fine with me,” he said smiling as he kissed my hand. 

I blushed a little with my family watching us, but
with less than twelve hours left together I quickly pushed that aside and
kissed him on the cheek – his smile shone back at me.

“Ugh, you two are making me sick – I’m trying to have
breakfast,” Emin moaned.

“Give it a rest Emin,” Dad fired back.  I waited
while Zeke finished his breakfast, then we went up to my room to get my bag
ready.

“You look beautiful,” Zeke said simply as we entered
my room.

“Thanks,” I said a little self-conscious but happy
that he had noticed.  “I’m sorry we can’t go anywhere.”

“Being in your bedroom, alone with you, doesn’t sound
too bad to me,” he said mischievously.

“My father is still here is you know,” I replied while
moving closer to him.

“What happened to a
little danger never hurt anyone
?”
He repeated my words to him as he slid his hands from my shoulders down my
arms. 

As he touched my bare skin, I could feel goose bumps
where his hands had been.  My body reacted instantly to Zeke.

“I suppose it is our first date, so it would be rude
not to oblige,” I whispered as I put my hands around his waist.

“Very rude,” he said as he kissed me, holding my face
gently between his large hands. 

This was a warm, loving kiss, as if we had all the
time in the world together.  We kissed effortlessly for what could have
been minutes or hours, I had no idea, and I didn’t care.  Then catching me
by surprise, he bent down and swept me up into his arms and carried me to my
bed – my heart started racing.  He smiled as if he heard the change of
pace in my chest and sat next to me.