“Will you go to the Cimmerian Shade Ball with me Anastasia?” he asked in a low voice.
“Yes,” I breathed, lost completely in his closeness. A voice in the back of my head reassured me that if he was asking me to the ball, he didn’t plan on ending my life; which was a plus. He smiled, picked me up and spun me around. I placed my hands on either side of his cheeks and slowly leaned down to give him a kiss. It was just a light peck, but his soft lips ignited a fire inside me. Still holding me, he sat down on the wooden bench of the gazebo. I straddled him as he leaned back against the railing, pulling me close. He lightly kissed the tender skin below my ear, sending a frenzy of sensations through my body. He made his way up my chin and toward my mouth. I closed my eyes, anticipating a kiss that didn’t come.
I opened my eyes to see that his were filled with a painful conflict I didn’t understand. I touched his cheek and watched as the pain slowly receded. The raw vulnerability I saw in his eyes would haunt me forever. It was a look I knew well. I had seen it many times in my own reflection.
When all of your defenses are stripped away, the only thing left is surrender. Only then can you see the true size of the burden a person carries. Only then can you see the toll it has taken on their soul.
His silent pleas broke my heart.
“You don’t have to be strong all of the time, Finn.” I didn’t know why, but I felt it was what he needed to hear. His eyes searched mine and he smiled. I could feel the special bond we already shared growing stronger with each passing moment. With a slowness that threatened to make the fire inside me explode, he kissed me. What started out as slow and gentle quickly turned in to something more urgent and powerful. A low moan sounded from deep within him and he unzipped my jacket, pushing it down and off my arms. I felt his hand at the small of my back; the tips of his fingers dangerously low, as his other hand pulled the strap of my tank top off my shoulder. With a hunger that was almost tangible, he ran his lips along my collarbone and shoulder, licking the same spot, sending waves of pleasure through me.
Bringing his mouth to mine, I gently kissed his bottom lip, then the top. He bit my lip lightly and gave it a tug, then began kissing me in earnest again. A longing so strong took hold of me; all I could do was feel. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and clutched a handful, eagerly holding his lips to mine. He ran his hands up my thighs, gripped my waist, and slid my body closer; pressing me against him. I felt his body tense and he broke our kiss, leaning his forehead against mine; leaving both of us breathing hard. He slowly opened his eyes.
“You have no idea what you do to me ,” he said as he looked up at me with restraint. He stood and lowered me to my feet in front of him. He straightened, took both my hands with a slight smirk, and suddenly looked very regal. He extended his arms and stepped back as if dancing, bringing me back towards him, then lifted one hand above my head and spun me around. He caught my waist awkwardly and dipped me dramatically. The blood rushed to my head and a giggle escaped my lips.
“If we have to actually dance at the Ball, you’re in trouble,” I laughed at him.
He stood me upright, bowed and with a horrible French/English accent grinned up at me.
“Right you are, mademoiselle.”
Chapter 21
“Yep, just as I suspected,” Carmen placed her palm on my forehead, “two degrees above crazy.”
Although Finn had cloaked me all the way back to the dorm, the damage to my clothes and hair had been done. I heard a fork drop and several gasps when I walked back in to our suite. Their breakfast plates were immediately abandoned, as Carmen started in on a game of twenty questions and Willow practically threw me in the shower, mumbling something about me getting sick. Once in dry clothes, I found a blanket and made myself a nice cozy spot on the couch beside Phoebe.
“I hope he had a good reason for dragging you out in to the middle of a hurricane!” Willow scowled at me. “He needs a lesson in common sense.”
“Well if you call asking me to the Ball and giving me a necklace a good reason, than I guess he did.” I grinned and heard Phoebe squeal beside me. She jumped across the couch and wrapped her arms around me.
“We get to go together! We have to find dresses! Oh my God, this is going to be so much fun! We can go shopping tomorrow if the hurricane’s gone, and I need to find some jewelry too-“
“Calm down Cinderella, you don’t even know if she said yes…” Carmen interrupted her.
They looked at me in anticipation.
“Well, duh.” I rolled my eyes and Phoebe squealed again, “But look what he gave me…Isn’t it the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen?” I pulled the necklace out of its velvet bag.
“Does he have any cute brothers?” Carmen’s face lit up.
“Stasia, that is so romantic,” Phoebe gushed, “I mean he gave you a necklace and asked you out in the middle of a hurricane!”
“I’m seriously beginning to worry about you guys,” Willow sighed from the arm chair and looked up from her laptop with discord, “Being asked out in the middle of a hurricane is not romantic.
It’s totally reckless and irresponsible.”
“And totally hot,” added Carmen. “Let me see that necklace” She turned it over in her hand a couple times. “It looks old. Does it belong to somebody in his family?” she asked.
“I don’t know. All he said is that it belongs to me now.” I contemplated her question. It seemed ludicrous to think he’d given me something of that much value. I’d been seeing him for three years in my dreams, but we just officially met less than two weeks ago.
“I got it!” Willow bounced in her chair, pointing at her laptop screen. Before we could ask her what she was talking about, she bolted into her bedroom. She came back with a notebook and the piece of paper that had belonged to Nicolet, rolling it out flat on the coffee table.
“It’s written in an early form of the Greek language,” she explained to us, “so all I have to do is find a website to tell me exactly how early….” She began writing furiously, looking from the screen to her notebook and back again.
“Oh, good. One less thing for me to figure out.” Carmen pointed at all of us, “Start saving up your money, cause you’ll be paying for my meal at the nicest restaurant on the east coast.” She grinned and turned her attention back to the necklace. “What kind of stone is this?”
“It’s an aquamarine. He told me before that it stands for courage and….” My breath caught and I looked up, “...foresight.”
“Do you think he knows you might have….?” Phoebe blinked at me.
“I never told him. I mean, I just figured it out last night. How could he possibly know?”
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence?” Carmen suggested. “I mean we don’t know for sure you actually have foresight.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s a really big coincidence, if you ask me,” Phoebe commented as she peeked over Willow’s shoulder. I leaned back on the couch, my mind reeling. Even if no one else believed me, I knew it was true. I knew I had seen into the future. Twice. Was it possible that Finn knew it too? He knew I could breathe underwater, so it wouldn’t be a long shot. How could he know so much about me? Who was he?