by I. T. Lucas
Stupid and uncalled-for overreaction.
Perhaps if she hadn’t soared as high last night, she wouldn’t have fallen as low this morning.
She had come expecting only sex, but had gotten so much more. Ana had felt as if the experience had awakened a different woman, one that had been hidden inside her, just waiting for the right combination of triggers to emerge. Never before had she been so wild, so wanton, so full of passion.
So free.
Up until tonight, it felt as if she’d spent her life inside a suffocating bubble, or maybe a better analogy was a tightly sealed panic room. Sam had somehow unlocked it, freeing the real her from that constraining prison.
It had felt like a new beginning, and maybe it was, but not with him.
The irony wasn’t lost on her.
She’d discovered that the voices she’d been hearing were real but had then constructed a fantasy about a connection with Sam that hadn’t been there.
Perhaps it was better that way, and he’d done her a favor.
If she decided to stay in Safe Haven, Ana needed to get used to having sex just for the sake of physical gratification. According to Margaret, it took time and experience to get over the need to cling to and possess another and accept that people didn’t own each other.
Members of their community were encouraged to enjoy each other non-exclusively.
Margaret would be so proud of her.
She’d finally taken the first step and had sex with a guy she wasn’t in a relationship with.
So why did she feel so wretched?
Because Sam had rejected her this morning, and rejection sucked no matter who you were and how confident you felt.
But what if it hadn’t been a rejection?
Perhaps he’d been too tired to go for another round?
Unlike her, Sam probably needed time to recuperate.
She needed to talk to Margaret and sort out her feelings.
Sliding out of bed, Ana lifted the comforter to look for her bra. She found it and the scarf, both still warm. The belt and socks Sam had used to tie up her hands were on the floor, and as she lifted them, a shiver rocked her body.
With a sigh, she put them on the bed and turned to the dresser where she’d left her clothes.
There was no time to think about the kinky pleasure she’d experienced. She needed to get out of there before Sam got out of the shower.
It was still early, and she encountered none of the other retreat guests as she rushed through the lodge and exited through the back door. The morning air was biting cold, and she pulled the scarf out of her coat pocket and wrapped it around her head.
Another shiver shook her as she smelled Sam’s cologne on the thing. Ana was never again going to wear that scarf without thinking about the night she’d spent with him.
As soon as she got back to her room, it was going into the bottom drawer of her dresser and never coming out. She had other scarves she could use.
“Good morning, Anastasia.” Gilda stopped her in the hallway. “Congratulations.”
Heat spreading over her cheeks, Ana forced a smile. “Thanks.”
She shouldn’t feel embarrassed. After all, all her friends had been waiting for her to finally connect with someone. What was considered the walk of shame everywhere else, was the walk of pride in Safe Haven.
So why couldn’t she wait to get to her room and rush into the shower?
Well, mostly because she really needed to pee and brush her teeth, but also because she wanted to cry but couldn’t allow anyone to see or hear her do that.
She was supposed to be happy, and she had been, until Sam had escaped into the bathroom to avoid her. If she stopped obsessing over that, she could focus on all the positive developments that had happened last night and had changed how she viewed herself forever.
The voices were real, and Ana no longer doubted her sanity. But that wasn’t all. She’d discovered that with the right guy, she was also a hellcat in bed, capable of having multiple orgasms in one night.
Who knew?
She should be happy, but she wasn’t.
Maybe she was suffering from an emotional overload, and a good cry followed by a good nap would help release all that excess energy.
Just as she’d planned, Ana did the crying in the shower, and when she felt clean inside and out, she stepped out and pulled her terry bathrobe on.
A glance in the mirror confirmed her suspicion that her eyes were red-rimmed, so she slathered cream on her eyelids, moisturizer on her face, and finished with a tiny spray of perfume.
Feeling a lot better, she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. A nice nap would do wonders for her, and it was well worth skipping breakfast for.
Except, a knock on the door put an end to that plan.
“Who is it?”
“Can I come in?” Margaret cracked the door open.
“Sure.” Ana pushed up against the headboard and pulled the comforter with her.
Her friend entered the room with a big grin spread over her face, but it turned into a frown as soon as her gaze landed on Ana. “Have you been crying?”
For a moment, she considered lying. Margaret would be so disappointed in her for getting all emotional over a guy she’d been supposed to connect with for the night and leave behind in the morning.
But she couldn’t get her friend’s advice without telling her what had happened, or at least the upsetting part.
She nodded and her damn chin started quivering.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Margaret sat on the bed and took hold of her hand. “Was it that bad?”
Naturally, she assumed that the sex had been disappointing.
“No, it was good. Sam exceeded all of my expectations."
Margaret let out a relieved breath. “Thank goodness. I was afraid that he’d hurt you.”
“He was amazing, and that’s the problem. I don’t want it to be the only time with him.”
“It doesn’t have to be. You can enjoy him during his stay in the retreat. It’s not like you would have enough time to get attached to him, so it’s safe.”
“I don’t think that Sam wants to be with me again. He acted weird this morning.”
“In what way?”
“Like he couldn’t wait for me to leave.”
Margaret nodded in understanding. “Many men are like that, which is what made Emmett realize that monogamy is an unnatural construct. Sam is actually making it easier for you to internalize Emmett’s way.”
“I guess. But it still feels like a rejection, and it sucks.”
Margaret smiled. “That’s the beauty of Emmett’s way. It can’t be a rejection if this is your chosen way of life. You share your body, but not your heart, and you retain your freedom. The same goes for your chosen partners.”
“I know all that, and I accept it. Still, Sam’s behavior this morning was hurtful. I wanted to have another round with him, and he practically escaped into the bathroom.”
Margaret arched a brow. “Perhaps he couldn’t?”
“I would like to think that’s the reason, but what if it was something else?”
Perhaps she’d been too demanding, too wanton?
Sam was into dominance games, and even though she’d had no problem with the whole blindfold and bondage thing, she wasn’t submissive. Maybe that was a turnoff for him? Maybe he didn’t like it when a woman initiated?
“What did he say?” Margaret asked. “Maybe you misunderstood?"
“He told me to save it for tonight, but I don’t think he meant it.”
“Why would you think that?” Margaret waved a hand. “Maybe he wasn’t up to it yet, or perhaps he’s just not a morning person, but he still wants to see you again.”
“What if it was a brush-off?”
“You’ll find out tonight.” Margaret pushed to her feet. “I’m going to get breakfast. Are you coming?”
“Maybe later. I’m not really hungry.”
The truth was that she was
n’t up to meeting everyone in the dining room and hearing more congratulations for getting laid.
“Do you want me to bring you something?”
“That would be nice. Thank you.”
Margaret nodded in understanding. “I’ll grab a tray and come back in ten minutes. We can have breakfast together.”
“You’re awesome.”
After Margaret left, Ana wondered why she hadn’t told her about the voices. It was a major breakthrough, and Margaret deserved to know. But the problem with that was Sam’s part in confirming that the voices were real.
For some reason, Ana had a strange gut feeling that she shouldn’t tell anyone about the discovery, or about Sam’s involvement in it.
41
Leon
“Damn it!” Leon lifted the comforter to make sure that Anastasia wasn’t hiding under it.
She must have left while he was taking yet another cold shower, slinking away like a coward without even saying goodbye, see ya later, or thanks for the orgasms.
Except, he was well aware that his anger was misdirected. He’d offended her by refusing her tentative advances.
Or maybe she had remembered the bite after all?
Or perhaps she’d called the bluff on his glowing eyes?
Fates only knew what was going through her head.
He needed to talk to Eleanor and get a female’s perspective because he sure as fuck couldn’t understand why Anastasia had felt the need to run off instead of telling him to his face what had bothered her.
She might have been a little shy and inexperienced when it came to sex, but she’d had no problem arguing with him and even calling him a liar to his face.
But then Anastasia had a high degree of confidence in her intellect, but for some inexplicable reason, not in her attractiveness.
Yeah, he’d screwed up again.
Pushing his feet into a pair of boots, Leon pulled on a sweater and headed to Eleanor’s room. Hopefully she was awake, and if not, he was waking her up.
As soon as he knocked, she opened the door with a big smile on her thin face. “You are up early. I thought I would need to drag you out of bed to get breakfast.”
“I screwed up, and I need advice.” He walked into the room. “Could you get Peter in here?”
Eleanor frowned, but she was professional enough not to ask him what happened before bringing Peter over. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Both of them entered the room less than thirty seconds later.
Closing the door, she turned to Leon. “What went wrong?”
“The voices Anastasia hears are real.” He rubbed a hand over the nape of his neck. “She heard a conversation last night and parroted what was being said phonetically. I was able to translate it.” When Eleanor shook her head, he lifted his hand to stop her. “Before you say anything, the conversation was in a language that Anastasia had never heard before, not even in a movie. She couldn’t have pulled it out of her subconscious.”
Eleanor closed her mouth.
“That’s great news,” Peter said. “Anastasia might be a Dormant.”
“That’s also the bad news.” Leon crossed his arms over his chest. “I had unprotected sex with her. If she’s a Dormant, she might enter transition. We need to get her out of here as soon as possible.”
If looks could kill, he would be dead from Eleanor’s glare. “Are you out of your freaking mind? Did you bite her?”
“If I didn’t, would I be worried about her transitioning?”
“Is she still in your room?”
“No, and that’s another thing I need your advice on. I might have offended her.”
“Hold on.” Eleanor lifted her hand. “Are you telling me that you let her go with the knowledge of who and what you are? Are you high on something?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“How is that possible?” Eleanor’s voice rose to a shrill pitch. “You bit her.”
“She blacked out, and when she woke up, there was no sign of the bite. I convinced her that I only nipped her and that she’d imagined the rest.”
Eleanor shook her head. “That girl is too gullible to live.”
“As if you were any better.” Peter snorted. “You told me that you believed Greggory was a mutant created by genetic splicing.”
“That was what he told me. In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined that an entire race of immortals had lived among humans for thousands of years, and that no one knew about them. Frankly, it was easier for me to believe in genetic experiments gone haywire than in the existence of immortal descendants of gods.”
“So it should be easy for you to understand why Anastasia accepted Leon’s explanation.” Peter leaned against the desk and crossed his legs at the ankles. “The human brain is trained to interpret things based on what it is familiar with and ignore what doesn’t make sense to it. That’s why optical illusions work so well even when you know how the illusion is created. You should check out the works of M. C. Escher.”
“Fascinating subject, but can we get back to my problem? Anastasia left my room this morning thinking that I didn’t want her. How am I going to fix that and convince her that she needs to leave with me?"
“Easy.” Peter shrugged. “Find her and show her how wrong she is.”
“I can’t. The moment things start heating up between us, my fangs elongate, and my eyes start glowing, and I can’t use a shroud or a thrall on her.”
“Yeah, that’s a problem.” Peter smoothed his hand over his beard.
“You will need to use your charm,” Eleanor suggested. “Tell her that you are falling for her, and that’s why you freaked out. She is part of a community that doesn’t allow exclusive relationships, but you can’t stand the thought of her being with someone else. You need to convince her that it’s not about sex.”
Peter snorted. “Good luck with that. Did you see the lush body on that girl?”
A growl started deep in Leon’s throat. “Don’t talk about her like that. Even better, don’t look at anything other than her eyes.”
Smiling, Eleanor clapped him on the back. “I was worried about your ability to lie convincingly, but it seems that you won’t have to. You’ve already fallen for the girl.”
Had he?
He liked Anastasia, and he lusted after her, but he wasn’t in love with her. But then, what did he know about love?
Not much.
“Today is her day off. I need to get into the compound and find her. How am I going to do that?”
“Shroud yourself to look like Henry,” Peter suggested. “He’s a tall dude, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. When I need to shroud myself, the hardest part for me is adjusting the height. I always choose to look like someone my size.”
Eleanor nodded in agreement. “Go to the nurse and complain about a fever or a sore throat, and then thrall her to send you to rest in your room. Peter and I will make sure that Henry doesn’t leave the lodge until you come back.”
42
Parker
“How long until we get there?” Lisa’s mother asked for the third time.
“You asked fifteen minutes ago, Mom, and Vivian told you that we are twenty minutes away.”
“I know. I just didn’t expect the drive to the school to be so long,” Ronja said. “And the traffic isn’t even that bad. It’s just so far from the village.”
Parker shot Lisa a glance. “Another strike against the school. Two hours of the day wasted sitting in a car.”
“We can read or do our homework on the way.”
“Do you always put a positive spin on things?”
“I try to.” She turned to look out the window.
He hadn’t meant to offend her, but sitting so close to her for nearly an hour was tough.
She was so pretty, and she smelled so good, and she was so nice too, while he was acting like a jerk because his hormones were raging.
Maybe Merlin could concoct a potion for him, something to stifle his urges
, make them less urgent. Did all boys his age go through such hell?
If only he could think of Lisa as a sister.
Yeah, not likely.
When they finally made it to the school, his mother stopped in front of the gate. The security guard took a picture of the car’s license plate, verified with the office that they had an appointment with the head of school, and only then were they allowed through.
“Is Zelda Meyer a clan member?” Lisa asked.
His mother parked the car and turned around to look at them. “She is, but she had to step down from actively managing the school because she couldn’t hide the fact that she wasn’t aging. Currently, the entire staff is human, so be careful what you say around them.”
“No problem.” Lisa opened the door and got out. “When did she step down?”
“I’m not sure,” his mother said. “Why?”
“If it was recently, her timing was good. Other than Parker, the clan doesn’t have any high-school-age kids, so all the students are human as well.”
Parker pushed his hands into his pockets. “That shouldn’t bother you. You are still human.”
His mother shook her head at him. “From now on, no more talking about humans and immortals. Someone might overhear us.”
“Does it bother you?” Lisa asked.
He shrugged. “I no longer belong.”
“That’s precisely why you should go back to school. You’ve turned into a recluse.”
She had a point.
As the four of them entered the office, the head of school came out to greet them.
“Good morning. I’m Mrs. Stephanopoulos.” She offered her hand to Lisa’s mother.
“I’m Ronja Clarke, and this is my daughter, Lisa.”
The woman shook Lisa’s hand as well.
“Vivian.” His mother offered her hand. “And this is my son, Parker. We tagged along to check out the school.”
“So I’ve been informed.” Mrs. Stephanopoulos smiled at Parker. “I hope that you like what you see and decide to join. I was told that you are a full year ahead in your studies.”