We were most certainly on my balcony, three stories above where we'd been seconds ago. "How did you do that?" I didn't mask the amazement in my voice from experiencing yet another of his impressive, inhuman capabilities.
"Just another perk to the Immortal life,” he teased.
Still wide-eyed with amazement, my child-like curiosity piqued. "Could I do that?"
His face looked grave. "No, not yet . . . not for awhile. Immortals are weak—in comparison—when they're new to this life. It can take decades before you're strong and focused enough to make a jump like that."
"Decades?" I mouthed slowly.
He stroked my cheek with affection. "Even though you've entered the life of an Immortal, you're still quite fragile—not as fragile as a Mortal, of course, but still quite delicate. That's nothing for you to worry about though, because I'm never leaving you again, and I can protect you from just about anything," he vowed.
Setting me down, he raised a brow. "Maybe when you've been an Immortal as long as I have, you can make a jump like that with as much grace and speed.” The jesting challenge was obvious in his voice. “Oh . . . and while holding the person who means more to you than your very own life."
I had to remind my lungs what their function was before I could respond. "I suppose we'll have to wait two hundred and sixty years to find out." I shrugged nonchalantly, making light of the very serious wish that lay within me.
"Are you sure you'll want me there? That’s an awful long ways away." He took a step forward, the gleam in his eyes growing.
"Of course,” I answered, as if this should have been obvious. “Who do you think will be the person in my arms?"
He wrapped his arms around me and rested his hands over the small of my back. “I’ll be there,” he vowed, lowering his face towards mine. “Forever.”
And then he rested his lips against mine. There was a new kind of energy combusting from the union of our mouths, and with the parting movement of our lips, the sinuous energy within me exploded. Every kiss before this had been beyond understanding, yet the others paled beside this one.
The shared knowledge we had of one another—the knowledge that we both wanted each other forever—brought on an intensity and a longing I’d never felt. This longing seemed to be something that would not go away and only magnified with each passing second. The intensity of it scared me . . . nothing else mattered. There was him and only him.
Tonight, though, wasn’t the time to breach the topic of unfamiliar emotions and longings. I had to end the kiss, or else I knew there would be no going back if the longing was allowed to grow any more powerful. He sighed his distress when I removed my parted lips from his.
“Good night,” I whispered raggedly. His breath poured over my face, attacking my newfound resolve. “Would it sound utterly inadequate to say thank you?”
“Not even in the slightest,” he responded, his eyes aligning with his warm breath to undo my resolve.
“Thank you, then.” I smiled, and had to sidestep out of his embrace before I was conquered by his army of persuasion. I took a couple backward steps towards my room, dreading taking my eyes from him, as an important question assailed my mind. “When will I see you again?”
He looked pleased by the new horror gripping my face. “In the morning. Your training starts tomorrow, where you will be filled with more Immortal knowledge than you’d ever want to know. You are officially my student now, and I your professor,” he said with mock authority.
“Although, John would not approve of any teachings that would put us as close together as tonight, so we’ll have to be exceedingly careful in our actions with one another while we’re here.” His smiled faded, and his expression grew somber. “No one can know about our true feelings for one another. While we are within the watchful walls of Townsend Manor, we must behave as if we’re nothing more than casual acquaintances. Do you understand?”
I was disappointed, and I was sure it showed on my face. Now that we’d confessed ourselves to one another, the last thing I wanted to do was suppress it. I trusted William’s judgment without question, though, and would heed his warning. Being with him in any way was a heaven in its own right, and surely one day we’d be able to be together as we both wished.
“I suppose I can do that . . . Professor.” I eyed him playfully.
His eyes jetted off to the east, where the first promises of light were starting to appear. He groaned. “I’ve had innumerable nights that drug by so slowly, I was sure I’d go insane, and the one night I wanted to creep by, sped by faster than I could have thought possible.” He looked thoughtful, continuing to examine the glowing colors on the horizon, before turning back to me with a triumphant expression. “It appears an infinite amount of time is appropriate when one gets to spend their life with you.” He winked, turned to the east, and blurred as he leapt from my balcony to the next one down, a good one hundred feet away.
Again, I was flabbergasted by his inhuman speed and grace. As unnerving as this should have been, I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful and natural as William was in all his inhuman grandeur. Arriving at his destination in less time than it would take to blink, he turned and waved to me. I thought I heard a faint whisper on the wind, one that made me smile, “Sleep well, my love.”
CHAPTER TEN
IMMORTALITY 101
I awoke the next morning to the sound of impatient knocking. Without waiting for an answer, the goddess from yesterday’s awakenings opened the door and leaned her head in. “Are you awake yet?”
I didn’t think my open eyes and elevated position in bed required a verbal answer.
“Your first class begins in thirty minutes. Make sure you’re ready,” Stella instructed, raising her eyebrows. Her initial impressions of seeing me as some inconvenience had clearly not changed from yesterday. “Professor Winters will be waiting for you in the library.”
My heart performed aerobatics at the mention of his name, and from the knowledge I’d get to see him soon. I felt light, as bright as the morning sun, rising on my face.
His warning suddenly rang in my ear—reminding me about the importance of keeping our relationship hidden—so I drew in a deep breathe, hoping it would settle my heart and recompose my face.
It worked . . . at least fractionally.
“I’ll be back to show you to the library when you’re ready.” Before I had a chance to reply, she tucked her head out through the door and shut it behind her.
I rushed out of bed, throwing the sheets off me in a white flurry, and ran to another door I hoped would prove to be a closet. I got lucky—it was, and it was fully stocked with clothes and shoes that were all my size.
Unease clutched at me as I threw on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved cotton top. I tried not to think about the implications behind why a closet full of attire had been prepared for me, because I was going to see the man I would spend my eternity with soon. I trotted to the door, sliding on a pair of sandals in the process.
Not more than a few minutes had passed since Stella’s “friendly” wake-up call, so when I threw open the door, I was elated to find the person I’d spent the entire night dreaming about, leaning up against the railing in front of my door.
It was like seeing him all over again for the first time; I couldn’t find my breath, my heart raced with more speed than a cheetah, and there was no hope of working my vocal chords.
I took several rapid steps towards him. He stiffened—nodding his head behind him to where several people stood in the foyer below. I caught his hint and stopped in my tracks. I froze and tried to look casual and uninterested; I was sure I looked neither, though. My body whined its protest from not being able to wrap itself around him. He shook his head while laughing silently, before an affectionate smile covered his mouth that he could allow since his back was to the individuals below.
“Good to see you too,” he mouthed.
In my halted state, my eyes took him in. He was far more formally dressed than I was. He wore charcoal grey slacks and a white oxford dress shirt—the top couple buttons of which he’d left casually undone, and I was sure he’d done it intentionally to make this day more torturous than necessary.
When I lifted my eyes from the exposed skin that screamed its presence at me, his knowing expression confirmed my assumption. I rolled my eyes and looked to the side, irked his temptation had worked so quickly and effectively.
William’s eyes flashed to a door down the hall. Mine followed, just before John walked out.
“William, Bryn” He marched towards us, dressed in slacks and a tweed jacket. What was the deal with everyone dressing like they were going to a shareholder’s meeting? “Nice to see you both so eager to get started with the day.” He glanced down at his wristwatch, obviously hinting we were early for my first day of class. “I suppose it’s for the best with everything you’ve got to cover in such a short timeframe.”
“Why do you say short timeframe? I wasn’t aware of any need for an expedited training schedule, and there are two more that will be in class with her.” William challenged John, pushing off the railing into a straightened position. “Has something changed?”
I looked to John as William was, waiting for an answer, although I didn’t have a clue as to what they were talking about.
“Oh yes, I neglected to inform you of the change with Bryn’s schedule. I’ll need you to consolidate the first phase of training into two weeks—”
“Two weeks!” The edge of outrage in William’s voice pierced through me like a million hypodermic needles.
John glared at William with two raised brows. I doubted if anyone ever challenged John, but William didn’t look the least bit intimidated by him.
“No one’s ever been accelerated through the first phase in two weeks. It’s impossible, and you know it. Establishing the proper fundamentals is paramount. There’s no way I will approve this.” William’s words flew with passion.
I had to look away from the enraged man in front of me—the strength of his emotions was overwhelming at times . . . this being one of them. I distracted myself by gazing up and down the hallway, which was drenched in white marble and so many exotic potted plants I could have been smack in the center of the Amazon.
Unmoved by William’s heated rhetoric, John replied, “There’s no need for you to worry about Bryn’s final stages of training. I only need you to get her through the initial phase . . . in two weeks. I will take over her training after that.”
John’s eyes fell upon me, and a smile formed on the edge of his lips, and despite the blue of his eyes, there was a blackness that burned within their depths. He chuckled, probably in reaction to my growing discomfort apparent from my fidgeting, and glided towards the stairs.
I glanced over at William, where his narrowed eyes and curled lip confirmed he’d also picked up on the undercurrent of John’s insidious look at me.
He took two steps forward, putting himself between me and John. “This would not be approved by the High Council.”