by S J Crabb
Chapter 12
I race back up the beach and then I see him, a shadowy figure in the moonlight. As I approach him he smiles and holding out his hand I grab hold of it, the feeling as I touch him sending little electric shocks through my body.
“Come on, I know just the place.” I wonder where we are going and he soon leads me to his motorbike. Grabbing his jacket he places it around my shoulders. As he sits astride the powerful machine he pulls me behind him. Hold on Angel, you’ll be perfectly safe.
Nervously I sit behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. I can feel him tense underneath my touch and I bury my face in his back. He starts the engine and the bike pulls away.
I have never ridden a motorbike before and the feeling is of pure exhilaration. As I cling on to him the wind whips through my hair and the feeling of speed lifts my spirits. The fact that I am with Ash intensifies the experience and closing my eyes against his broad back I lose myself in the sensation.
It doesn’t take long and soon the bike stops and once more there is silence. Opening my eyes I can see that we are in the mountains, back at the lake, our special place.
Turning to face me Ash’s eyes glitter in the moonlight and touching my face he says darkly, “You belong with me Grace; I felt it when you held me. We were meant to be together, you are my destiny.” He leans towards me and kisses me, his tongue gently probing and claiming mine. We come together in our special place once more and I know that he is right. Somehow this feels right, as if it was always meant to happen.
Pulling away Ash smiles sweetly and lifts me gently off the bike. “Come on, you need to be free.”
Leading me to the lake he takes off the jacket. As I feel his touch it is as though I am on fire. The feelings are so intense and I shiver as the jacket falls to the ground. As he looks at me I see him frown and then he reaches towards me and takes the locket in his hands. “Take it off Angel, you don’t need it here.”
Seeing my expression he laughs. “You think that I don’t know a suppressor when I see it?” Holding his eyes with mine I reach behind me, undo the clasp and remove the locket, laying it gently on the ground with his jacket. I watch the wonder on his face as I feel the release from my makeshift prison. I can feel the sensation rushing through me as my soul escapes.
Lifting my eyes I know they burn brightly as he can see all of me in them. I stare at him as I remove my dress and see his eyes darken as he watches me, then tearing my gaze from his I walk into to the cool calm water of the lake and lay back, stretching in contentment as I feel cleansed by the moon’s rays.
I know that he is watching me and I don’t care. It feels right that he sees me like this; he has to know who I am. Hearing a splash I know that he has joined me. I turn to face him and he takes me in his arms. “You have nothing to fear from me Grace,” he says seriously. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. We will find a way to be together, I just want you to feel safe with me.”
Lifting my hand I run my fingers through his hair. “I do feel safe with you Ash, here in this special place, but I can’t be with you down there. If anyone discovers who I am I will be moved away and I will never see you again. If my Guardians knew that we were together they would take me away forever. It’s impossible; there is no way for us.”
I can tell that he doesn’t like it and his eyes glitter dangerously. “I will find a way; I am not going to lose you now that I have found you.” Reaching up I kiss him gently on the lips. For now we must just enjoy the time that we do have. As we kiss it feels so right. The perfect puzzle complete. Nothing else matters at this moment in time. The rest will have to wait.
We lay side by side once again, our bodies drying in the heat of the night, my head resting on Ash’s lap as he strokes my hair. Looking down at me he says in a whisper,
“How very lovable her face was to him. Yet there was nothing ethereal about it; all was real vitality, real warmth, real incarnation. And it was in her mouth that this culminated. Eyes almost as deep and speaking he had seen before, and cheeks perhaps as fair; brows as arched, a chin and throat almost as shapely; her mouth he had seen nothing to equal on the face of the earth.
Smiling softly I say, “Quoting Tess at me Ash. If only Miss Peter’s could see us now.” Laughing he grins. “You bring out the romantic in me Grace. You may have several names but you will always be my little Tess.”
Sitting up I move to face him and say gently, “Thus, neither having the clue to the other’s secret, they were respectively puzzled at what each revealed, and awaited new knowledge of each other’s character and moods without attempting to pry into each other’s history.”
Ash’s eyes darken and he pulls me to meet him. His kiss sends powerful feelings through me of longing and this time the kiss is deeper and more passionate. I know that if he asked I would give myself willingly to him.”
As if reading my thoughts he pulls away and I can see the fire in his eyes. With emotion in his voice he says, “I want to make you mine more than I have ever wanted anything in my life before, but I can’t bring myself to take what is not yet mine.” Puzzled I look at him and he smiles bitterly. “I am not worthy of you yet Grace. I need to protect you from me, I said that before and I meant it. You are not ready yet and when I have proved myself to you then it will be your decision to make.”
I pull him against me and stroke his hair as he did mine. He is right; we have a long road to travel first if we ever stand a chance to be together. We will just have to be happy with the time that we do manage to steal.