Arielle Immortal Awakening (9 page)

“I just can’t believe I got caught up in his world,” Gabrielle murmured as they left the police station. “I never thought of what the consequences might be. Thank you so much,” she whispered, embracing Arielle and Eva one at a time.

Dr. Taylor embraced his daughter warmly and planted a huge kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be home for dinner tomorrow night, Daddy,” Gabrielle said as he dropped them off at their car back in his parking lot.

“Come and visit soon,” he said, extending his gaze to Eva and Arielle. “Mrs. Taylor will love to see you.”

“Thank you,” Eva and Arielle replied in unison, and Dr. Taylor went back into his office.

“Well, now we can go back to our normal lives,” Eva said as they reached out and hugged each other one more time before piling into the car.

“I’m sure that it’ll take some time to really feel normal again, but for a start, why don’t we go out with our friends and have some fun?” Arielle said. She was overwhelmed with relief that Gabrielle was out of Marcus’s reach.

Later in the evening, they went back to their flat, poured three glasses of wine and sat around the front room together. They laughed and talked, just as they used to do in the days before Marcus. To them it seemed a perfect ending to a perfect day.

The next day Paul called and asked Arielle if he could come over. Gabrielle and Eva had decided to go out, and since Arielle had a little studying to do, she had stayed behind.

About half an hour later, Paul showed up at their door. He looked excited and anxious to talk.
What could it be?
she wondered. Paul was studying archeology and she always enjoyed sitting with him and listening to the wonderful stories he had to tell about the exciting, far-away places that he was going to visit when he completed his studies. But this time something in his manner made her think it wasn’t archaeology he wanted to talk about.

“Can we talk?” he asked in a very low voice as he came into the flat.

“Sure,” she said smiling. “Come on in.” She waved toward the sofa. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“No, there is nothing wrong,” he said, “but I’d like to talk to you about something that is pretty important to me. Are you alone?”

“Yes,” she replied, a bit confused.

He stopped and looked away from her as if he were wondering whether to continue with what he had to say. Finally he took a deep breath, and then said, “Arielle, it’s very difficult for me to convey to you how I feel. So I hope that you will just listen to me and not take lightly anything I’m going to say.”

Now she was worried. She thought maybe something terrible had happened. Still, she told him with a smile that she was listening.

He took her hands in his and pressed them softly. When he spoke again his voice sounded worried.

“I’ve tried so hard to hide my feelings,” he said. “I was afraid that I might destroy our friendship. I’ve desperately fought the desire to talk to you about what I’m about to say, and I’ve lost the battle.”

He put his arm around her and drew her close. “I’m desperately and utterly in love with you,” he said quickly, afraid that he might lose his nerve.

Arielle was speechless!

She tried to say something but she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

Then Paul kissed her, and she felt a sudden desire sweep over her. But it was gone just as quickly as it had come. She could see the sincerity in his eyes and she knew that he genuinely meant what he had said.

“Paul, I love you to death,” she said, finally. “But not in the same way. I don’t want to hurt you, and I definitely don’t want to lose you as a friend. I love you. But I’m not in love with you.”

She watched his face change as he pulled away and looked back at her, hurt in his eyes. She started to say something, but he stopped her.

“You’re not going to lose me,” he said in a soft, husky voice that she could barely hear. “I’ll always be here for you, Arielle. I love you unconditionally, and I don’t expect anything in return.” His voice barely a whisper, he added, “I thought you might have the same feeling for me, so I decided to talk to you about it.”

“Paul, please forgive me,” she said. “I didn’t know. I had no idea!”

“There is nothing to forgive,” he said with a soft smile, and as he said it he touched her cheek tenderly. “You will always be my numberone girl.” “Thanks, Paul” she said, daring to chuckle. “You know, you’ll always be my number oneguy as well.”

And what she said was true. She couldn’t imagine being any fonder of anyone. They looked at each other and laughed softly.

“You’re an incredible girl,” he said.

“You know, Paul,” she said, “though I can’t return the same kind of love to you, I want you to know how important you are to me.” Then she hugged him warmly.

He stayed for a little while longer, but soon decided that it was probably time for him to be going home. “I hope this doesn’t make it awkward between the two of us,” he said. “I mean, you know. I hope it doesn’t damage our friendship.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make me not want to be your friend. We’re going to be okay,” she said. She knew that seeing him around would only intensify the pain for him, but she just couldn’t cut him out of her life.

Arielle had been looking for the kind of love she had been reading about in her favorite books:
Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights.
And she had always wondered if she would ever find her Mr. Darcy or her Heathcliff. Paul was wonderful as a friend, but he just didn’t fit the blueprint of a soul mate.

It was coming to feel like a more and more remote possibility. But she knew that what she really wanted was to find someone who would make her feel the way Liz Bennet felt for Mr. Darcy. She knew it was a dream, but for right now she knew she had to hang on to that dream.

Chapter 8

June 30th

I am so happy to be back in St. Jean de Luz. There is something magical about this place. It may be just the sheer beauty of it all; then again it may be the incredible warmth that surrounds our family when we are here. Everything around us is so serene and so comforting: amazing white-sand beaches, crystal-clear ocean, and wonderful weather. My parents enjoy taking long walks through the beautiful gardens, admiring the splendor of it all. There are days that the three of us take drives down to the beach to admire the beautiful sunsets, and on the way we take pleasure from the wonderful lush greenery and cascading waterfalls. I am trying to enjoy as much time as I can with my parents because I know my life will be changing once I am out of school.

That was what Arielle wrote in her journal in the first few days of her summer holiday back in the South of France. She was so happy to be there again!

This time she visited several bookstores in town and purchased some compelling new novels to get lost in while sitting by the pool or the ocean. Her iPod was loaded with music by her favorite bands. Each and every morning she headed to the beach or to the pool with her beach bag.

Almost two months later, she was still totally unsuccessful in getting the perfect tan, but she wasn’t giving up. She was going to forgo the pool and head to the beach with the sole purpose of achieving her goal, a nice dark tan.

What she loved most about being in the South of France was that when they were there, she spent most of her time alone. It was wonderful to have peace and quiet with no thoughts and no worries that belonged to other people.

This was the year she was turning twenty-one, and little did she know it would also be one of those summer holidays in which her life would take an unexpected turn into the unknown.

One Monday morning, about two weeks before their holiday was to end, she woke up feeling exceptionally well rested. She decided to enjoy staying in bed just a little while longer. She closed her eyes again and tried to plan her day. Maybe she would lie on the beach, maybe she would do a little shopping, and maybe she would call Margaret, one of her summertime friends, to have lunch at one of those little sidewalk cafes on the boardwalk.

When she opened her eyes again the sun was shining through the slats in the blinds. She got out of bed and pulled the blinds up, flooding the room with sunlight. She put on her little blue bathing suit, grabbed her beach towel, and headed outside to find that it was a glorious, sunny day.

The sun kissed her skin and she felt the kind of warmth that automatically makes you feel happy. She smiled to herself as she got into the car and drove to the beach.

Several people had already placed their beach chairs, blankets, and beach towels, and had claimed spots as close to the water as they could. Children were running, laughing, and splashing in the ocean without a care in the world. There were several guys sitting on their surfboards, waiting to catch a wave. The place was just dripping with charm.

She decided to take a walk along the beach. Digging her toes into the warm white sand she looked for a familiar spot, away from all these people whose thoughts she could hear. She was desperate to get away from them.

As she walked by one lady, she could hear her thinking,
I wish I could be on a cruise ship with a gorgeous looking man and a cool martini in my hand, rather than being here running after these darned kids.
She put her head down as she walked past so the lady couldn’t see the smile she was suppressing.

She walked for a while longer and finally came to a lovely, quiet cove. No one else was there. It was perfect! She spread her beach towel on the soft sand and took her iPod out of her bag. She plugged her headphones in and, turning the music on, she laid down and closed her eyes, hoping to spend a couple of peaceful hours here listening to her favorite music.

She had only been there for a few minutes when she had a strong feeling that she was being watched. She sat up and took a careful look all around, but she couldn’t see anyone nearby, or anyone looking at her. Yet the feeling that she was being watched was unbelievably intense. She laid back down, and closed her eyes. She was hoping that today she might
finally
get a tan.

The next time she opened her eyes she realized that she had fallen asleep. Integral by Pet Shop Boys was playing through the headphones. Arielle sat up slowly, reached for her iPod, and shut it off. She looked around and noticed that the beach was completely empty. The sun was going down, and the water had lost its bright blue color. Now it looked dark and uninviting. She pulled the headphones out of her ears and threw them into her beach bag along with her iPod and the unused tanning lotion. She rose to her feet, took another look around, and decided that it was time to head home. She bent over, picked up her beach bag, and threw it over her shoulder. With the other hand she picked up the corner of the beach towel and turned around to shake the sand off.

She was absolutely panicked when her eyes fell on a young man standing about ten feet away from her with a soft smile on his face. She felt a strong sudden jolt course through her body and fear overcame her. She couldn’t imagine where he had come from or how she could have missed seeing him standing so close.

He was shockingly beautiful, as if he had jumped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. He was tall and thin with broad shoulders, a muscular body, light, sandy hair, and the most captivating, intense green eyes she had ever seen. His features were flawless. His lips were sensuous, beautifully curved into a soft smile, showing a set of perfectly white teeth. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt open in the front, revealing his muscular chest. She felt an unusual shiver slide across her muscles. She stared at him and quickly swallowed. She wondered how long she had been standing there watching him, completely mesmerized, when his voice made her jump.

“
Bonjour
!” he said, his lips curved slightly.

Her throat suddenly felt swollen. She realized that she was completely alone on this beach with a stranger. Not a good situation!

As she started to speak their eyes met, and immediately her mind went blank. She felt a jolt that made her body quiver, and extreme heat surged through her veins. She was in a complete fog with absolutely no clear thoughts at all. Time stopped as their gazes locked, and a strange sensation coursed across every muscle, intensifying the heat that was already enveloping her. She had absolutely no idea how long she stood there gazing into his eyes. When she finally decided to move she felt off-balance, frozen in place. What a strange feeling! She didn’t remember ever having had such a reaction to any other human being. This man was so beautiful that she literally didn’t have the strength to take her eyes off of his face.

She tried to collect her thoughts and act normal, but she didn’t seem to be able to do that as long as their eyes were engaged. It took every ounce of strength she possessed to finally drag her gaze away from his eyes. She inhaled deeply, and tried to act as if the sight of him was not absolutely turning her body and mind upside down.

Strangely, after the initial shock of seeing him, she didn’t feel fear, though in an abstract way she was aware that she was in a dangerous situation. It was a very odd feeling. She did still feel a bit guarded, not knowing what he could possibly want from her, or how long he had been standing there looking at her. There was something about his eyes that dazzled her so that she had to look away from his face, until his soft, beautiful voice filled her ears and made her look at him again.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still in French. “It looks as if I have startled you and that was not my intention. I live here a great part of the year and I have never seen you on this beach.”

He was startled with the sudden passion that surged through every muscle in his body as his gaze examined Arielle’s undeniable appeal. She was absolutely gorgeous. Tall and lean with beautiful long legs, an intoxicating body in that barely-there, little blue bikini, and that amazing face. She was the absolute definition of
his
perfect woman. Her lips were alluring, sensual, luscious, and the sight of them was dangerously arousing to him. He drew a deep breath and locked his gaze on hers.

Arielle blinked, swallowed hard, and forced herself to look away, averting her gaze down to her feet, unable to speak. What in the world was happening to her? She was acting like a complete moron! And she now realized that she hadn’t been able to make out a single word he had said after the words “I’m sorry…”

As she started to regain her composure she looked up to make sure that he was still there. It only took a second as their eyes engaged one more time; then she lost control of herself again. She felt like she was suffocating and she couldn’t utter a single word. In a flash she realized that he had some kind of power in his eyes that was affecting her in a very strange way.

She drew a deep breath and with a great force of determination, yanked her eyes away from his mouth-watering body and his gorgeous face. She was sure that every time she looked into his emerald eyes she wouldn’t be able to act like a normal human being.

Then she heard his beautiful voice again. And she thought she also heard a faint chuckle.

“Did you just move here or are you here on holiday?” he asked. He was still speaking in French, but Arielle was fluent in the language, so she completely understood every word he was saying. She was sure he would notice how nervous she was, but she didn’t care at this point.

“My parents have a summer home not far from this beach. We have spent our summer holidays here ever since I was born,” she said in English.

“You’re English!” he said, in perfect English, excitement in his voice, and she nodded quietly.

“You said you have been coming here ever since you were born, how long is that?” he asked with amusement in his voice.

“Twenty years” she said with a soft smile.

“I wonder how I never noticed you before,” he said. “You are very beautiful!” Then his lips curved appreciatively.

She wanted to tell him that she had never thought of herself as very beautiful, but she just smiled shyly and said, “I come to the beach quite often.”

He didn’t seem to be one of the people who belonged to that special place in her head as she had absolutely no idea what he was thinking or what he wanted from her.

“What’s your name?” he asked in his soft, velvety voice.

“Arielle,” she replied. She knew her voice was breaking, and she was sure he noticed, since he smiled, never taking his eyes off of her.

“Well, I really must be going,” she said, as she began to move away from him so that she could shake the beach towel in the opposite direction. That is when she lost her balance and started to fall. She never saw him move toward her, but suddenly his arms were wrapped tightly around her, and their bodies softly collided against each other as he caught her. How could he have moved so fast?

But she dismissed the question as soon as she felt his warm, perfect body against hers. Her heartbeat accelerated, and her pulse hammered in her veins as her mind focused on the closeness of his body to hers. It was an emotion unlike any she had ever experienced before in her whole life. She closed her eyes for a moment and she suddenly felt that she wanted to stay like this, in his arms forever. He didn’t seem in a hurry to let her go, and she didn’t make a move to leave his arms.

When she opened her eyes again his beautiful face was only inches away from hers. She began to fall apart again as their eyes locked, and she would have dropped to the sand if he weren’t holding her tight. Every bit of her existence wanted to stay in his arms for the rest of her life. His face was magical. His lips were partly open with that fantastic smile, and all she wanted to do was lean into his embrace and sink into a passionate kiss.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, smiling, and whispered softly “Thank you, I’m fine.” She made sure that she had her balance back before pulling away from him and started to walk back down the beach toward her car.

“Can I walk with you?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said quietly. Was any of this really happening?

Later she couldn’t remember at all what they had talked about, and soon they had reached her car.

“Do you come to the beach often?” he asked as he reached out and held the car door open for her. His voice was so soft, so gentle, and so seductive.