Kindred (Page 23)

Though she knew she was lying to herself, she also knew that she could not simply leave this room, and him, with her pen.

Reaching slowly across, her heart hammered in eager anticipation as her fingers curled around the top of the pen, mere centimeters from where his fingers stopped. Though they were not touching, electricity shot through her, stunning her, leaving her breathless and shaken. Vivid images of the dream sizzled through her. He did not release the pen to her. He did not move as the smile slipped from his face and his eyes burned with the consuming need she had seen in him before.

And then he moved.

His fingers slid slightly up the pen, breaching the small gap between them. Cassie inhaled sharply, something inside of her locked into place, it froze her muscles and kept her immobile. The world disappeared as everything in it became him, became them. They were joining, their molecules blending and twining together in a sensuous dance that was soothing and beautiful. Everything suddenly made sense, everything became right. All of the loss, and ache, and loneliness did not hurt as much as his touch became the balm that soothed it all.

The dream last night had been wonderful and beautiful, but the reality was far better than anything she could have ever imagined. In that moment, she knew she had found her home in him. This was where she belonged, where she would always belong. Her life would never be the same, but she was no longer frightened by the realization. She was exhilarated by it. Everything would be ok now that he was a part of her.

His eyes darkened, his fingers tightened around hers as he clung to her; a tremor shook his powerful frame. A tremor that melted her heart and made her ache to reach out and caress his cheek. She longed to soothe the fear and confusion radiating from him. It did not make her feel better that he seemed just as mystified as she was by all this. No, it only made her wish to get closer to him, to ease the pain in him, to soothe the torment she sensed deep inside him.

She did not know where his torment and anguish came from, but she suspected it ran even deeper and further than her own. And somehow she knew that she could help him with his pain, just as he helped with hers. She could feel the strength running through him, the tight control he exerted over himself. She completely understood his feelings as they were the same ones rattling her too.

He released her suddenly, the loss of contact leaving her shaken and hollow inside. Leaving her broken and lost once more, but the feelings of hurt and confusion were not as consuming or as unbearable as before. He had healed something inside her, somehow his touch had put back some of the pieces of her broken soul.

For a moment he hesitated, his eyes burned into hers as something dark shifted behind his intense gaze. A small smile flitted across his hard mouth. He rose swiftly, with a grace that was breathtaking and stunning. Staring down at her, he was unable to suppress the small tremor racing through him, a tremor that warmed her heart. It was apparent that she affected and rattled him just as much as he shook her, and he hadn’t even had the same wonderful dream that she had experienced last night. He reached his hand slowly out to her, a hopeful expression on his face that tugged at her heart.

She stared at his hand, her heart hammering fiercely as she took note of the perfection of his strong fingers. Heaving her bag onto her shoulder, she took a deep breath as she decided to throw her life over to fate. There was no stopping fate after all, and she was surprised to realize that she no longer wanted to. Sliding her hand into his, she clasped tightly hold of it, surprised to note the slightly cooler feel of his skin. She didn’t have long to contemplate that thought though as the strange sense of comfort and peace descended over her once more, wrapping her within the warm cocoon of strength and power that he exuded.

He would keep her safe, keep her protected from the hurt and pain of the world; she knew that with every cell of her being. Although, given that she was not entirely human, she was probably stronger and far more capable of protecting him. Though, with him, she did not feel as if she were less than human, she did not feel abnormal and freaky. With him, she felt human and feminine and alive in ways that she had not felt in a very long time.

“Where to?” he asked softly, his deep voice sent a shiver of delight down her spine and caused goose bumps to break out on her hypersensitive skin.

The last thing she wanted was to go to another class, but she could not walk out of school with him, like she longed to do. However, she was pretty sure that she couldn’t sit through another minute without touching him, and feeling him. Especially not now, not when she knew how wonderful, and right, the feel of him truly was.

Noise drifted to her, breaking through her turbulent, uncertain thoughts. She was surprised to find that the next class was already filtering in. Students glanced questioningly at the two of them as they took their seats. No one from their class remained. Cassie sighed heavily, knowing what she had to do, but wishing that she didn’t. “I have Anatomy and Physiology now.”

“Lead the way.”

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to start moving, before she couldn’t. “What class do you have now?”

He frowned slightly as he dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his rumpled schedule. Though he had been in school for nearly a week, he apparently had not learned it yet. But then again, it did change every day. “Study hall.”

The frown on his face surprised her; he almost looked confused as he stared at the paper, his dark eyebrows drawn tightly together. For a moment it appeared as if he didn’t know what study hall was, but that was impossible, every student knew what study hall was. Didn’t they? “That’s probably in the library, but some are held in classrooms,” she said softly.

“Library.”

“Do you want me to take you there?” she asked, certain that his confused expression was because he didn’t know where to go.

He glanced up at her; a small smile curved his full mouth. Cassie felt her heart melt, her toes curled at the sight of that heart stopping grin. He appeared so much younger, more approachable, and nowhere near as hard when he smiled like that. She had thought that he was gorgeous before, but now, smiling, he was magnificent. It took all she had not to reach out and stroke his face, not to bury herself against him, hold him tight and shut out the rest of the world. Something she knew that he would be able to help her do.

“Trying to get rid of me already?” he inquired lightly.

Cassie couldn’t stop herself from grinning back at him. “No,” she answered honestly. “I just don’t want you to get lost.”