Was this happening?
He set me down on the bed and peeled off his own jacket. I scooted forward, reached a hand out to his shirt, and glanced at him. His eyes were heated. I guess that was permission to continue.
I began unbuttoning his shirt, my hands trembling. He cupped the sides of my face, placing soft kisses over every inch of exposed skin he could find.
He released me only long enough for me to slide the shirt off of his shoulders. As I did so, I relished the feel of his coiled, sinuous muscles.
This was too much. The siren in me was already moving to the surface. I fought against her, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to push her back.
When I was under control again, I leaned back and drank Andre in. “You’re so pretty.”
Andre narrowed his eyes. “Pretty?” he said incredulously. “I’ve fought in crusades, held dying men in my arms, led a coven of vampires for over seven centuries. I’m many things, soulmate, but pretty is not one of them.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. The truth was, Andre was pretty the way a panther was. Beautiful, but lethal. And right now his eyes glittered dangerously. I grabbed his hand and tugged him forward until he joined me on the bed.
A whisper of a smile graced his lips, and I traced it with my thumb. My mouth followed my finger, and I kissed him, tentatively running my hands over his naked torso.
He rolled on top of me, and inner Gabrielle squealed with delight. My skin shimmered on and off like a strobe light as the siren and I battled for control.
Andre broke off the kiss, and I heard his husky laughter.
“Are you laughing at me?” I asked indignantly, my skin losing its ethereal shimmer. I pushed him over and he let me, his laugh building on itself. I rolled on top of him and straddled his torso. “That’s not very nice.”
“I’m not a very nice man,” he said, trying to stifle it.
“It’s hard to control that thing, and you don’t exactly make it any easier.”
“What a difficult cross to bear,” he said sympathetically, running a hand down my arm.
It was my turn to narrow my eyes. “You’re not doing so well in the boyfriend department right now. And let’s not even talk about the future-husband one.”
He laughed again, and I fought a smile. “I cherish you so much, Gabrielle.”
In response I leaned down and brushed my lips against his, and then we resumed where we left off.
That is, until I yawned.
I wasn’t bored in the least. Far from it. But each passing day made me a little less human, and my sleep cycle had been off for a while.
Andre’s eyes honed in on my yawn. “You’re tired.”
“No—no,” I said, desperate to not mess this up. Since we’d been dating, Andre had been policing the physical nature of our relationship like a nun.
He brushed back my hair, flashing me a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. “Ah, to be young,” he said, discreetly reminding me of our considerable age difference. I gave him a look.
He kissed each of my eyelids. “You are gorgeous even when you pout,” he said, pulling away from my face to take me in.
“I’m not pouting,” I said, aware of the obstinate note in my voice even as I spoke. Dang it, he was the sourpuss, not me. I was all for where things were leading.
He wrapped me up in his arms. “And I’m not leaving. I’ll be right here. But you should try to get some sleep,” he said, his eyes moving over my face.
I yawned again without meaning to, and my eyelids drooped. They fluttered open before falling shut again.
There was something incredibly comforting about falling asleep curled in Andre’s arms. I’d gone on for so long thinking that I was a lone traveler in my life; it was nice having someone to share it with.
“Sweet dreams, soulmate.”
Snow covered the ground up to my ankles. It frosted the trees that stretched out around me, making the place both beautiful and bleak.
What forest had I wandered into?
The silence surrounding me was deep and pure. I stepped forward, my boots crunching into snow. The sound raised the hairs along my arm.
A familiar sense of unease slithered through me as I walked along what appeared to be a path. Now that snow covered the ground, only the extra wide space between trees indicated that it was manmade.
My breath clouded around me. But other than that, nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. Unease became dread the further into the woods I walked. My body seemed to know more about my surroundings than I did.
Ahead of me, beyond the gnarled branches, I caught a glimpse of something. The thick woods opened up.
My breath froze in my chest. Fear coursed through my veins and begged me to leave. But I couldn’t move. Instead I stared, transfixed, at the stone castle in front of me.
It seemed to grow out of the rocky earth, raw stone transitioning to quarried, polished blocks stacked one on top of each other. Icicles had formed along the castle’s ledges and along the faces and wings of gargoyles that watched me.
I’d seen this place before, when snow and ice hadn’t covered it. When I’d almost sold my soul. And now I was back.
“Welcome back, Gabrielle.”
I shrieked before I could stop myself and glanced around, looking for him. The devil.
He stepped out from the woods to my left, looking just as beautiful and terrifying as he always had.
I stumbled back. “Why can’t you leave me alone?” I asked, my voice unsteady. Now I remembered why my body had been signaling for me to leave. It knew on a primordial level that this was an unholy place.
He ignored my question and stepped towards me. For each of his steps forward I took one back, until I bumped into a tree.
He closed the remaining distance quickly. “Little bird,” he said, the back of his hand grazing my face. I flared my nostrils at his touch, “I will never leave you alone. Not until you agree to my terms.”