Twilight Embrace (Completed)

Chapter 35

 As they walked into the castle Annjelica’s thoughts travelled back in time to the moment she first saw Lyell and how events had led up to this day, this moment, that she held the hand of the man she’d imprinted on to be her life-long partner. She so desperately wanted her family to accept Lyell even though he was human and more importantly she needed Lyell to accept her for what she was. 

At the age of ten Annjelica had loved to swim in the Lake at night and at the first opportunity she got after waking up she’d leave the castle and run towards the Lake. It was always difficult for her to escape her parent’s watchful eye, especially her mother who felt she was too young to venture out on her own as she’d not yet shown any sign of the abilities her inhuman blood lines possessed. They knew she was special, but how special they were yet to learn. 

It was always just before midnight that family and friends seemed to occupy her parent’s time and she was able to take off into the night and indulge in her favorite pass time, swimming naked in the cold waters of the Lake. Being able to hold her breath for an unbelievable length of time, underwater swimming had become a natural habit and left her feeling free and at peace in her underwater world. 

On a night when the moon had been full and high in the sky, Annjelica had just surfaced from a long underwater swim a few meters from the rocky outcrop, when she’d become aware of another swimmer in the Lake, and had felt their vibrations through the water as she swam submerged. Silently she’d lifted her head out the water and watched for the swimmer to appear. Her sensitive hearing picked up his footstep the moment he’d climbed onto her rocky island. She’d watched mesmerized by the moonlight shinning on his skin as his naked torso appeared above the rocks. The droplets of water sparkled on his chest as she’d watched him, utterly captivated by his presence. 

Something about him drew her closer to the rocks and when he stood up and stretched raising his arms up to the sky, she’d gasped trying desperately not to choke on the water that unexpectedly filled her mouth. He was naked and at the age of fifteen, it was the first time she had ever seen a naked man and her eyes were riveted to his body, his manhood had stunned her. She felt as if she was looking at some sort of godly being. His body shimmered in the moonlight and he had a distinct aura about him. 

Every evening thereafter she’d swum out towards the rocks just after midnight and he was there. She’d watched him in silence, totally hypnotized by his every movement. The nights that she’d swum underwater towards the rocks she’d felt his vibration as he swam and it thrilled her, causing ripples of excitement to race through her body. She struggled to understand her emotions every time she saw or felt him. But then one night he didn’t come and the next night and the next. She felt as if she was going to die. He’d become her reason for being, she couldn’t explain why or how this had happened, she just knew deep down inside her without him she was nothing. She hadn’t realized then, that she’d imprinted on this stranger and what these unfamiliar feelings really meant. 

For months she returned to the rocky island watching and waiting. The longing inside her spilled over in tears and the only times she found a little peace was during a storm. She’d lie on his rock and watch the lightning crease the sky. She’d always felt more energized after a storm, it took control of her thoughts and feelings. It was the only time she’d felt a slight relief from the anguish that burned like flames inside her, now that he’d gone. 

But then he returned and she felt his presence the moment she’d entered the water and once again she watched him silently from a distance. Night after night she’d swim out towards the rocks and watched over this man, this human, who affected her so and made her blood rush round her veins and her heart pump so fiercely she could hear it in her ears. Again when he left, her body seemed to go into a downward spiral, like a part of her had just died and months went by before he returned and Annjelica would start her vigil all over again. Every time he returned her emotions and feelings multiplied a thousand times more, than when he’d been there previously. But he was human and she was not, and the fact that no one seemed to know what she really was, or who she’d eventually become, so she remained silent and watched him from a distance.