Shades of Atlantis (33 page)

It’s one of the reasons I found it difficult giving up my position. I stared at my feet, feeling the blood pound inside my head.

You’re not human, Samuel concluded, so it doesn’t relate to you. That is all we know. I’m sorry, he added sincerely.

It should have been me apologizing. I’d robbed him of his son. I looked up and colors seemed to dance around him for an instant, flashes of green and silver, and somehow I felt his honesty.

Okay, I said, sounding assured and strong. We’ll wait for Ben, and he can fill in the rest.

Caleb and Samuel exchanged a troubled glance and looked at me. How do you know? Caleb questioned

I don’t know. I shrugged. I just feel it. What else could be so important he would fly across the world to tell me in person? As I looked at Caleb, a clear, vivid red color began to engulf him. I felt the passion he was experiencing suddenly overwhelm me. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing or how my mind translated it to such a rush of extreme desire. Was I seeing the emotion or feeling the colors? I had no idea.

It could have been either, or both, or maybe they were symbiotic as if one couldn’t exist without the other. I just knew they were real and they were coming from Caleb. The room began to spin and darken; my legs couldn’t hold me upright any longer. Someone caught before I reached the floor.

A woman’s voice calmly announced. Looks like I got home just in time. I tried to focus my eyes and realized I was sitting on the floor. Caleb and Samuel both crouched over me, but smaller feminine hands held me.

I turned to see the most exquisite silver colored eyes framed in an angelic face with long, flowing blond hair. She smiled.

Are you okay, my dear?

I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again. Yes. I’m — it was the colors — they took me by surprise.

She lifted me easily to standing, and Caleb and his parents exchanged a look I couldn’t comprehend. Caleb’s hands held me by my waist.

What colors, Triona?

What did he mean? I stared back at him, disconcerted. The colors around you — around your father. Surely they could see them as clearly as I did; I presumed it was a Guardian trait I hadn’t learned about yet.

Caleb and Samuel exchanged the same shocked look again.

Caleb, his mother called, disturbing his mental deliberation. Get yourself together; the child needs to rest.

I looked up, but the colors around him were gone, and I couldn’t in-terpret what he was thinking. I felt so tired, and then his strong arms lifted me, cradling me to his thundering heart. My eyes closed.

I awoke in darkness and sat up with a jolt. I must have slept through the whole day. Once my eyes adjusted, I looked around to take in my surroundings. I was in a bed, a big bed, alone and wrapped in cream-colored covers. Several doors were set into the walls, but nothing distinguished my whereabouts. I slipped over to the side of the bed; someone had undressed me, leaving me in only my underwear. I scanned the room quickly but couldn’t see my clothes, so I dragged the sheet from the bed and pulled it around my body. One door hid a sound system and CDs, another door concealed a TV, but still no wardrobe. Gripping the sheet tightly in a ball to my chest, I walked to a glass door that led into a garden, pulling back the layered, cream, toile curtain a little. I could see across to the sitting room of Caleb’s parents house, but it looked unlit and empty.

The warm breeze felt good on my skin. Still holding the curtain, I turned back to the bedroom and didn’t have time to take my next breath before a hand rested lightly on my shoulder. A sweet scent saturated the air, and soft lips tenderly brushed the back of my neck. I turned to Caleb, smiling. My heart gave a start when his hand grazed along the side of my face.

How do you feel? he asked.

I feel great, I said truthfully. What time is it? What happened? His hand slid from my face to my neck and came to rest on my shoulder, sending shivers through me. He smiled. You slept, perfectly normal.

There are lots of changes in your body, and we sometimes need more rest during daylight hours. A throwback to living in darkness underground for so many years.

Oh. I had so much to learn. My clothes? I asked, acutely aware of his hand on my bare skin.

They’re in the wardrobe, he replied, then kissed my cheek softly.

I clutched the sheet closer. I couldn’t find the wardrobe, I grumbled indignantly. Who took them off?

He looked away suddenly. It was hot, and you were tossing and turning. I jerked my shoulder away from his hand and my heart raced. You did? I exclaimed, mortified.

He laughed gently. I acted in your interest, I assure you, he said. I behaved. I could have sworn he winked, almost too fast to see.

I saw something earlier, I said, grimacing at him.

Caleb returned his hand to my shoulder and with the other he lightly traced circles along the arm I wasn’t using to cling to the sheet.

What did you see? he inquired in an intrigued voice, watching the hairs on my arm rise as he brushed his fingers toward my hand. My breathing grew shallower.

I saw how much you want me, I said truthfully. I saw how much you desire me. It — it was sort of — overwhelming. His breath caught, and I could hear his heart beat faster. I guess I can’t keep much from you anymore. He laughed almost inaudibly.

Where have your parents gone? I asked, aware of his eyes focused on my skin where his fingertips lingered.

In town for the evening. They won’t be back for hours, he answered suggestively. Then he added breezily, We are trying to maintain the impression of normality.

I don’t feel normal right now. I sighed, adjusting the sheet and pulling it upward again. Despite the warm air, my skin shivered, and goose bumps rose on the back of my neck.

Caleb was so close I couldn’t breathe anything but him. I couldn’t hear anything except my own heart. Exhilaration clouded my head. He stared intensely into my eyes. I pulled my eyes away to look at the ground; it appeared to be shaking. His hand slid up my arm and over my shoulder gradually as if tasting my skin with his fingertips, then to the back of my neck where he curled his fingers through my hair.

My heart thundered as he eased my head back so that I gazed into his sapphire blue eyes. His breath came in gasps similar to mine. His other hand moved from my shoulder to my waist, bringing me closer to him; his body was preposterously strong and firm against mine. He leaned in to touch his smooth cheek to the side of my head, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation and tingling all over. I could feel every caress with shocks of pleasure. Caleb inhaled deeply, and I lifted my hand and eased it slowly around to his back. So smooth, powerful — perfect. His lips touched my hair, and then, barely brushing my skin, they moved to my forehead and down the side of my face over my burning cheek, flushed with pleasure.

A low moan escaped my lips, and his fingers tightened at my back. His breath was on my face, and I inhaled his scent. The fingers entwined in my hair loosened and glided over my skin to my neck, and his body tensed, reacting to the blood pumping hard from my heart through my neck against his palm. His other hand traced a line purposefully up my spine, and my back arched with pleasure at his touch. He groaned seductively, continuing to brush his lips over my face. Caleb’s hand followed the curve of my shoulder, stopping just below my ear. He leaned in, kissing his lips to my ear.

I. Love. You, he whispered.

My heartbeat quickened, and my body ached for him. His lips remained pressed to my ear, breathing long, deep breaths, and my knees almost buckled as wave after wave of ecstasy washed over my body.

Caleb pulled his lips away, not moving his body. I opened my eyes and stared into his, swimming with desire as my skin seared under his touch. I couldn’t breathe or move, and my body quivered. He closed his eyes and brought his lips down on mine. My hand moved smoothly over his back to his shoulder. His lips gently moved over mine, and with one last brush, he pulled back, leaving all my senses in agony for more. Keeping his eyes closed, he moved back a few inches, his hands lowered to my shoulders. My breathing was fast and shallow. He opened his eyes and smiled adoringly.

I couldn’t tear my eyes from his gorgeous face, his golden skin. It seemed lit up from within.

What is it, my love? His expression was full of concern, and his eyes burned into me.

I pulled myself to him and stayed there for what seemed like an age until a car passed by on the street outside, breaking into the silence.

I’m sorry.

He held his hand to my head, kissing my hair. Tell me, he pleaded, barely hiding his anxiety.

I kept my face pressed to him. I’m more afraid of this than anything else, I murmured into his chest.

He chuckled and kissed my head again. You don’t have to be. Everything will be at your pace, he promised.

No, I insisted a little too strongly. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than to be as close as humanly or in our case inhumanly possible.

I want to. It’s just I’m afraid to love you. I’m afraid my heart can’t take it if — Caleb eased my face back to look at me and examined my expression; his hands kept my head still. He gazed at me with such intensity my heart froze. Don’t you know by now you are all I want? I could feel his conviction in each word, so sure of his love for me.

There was still the lingering fear that something would take him from me again, but I knew it wouldn’t be of his own volition. I felt as sure as Caleb right now. Yes, I know.

The room was still dark, but from where I lay on my stomach in Caleb’s bed, I could see a tiny crack of light seeping through the opening of the heavy curtains. Caleb lay next to me, tracing a fingertip up and down my bare back along my spine. My heart fluttered with each movement, but I stayed perfectly still with my head resting on my hands, reluctant to change anything about the moment.

Triona, are you sleeping? His voice was hushed and sweet, barely a whisper.

I didn’t answer, wanting to stay here like this a little longer, not allowing the future to take anything away from this perfection. His lips grazed against my shoulder, sending thrilling shocks speeding through my body.

I involuntary shivered.

You are awake. I could hear the smile in his voice.

I compromised by turning to face him but not moving my body. Even in the darkened room I could make out his form clearly: the contours of his bare chest, his flat stomach, his gorgeous face gazing at me affectionately.

I love you so much, I sighed.

He smiled, his eyes creasing at the corners, sending my heartbeat racing as he continued to trace my spine. This is like a dream, being with you again, he breathed. I wanted to die when I left you. I wished I did for a long time.

The only thing that kept me alive was the fear the Council would change their minds and come for you. His expression turned agonized. I’ll never forgive myself. I’ve made so many wrong choices from the beginning — I placed my hand on his heart to feel it beating. It skipped and then returned to normal. This is all that matters right now, I assured him. We are here together, and nothing can change that. So please try to enjoy this moment with me.

I beamed at him, and he leaned in to kiss my lower back, reminding me of the last several hours. Combined with his sweet fragrance filling the air, it was overpowering.

Tell me about the Council? I asked, trying to steady my breathing.

He leaned back, cupping his hands behind his head. I swallowed loudly, keeping my hand at his heart. His expression changed, becoming tense again.

The Council was set up after Dagda’s death, he said. He outlived his children; humans killed them off one by one, and the royal bloodline ended. He pulled me nearer and wrapped one strong arm around my shoulder so that my head rested on his chest. I inhaled his scent with every breath.

It meets at Vincennes, near Paris, and consists of just three Guardians, usually the strongest and most respected of the time. Right now it’s Zeal, Lucien, and Eila.

I wasn’t going to forget those names.

Eila replaced my father

Your father was on the Council? I interrupted, surprised. Then I remembered that Samuel had said something about giving up his position but was a bit vague about his reasons. Why did he leave it? His hand rubbed gently up and down my arm. You. Caleb laughed, but it sounded forced. Part of the deal he brokered for me, for us, was that he would give up his seat. Zeal and Lucien didn’t want him in their way, should I choose to break the rules again.

I cringed. He meant they didn’t want Samuel interfering with them killing Caleb because he wanted to be with a human.

How long? I asked in a whisper. How much time is your father’s place on the Council worth?

Caleb shifted slightly but didn’t answer.

How long for you to go without a fuss? It hurt to ask.

You wouldn’t have remembered what I am

What we are, I cut in.

Do you believe I didn’t know?

Yes, I replied honestly. But it doesn’t change that you always planned to leave me. How long?