The Bewitching - Book 1

Chapter 24 - The End or Just the Beginning?

He stood up and walked to the edge of the overhang. The moon outlined his solid frame hidden beneath the nicely fitted leather jacket. His hair rustled slightly in the breeze as his hands dug into his pockets. He looked both dangerous and breathtaking at the same time, yet he seemed so vulnerable at the moment. She felt her heart skip a beat just looking at it him.

He glanced over his should at her, and then looked away. "Do what?"

"Talk down to me, like you hate me. What did I ever do to you to deserve that?" She spoke the last part in almost a whisper as a sudden realization popped into her head. What if it wasn't something horrible he had done in the past that she couldn't remember, but instead it was her.

"It wasn't." The words drifted softly to her ears, startling her still the same because of how close he now stood. She looked up, his face now inches from her own, and looking deeply into her eyes.

"Wasn't what?" she asked.

"It wasn't you. That's what you were thinking, right?" he responded, a bit of hesitation in his voice. She looked back into his eyes. She could see the torment, as if he was choosing his words very carefully.

"How did you know I was thinking..." she started to ask but trailed off before finishing.

"Your face. It's always been easy for me to read...to a point at least." As he spoke these words, he reached out to her slowly. She closed her eyes in anticipation. In this moment she felt safe around him. Not only that, she felt a strong connection, something she had never experienced with anyone. She once again felt the butterflies in her stomach, and her body tingled. She could almost feel the electricity flowing between them. In this exact moment she no longer cared about seeing what it was he had hidden from her. She only wanted to feel his skin against hers.

He watched her closely, and his knees began to go weak. She still had a hold on him, and it killed him to admit it. He hoped it was something he would never have to share with her, or anyone else for that matter. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight, even more so than the angels themselves. As far as he was concerned they would never be able to compare to her in anyway, not in this life time or any other.

His hand was so close to the soft, supple skin of her cheek that he could feel the heat radiating off of her. He wanted nothing more than to touch her, to hold her, to be as they had been in a past life, even if this was the last time.

He slowly pulled his hand away from her. She felt it disappear, the electricity she had just felt when he was so close. Why did he stop? She opened her eyes, looking up into his and seeing the pain in them. She didn't understand.

"What's wrong?" Her lips almost trembled as she spoke the words. She felt as if she was on the verge of tears, and she didn't know why.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." He stood up and backed away from her. He could feel a tightness in his chest, and it felt like his heart was breaking all over again. It wasn't a good idea for him to come here. He should have avoided it at all costs, but he was weak, far weaker than he wanted to be.

He quickly tried to change the subject. "I thought I had asked you not to use those location spells on me."

She was taken aback. This was a beautiful moment they were about to share, and within a heartbeat he had ruined it with his words. "Why did you do that? Every time I start thinking that maybe, just maybe, you have some kind of heart, just an inkling of kindness in you, you prove me wrong."

"Maybe you're right. I'm not kind, and I truly have no heart. In life reality is cruel. It's neither kind nor fair, but that's life, and sometimes we have to accept it for what it is. That's all I am, that reality. Trust me when I say I know far more of this than you ever will. You couldn't begin to understand it the way I do, not unless you walked in my shoes, knew what I knew." He spoke quietly, but harshly, as if his words were meant to pierce her as deeply as possibly.