Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) (10 page)

“I’d like to see you tonight,” Samael said
when they were at the gates leading into the college courtyard. “I
won’t be able to sleep if I don’t see you this evening.”

“I’d like to,” Lily spluttered, “but I
promised my friend I would go with her to a club.” She took a
second to consider her thoughts and went on. “Don’t you want to
come with us?”

“Do you want me to come?” Samael took her by
the shoulders and bent down close. She could feel his warm breath
on her face.

“Of course I want you to.” Her voice
trembled, feeling the weight of his enchanting eyes.

Samael bent close and Lily held her breath.
If she could have spoken at that moment, then surely she would have
begged him to kiss her. Beg him to take her away from the college,
take her somewhere they could be alone, where they could kiss,
love, and caress each other. But her tongue disobeyed her the
moment Samael’s hand approached her face. She could do nothing but
wait. Finally his eager lips found hers. She moaned in his mouth,
closing her eyes and enjoying the long-awaited kiss. The world
surrounding her disappeared in the depth of her head, and she
appeared soaring in white clouds illuminated by vivid rays of sun.
Lily couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality. She only realized
she was standing on the solid ground as soon as she couldn’t feel
his lips on hers anymore.

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” Samael
promised, letting her hand slide out of his.

“You don’t know where I live,” Lily
remarked.

“Don’t I?” Samael grinned gloatingly, put
his sunglasses on, then spun around and left.

Lily remained standing by the gates until he
disappeared around a corner. Of course he knew where she lived, he
had found her college, it wasn’t difficult to find out her address.
Lily chortled under her breath, tucked her loosened hair behind her
ear, and made her way to the college entrance.

“Okay, you have to tell me
everything
,” Nancy spluttered impatiently, hungry for
details.

“Nothing interesting happened, we just had
lunch together,” Lily murmured in response.

Nancy’s face fell. The two of them were in
the college yard, walking toward the gates. Their classes were over
for the day. Lily looked around in search of Samael, hoping he
would be waiting for her at the gates, even though he had promised
to meet her later in the evening.

“Nothing interesting?” Nancy cried out.
“You’re kidding me. Finally, there's someone who's able to pull you
out of your books and classes, and you expect me to believe you
when you say “nothing interesting happened?” Why did he come to see
you?”

“He wanted to talk to me,” Lily replied,
trying to soothe her friend.

“Oh, he did?” She teased sharply. “What did
you talk about?”

“Listen, I'm not sure about anything so far,
but he told me that for the last few days, he was only thinking
about me–”

“So he’s fallen in love with you?” Nancy
widened her eyes, cupping her hand over her mouth.

“No!” Lily burst out, then she sighed and
continued. “I don’t know. Who falls in love with somebody in just a
day?”

“You would,” Nancy remarked. “You like
romance novels.”

“Those are only books. Just stories, created
by people. This is real life. I think that he just likes me.” Lily
felt a flutter in her stomach, recalling Samael’s words about
trying to figure out the feelings they both had for each other.

“So what does he want from you in real
life?” Nancy teased, gazing obliquely at her friend.

“He wants me to give him a chance,” Lily
said back.

“He said that?” Without waiting for an
answer, Nancy went on. “That’s great, finally. I’m so happy for
you. And Lily, you look so happy. It's like you’re shining.”

“Please.” Lily felt embarrassed.

Lily glanced at her friend, wondering what
Nancy saw in her right now. She could feel her blue eyes shining
with some kind of light feeling coming from inside of her. A slight
grin curled over her lips, and she tilted her head to hide it, but
it was naturally impossible to conceal anything from Nancy’s
view.

“You want him, don’t you?” Nancy asked. “How
good do you think he is in bed?”

“Nancy!” Lily cried out. “I’m not going to
find that out on our first date.”

“Oh, did he ask you on a date?” They passed
through the gates and took a street leading toward the subway.

“You could say that. He's going to come to
the club with us this evening,” Lily informed her. Her face relaxed
into a smile. “Is that okay with you and Mike?”

“Hey, sweetheart, what are you talking
about?” Nancy raised her eyebrows. “Of course it’s okay. I just
hope Mike gets along with him.”

Lily smiled. In her mind’s eye she saw the
four of them sitting around the same table. What kind of subjects
could they talk about together? Although Lily knew nothing about
Samael, she was sure that he couldn’t have anything in common with
her friends to talk about. Samael had said it himself – he and Lily
didn't need words when they were together.

Lily told her friend almost everything about
the lunch while they were on the train.

“You do remember that we have to do some
shopping, don’t you?” Nancy poked her.

“Yeah,” Lily replied, looking from Nancy to
the doors of the subway. Her heart sank when she saw a man wearing
an emotionless expression. She might be wrong, but that man seemed
familiar to her. The man stared pointedly at her from the distance,
as though he was waiting specifically for her. Now Lily could see
his blue eyes filling with anger, like they were two oceans pinned
on his face. A mad storm had risen in them, and high waves rushed
in his eyes. Was he really looking for Lily? She felt confused and
scared.

Nancy jabbed her hand.

“Lily, are you alright?”

Lily jerked back and her stomach turned to
water.

“Lily, what’s up,” Nancy sounded anxious,
holding Lily by the shoulders.

Lily sucked in the air in relief, then
glanced promptly at the doors. Nobody was by them, the stranger had
disappeared abruptly. But Lily could still feel the weight of his
blue eyes on her. He should be somewhere around. Lily glanced to
and fro, but it was too difficult to spot anyone in that crowded
station.

“Lily, talk to me,” Nancy said, shaking her.
“What did you see?”

“I… I don’t know,” Lily stammered hurriedly,
filling her lungs with air.

“Don’t lie to me. What was it?” she
demanded.

“I thought I saw someone I knew,” she
muttered.

“Whom?” Nancy peered around
instinctively.

In that very moment, Lily’s cell phone rang.
She was delighted seeing her Aunt’s number on the screen.

“I’m sorry, I have to answer,” she said to
Nancy, seizing an opportunity to get away from her friend’s
questions. “Hi, Auntie. I’m fine. And you?” She began talking on
the phone and walking out the station, but at the moment when she
was passing through the doors, her throat dried up, recalling the
stranger’s malicious blue eyes.

* * *

The hours dragged by and the evening fell.
Lily was in her room, lying on the bed, waiting for Samael. He was
already running late. There hadn’t been any calls from him.
Although she hadn’t given her number to him, she was sure he should
have figured it out by now.

“Lily,” Nancy knocked at the door.

“Come in,” Lily struggled into a sitting
position with a yawn.

Nancy popped the door open. “You’re tired,”
she remarked, coming in and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“No, I’m okay.”

“He’s late,” Nancy said mournfully. “Mike is
already here at the door waiting for us. Let’s–”

“You go, I’ll wait,” Lily glanced out the
window, hoping to see Samael there. It was dark outside, and if he
was standing there, she wouldn’t be able to see him.

“Lily,” Nancy sighed, “maybe he has
unsettled business at the office. You know, he’s a very important
figure–”

“Nancy,” she cut her off, putting her hand
on her friend’s shoulder, “thank you, but I don’t want to go
without him. I won’t feel comfortable now if I go. You can go ahead
and have fun with Mike.”

Nancy looked at her graciously, caressed her
blonde hair, then stood up.

“Okay, I’ll go, but I’ll look forward to
seeing you there,” Nancy assumed an injured air, but Lily ignored
that.

“Okay.” She grinned almost plaintively.

Nancy approached the door, peered back over
her shoulder at her friend once more, and finally walked out,
leaving Lily alone. A minute later, Lily heard the slam of the
door, and she knew that Nancy was outside now.

Lily stood and went over to the window.
Through the dense darkness, she saw Nancy walking toward the
streetlamp-lit road, where Mike was waiting for her in his red car.
There was nobody else around except her friends. Her heart sank as
she realized that the street was empty after Mike and Nancy drove
away.

She withdrew back into the room and tossed
herself onto the bed, putting her face into her arms, tears
beginning to stream out of her eyes. Why did Samael lie to her?
Maybe he did have some important business things to do, but if that
was the case then he could have called her up and notified her,
couldn’t he? Lily began to struggle against her own doubts to
defend Samael, but it seemed that the man was guilty. Nothing could
protect him, until...

The doorbell rang, sending her stomach
slamming into her spine. Lily stood bolt upright excitedly, and
instinctively ran to the window. The street remained empty, but the
doorbell rang again. Lily peered out suspiciously.

She slid out the room slowly. Her mind began
working by itself. She remembered the stranger she had seen at the
café and by the subway, the one whose image had vanished from her
head as soon as she had got a call from her aunt. What if he was
standing outside the door now? Fear flooded her soul as she
recalled his malicious expression.

With trembling hands she approached the
door. She opened her mouth to say something but then her throat
betrayed her, and her voice remained absent. She sucked the air in
deeply, trying to gather herself, then opened her mouth again.

“Who’s there?” she asked vigorously, but her
heart was beating faster than any bird's.

“Samael.” She heard the voice of the man
whom she had been waiting for all evening. Her face split into a
wide smile as she flung herself toward the door.

Lily opened the door rapidly and saw
Samael’s face looking down at her with his admiring green eyes.

“Samael,” she whispered with a distracted
look, as if she didn’t believe her own eyes.

“You’re surprised to see me?” Samael raised
his eyebrows.

“Oh, no,” Lily said awkwardly, “I just
thought you had a lot of work to do, and that you wouldn’t show up
tonight.”

“I gave my word,” he reminded her. Samael
took her hand and lifted it to place a gentle kiss on her skin. “I
came later so that I could be alone with you until we met your
friends at the club.”

Lily remained motionless, admiring his
handsomeness, and again the almost unbearable desire to throw
herself into his arms overwhelmed her.

“Are we going?” Samael beamed at her and
bent forward putting his other hand on her check.

Lily didn’t think to answer him. This time
she couldn’t restrain herself or handle his scent and charm. She
stood up on her toes, threw her hands over his shoulders, and
devouringly kissed him on the lips. Samael didn’t seem confused, he
propped his arm behind her back, pulling her close and lifting her
until her feet left the floor. Lily proceeded to kiss him eagerly,
releasing the torturous feeling that had been gathering inside of
her since she had met him.

Samael was the first who pulled his head
back, separating their lips, but he didn’t move to lower her onto
the floor. Lily opened her eyes to have a look at him, making sure
he wasn’t a dream. And he wasn’t.

“I guess we’ll go to the club later,” Samael
whispered, caressing her check with his free hand.

Lily nodded, then glanced at his face again,
not knowing what to say.

The idea of inviting him in popped into her
mind. “Maybe you want something to drink before we go to the
club?”

“Sure,” Samael agreed, putting her down on
the floor.

“Come in,” Lily said blithely. She spun
around and whipped toward the kitchen for the drink. “Make yourself
comfortable,” she added, before getting to the kitchen.

Within a minute she came into the living
room with two glasses of wine, and lowered them on the coffee table
set in the middle of the room. The living room wasn’t big, but it
included a sofa and two armchairs around the little table. There
was a TV in front of the sofa, and a mini system which Nancy liked
to play and dance to sometimes.

Samael sat in one of the armchairs. Lily was
about to sit in the other when he caught her by her hand. She
glanced at him, bewildered. Samael caressed her skin, the other
hand rolled over her waist and pulled her down to sit on his knees.
Finally, Lily found herself sunk in his arms, and her breath
stopped for a little while. She raised her hand and traced a finger
on his face, then eyes, and finally his lips.

“You told me you don’t drink,” Samael
interrupted her, pointing to the glasses on the table.

“I don’t. Nancy likes wine,” Lily justified
herself quickly.

“As do I,” Samael said.

“Where is your car? I didn’t see it in front
of the house.”

“It’s parked up the street. I thought we
could have a little walk together, but if you don’t want to, I can
drive it here.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

She was eager to kiss him again and melt as
she tasted his lips, but dared not to start the action herself. Why
didn’t Samael kiss her now that she was all his? What was he
waiting for?