Soul-Mate (Immortal Love 1) (5 page)

“Shane, do you want to take me to bed or cure my trust issues?”

“Both,” he answered, not shocked at all by my bluntness. “Besides, we must talk about ourselves and our lives if we want to get to know each other.”

“That is such―”

“What?” He dared me to end that sentence.

“Bullshit,” I finished, letting the word roll out of my mouth with full force.

“I guess we should work on a way for you to trust me first,” he said. He didn’t seem angered by my words, just concerned about changing my mind. He puzzled me. He should be running away from me right now. Most guys would.

“Whatever,” I replied, trying to seem emotionally unattached by his words, even though they had me wishing that they could come true.

He looked saddened by my chilly answer. Making him sad was something that I realized I didn’t like to do. It physically hurt, and not only in my heart. My stomach felt cramped; crazy butterflies ricocheted off the sides. I was definitely falling for him in just the few hours I’d been with him. That could not be good… And then I said what I had promised myself never to tell a man, just because I knew it would make him feel happier—or at least I expected it to.

“Shane… I like you, too.”

“I know,” he answered, grinning, obviously pleased by my words. “Your heart beats faster when we get closer, and when we kiss…”

“What?” I dared him to finish his sentence with my arms folded and narrowed eyes. I felt irritated at him for being so cocky about my feelings for him.

“Nothing.” He ran a hand through his hair in the very first nervous impulse I’d caught him doing. I laughed. I was probably losing my mind, but I felt like a teenager with her first crush.

“What?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. I stopped laughing, shrugged my shoulders, and gazed at the floor, watching the pavement. A disturbing thought caught my attention.

“You probably have a lot of girls in town chasing you around,” I said out loud.

“Not all,” he replied.

He was definitely cocky and not reassuring at all! Panic washed over me. He must have read my mind.

“But I only have eyes for you,” he said, holding my hands before I could run away.

“You are probably just tired of the girls here.” I immediately regretted saying that and bit my lip.

“You are so cute, being so jealous for nothing!” he replied with a grin that made me shiver with lust and fury.
Damn it, I shouldn’t be reacting like a silly girl, but I couldn’t help it.

“I’m not jealous!” I tried to defend myself, but being flustered didn’t help my case.

He simply chuckled, and I just glared at him haughtily, waiting for him to stop. Nothing I said seemed to affect him negatively. How could he be so cheerful and positive all the time?

“You need to learn how to relax,” he said while gently rubbing my shoulders, making me lose all will to fight. My body got electric and shaky with his closeness and touch.

“You are so…”

“Handsome and sexy?”

“Full of yourself.”

“
Hmm
… realistic, you mean? Come on, honey, relax and stop trying to pick a fight with me. You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

I just stood quietly, not sure whether to be more surprised by his deduction or by the fact that he’d called me “honey” with a sexy and conciliatory voice that could melt ice on the top of the highest mountain.

And I guess his kiss just melted stone to magma, because the kiss he gave me next was enough for me to act adorable and cute the entire meal we had at the local diner. I almost didn’t recognize myself as I laughed with real happiness and talked to strangers who were being friendly to the sheriff’s girl. Everyone was so nice that I felt immediately at ease.

IT WAS ALMOST
eight o’clock. I had everything ready, and I looked myself over in the mirror for the hundredth time.

A romantic dinner wasn’t a thing that I would normally do. Not for a girl who I only used to pass time with. However, Annabel was different. Annabel was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with; she was my amazing and breathtaking soul-mate. She was also really mysterious and full of surprises, which left me feeling impressed and intrigued. She was growing on me. Destiny or not, Annabel was everything I’d ever dreamed of in my soul-mate. Nevertheless, I needed to fix that loneliness and sadness that was making her close her heart to me. I wanted to protect her and keep her safe from the world, but I had to take it slower so as not to scare her away. The problem was that I couldn’t take my hands off of her. I just wanted to hold her, smell her, and get lost in those silky lips.

The food was ready, the wine was opened to breathe, and candles were sizzling in orange and yellow. The fireplace was burning and warming the room. I even had on soft music for background noise. The full moon was beautiful that night, the view perfect to watch the stars from the balcony.

I had a million questions for her. I wanted to know everything. On the other hand, though, I just wanted to eat, drink, kiss her, and take her to bed so I could spend all night making her mine. She would be so loved that she wouldn’t be able to leave me or sleep with another man.

I wanted her, and I’d sure made that clear all over town that day. I’d noticed James’s surprised eyes when I arrived there with her and touched her to make it clear that he couldn’t even
think
about seducing her. That school teacher was mine and off limits to him. I knew the sick bastard he was, seducing human teachers who went there to work. He had probably chosen Annabel because of her looks.

I had a really pretty and intelligent soul-mate. No matter how she looked, I would think that she was hot and sexy. We were born to be together. We matched. She laughed at my jokes! That was always a good sign. I was still mesmerized by the fact that I had found her. My heart was threatening to stop beating if for some reason I were to lose her or scare her away. The pressure was real, and being apart from her was already making me feel lonely and sad.

It was eight o’clock, and I fixed my collar again. I was dressed to impress with a white Boss shirt and dark suit pants. I’d even shaved. I wanted that night to be perfect, but I was getting nervous, because Annabel insisted on being left alone in her motel room before coming to my home at eight. However, the road could be tricky, and she could have gotten lost. Or she could have just run away and I would never see her again. I was beginning to get paranoid.

The doorbell rang, and I went flying to open the door. And there she was. I almost stopped breathing when I saw her in that beautiful red dress that hugged her perfect curves, with a sexy heart-shaped neckline. She had stunning breasts and beautiful long hair that was elegantly curled. Her makeup was soft but appealing, highlighting her lips and eyes. I had a serious fascination for her red lips. Her mouth was just made for me to kiss it. It also pleased me the way her eyes lit up at the sight of me.

On the other hand, I was shaking like a school boy on his prom night. I remembered all my dates. All of those girls weren’t nearly as hot and beautiful as Annabel was to me.

“You look amazing.” That was all I could manage to say after what seemed like ages staring at her in silence.

“You look very sharp and―”

“And?”

“Different,” she said with a smile, looking a bit embarrassed. “You look gorgeous, too.”

I smiled, flattered by the compliment made in her sexy, sweet voice. I loved everything about her. I was doomed to worship her for life. Not doomed, no—I was blessed. The gods had blessed me with her.

“Come on in,” I told her, aware that it was freezing outside and she was in a sleeveless dress.

Annabel stopped at the entry, amazed by the décor, her eyes lingering on the scented candles on the table. “How could you possibly have had time to do all this?”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s amazing,” she whispered, sounding really surprised. “And it smells delicious.”

“I hope you like meat. I mean red meat. Some girls don’t.”

She looked at me with those eyes, obviously wondering how many girls I had dated and prepared romantic dinners for. “I mean… I mean many girls, in general, don’t like meat or don’t eat it at all,” I tried to explain to her piercing eyes. “I don’t really do this often, even rarely. In fact, this is the first time I’ve done something like this.”

She smiled, amused by my babbling.

“Do you want some wine?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, please.”

While I served the wine, she stared at the fireplace and walked past the table, touching the roses with her fingertips, walking with the elegance of a cat and alluring light of a goddess. She was so beautiful that I almost spilled the wine on myself because I couldn’t stop looking at her. I was so clumsy around her! I tried to act cool and calm, but I was always nervous and unsure of what to do to make her look at me the way I looked at her.

“The wine is really good and sweet,” she said after a while of confusing silence as we just stared at each other.

It hit me that I hadn’t kissed her at the door.
I should have kissed her.
But then I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop, and the night would’ve been ruined. Not ruined, but it would have been a failure that I didn’t want to regret. I wanted us to have a romantic dinner. I wanted to talk to her and learn things about her.

“I’m glad you like it. Are you hungry?”

“What’s your plan?” she asked, playing with her finger on the top of the glass. She wet her fingertip and sucked it off with her lips, making me swallow hard. She was being naughty on purpose.

“My plan for what?”

“For tonight.”

“Dinner, talking and―perhaps a massage so you’ll stop being so tense all the time,” I replied.

She pursed her lips together and then she grinned. “Weren’t you planning on taking me to bed?”

She was so blunt sometimes that I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know if she was testing me or trying to find an excuse to get rid of me. Was she searching for some kind of excuse like ones women use to lose interest in a guy, like his being too much of a player or not romantic enough, or just wanting to jump into their pants and leave them afterward?

“Annabel,” I whispered in her ear, making sure not to touch her. Her heartbeat accelerated, her skin got the chills, and her pupils dilated, not to mention how delicious she smelled and how the excitement only increased the scent. My own body got tense and aroused. “Let your guard down and trust me. Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen. I’m not trying to get you drunk or trick you. I just want to get to know you better.”

“Shane,” she replied with her sexy, hot, and alluring voice that sent spirals of lust down my spine. “I have nothing against sleeping with you. I’m fully dressed for that.”

I couldn’t help looking at her cleavage, noticing her perky breasts and luxurious, soft skin. Under that dress would be some kind of sexy lingerie that I almost couldn’t wait to see and take off to get between her legs. Thoughts like those only made me aroused and impatient...

“I’m not easy to take to bed. You’ll have to work for it,” I said softly, catching her off guard. She looked at me and shook her head like she thought I was unbelievable. “And don’t think for a moment that I won’t punish you if you try to ruin this night with your irony and inability to take me seriously,” I warned her. “Just trust me for a while tonight,” I requested, caressing her soft face with a finger. I wanted to be perfect, to make her enjoy herself and make her fall in love with me.

“Okay, Shane. I’ll stop being sarcastic and trust you,” she whispered close to my mouth.

I smiled, pleased because it was clear by the way she’d reacted to me and looked around attentively that she didn’t trust anything or anyone. She was always vigilant, like she expected to be surprised any second by an unknown fear. It intrigued me, and I wanted to make sure that she felt safe beside me. I was there for her now; nothing would harm her again.

“Anna,” I sighed, touching her lips gently, “why do you have to test me all the time?”

“I don’t,” she complained, shivering in my arms. Eyes narrowed, she leaned her head back so she could stare into my eyes. We were burning; we always burned together. We reacted perfectly to the desire that our touches created. It was irrationality with insanity, as if the whole world would stop turning and the stars would fall from the skies and we would burst into a supernova. “I just wanted you to know that I want to sleep with you,” she whispered between kisses. “You don’t need all this to take me to bed.”

“But I want all this. You deserve all this. I want to have dinner with you, talk to you for a while, dance with you under the moon, and
then
take you to bed.”

I held her face between my hands. She stared at me quietly and attentively. She had such big, beautiful, blue eyes!

“I’ll try to be patient then,” she said to me, making me smile and kiss her again. “And Shane,” she called to me, making me open my eyes. “I do like meat.”

“Good. Let’s eat then.”

DINNER WAS PERFECT.
The wine was semi-sweet and velvety to the palate. The candles and roses were at first sight a bit cliché, but in that moment they seemed to be the most romantic things.

I’d never had a man do this for me. Neither had I had a man refuse to be intimidated by the way I could make any romantic act seem like a joke. Shane wasn’t a man who could be intimidated by my cynicism; he seemed to look past it and understand my fears.

The night was so perfect and relaxing that I indulged myself in being a woman, a simple woman in the arms of a man who was gorgeous, sexy, and charming. A woman who wanted to be charmed by him, who smiled and giggled like a fool at his silly jokes and lame attempts to teach me coin tricks. We even danced while staring at the moon and stars. Everything was perfect and relaxing. I let myself go and enjoyed everything. Shane was amazing and captivating. The most surprising thing was that he didn’t seem too eager to take me to bed and finish the night with some fast sex to end all the sexual tension between us.