My gaze met his. A power, dark and alluring, swirled in his pupils until his eyes were entirely black. My heart leapt in anticipation. It was right there: a cure for my pain. Boaz’s energy, his dark presence, was always stronger than mine. Deep down, I always knew that, but it wasn’t until now that I was willing to admit it. And now I wanted it for myself.
I gripped his arms tight, willing his darkness from him, but I didn’t just take it—I ripped it from his entire being. His chest tightened as if he’d been squeezed, and he gasped for air. This was the first time I’d ever seen him in pain, but I didn’t stop. His dark energy raced through my body, flooding me with new life. I took as much as I could, having to suck in air to catch my breath. My eyelids closed, and my body swayed as if were on a boat, moving with the waves of the sea. Gently. Lightly. Floating across the waters of a forgiving sea, not as a deserted castaway, but as a God. Nothing could touch me now.
“That’s enough,” Boaz said, his voice pained.
“Just a minute. Let me enjoy this. You feel so good inside me.” I giggled and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close.
He nuzzled my neck and relaxed into me. “Finally we can move on with our lives. There is much to do.”
Chapter 19
I changed. All that I once hated, I now embraced. I no longer felt remorse or compassion toward anyone or anything. And I only hung around those who could make me stronger—like Boaz.
It was on a stormy night, the kind where really bad things happen, that I decided to change my life forever. Boaz seemed to sense the change, too, and all through dinner, he kept glancing at me, as if waiting for me to confess the reason behind my seductive perma-grin.
I let him wait.
We left the restaurant, huddled beneath an umbrella, and crossed the street to his car. On the way home, I said what I thought I would never say. “Boaz?”
“Yes, love?” His eyes stayed focused on the road ahead.
“I have been having the time of my life with you, and I don’t want it to ever end. I want to be with you forever. I’m ready.”
Boaz slammed on the breaks and steered the car to the shoulder of the road. A cloud of dust billowed behind us. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“I am, but only if you want it, too.”
“I have waited so long to hear you say those words. I want you by my side forever.”
He kissed my eyelids and then my cheek. His lips caressed my face until they found my mouth. He kissed me deeply, and his arms wrapped around me, forcing my body closer. Then, in a movement I barely felt, he lifted me effortlessly on top of him so my legs straddled his waist. His lips continued to stroke my face and finally trailed down to my neck.
This is it! I closed my eyes and waited to enjoy Boaz quench his thirst for the blood he craved, while also satisfying my own desire for ultimate power.
But my pleasure was short lived.
Boaz pushed me away. “I want to give you a surprise first.”
“I don’t want a surprise. I just want you.” I took my turn of kissing his face, but he stopped me again.
“I have to leave town for a while. In the next few hours, in fact.”
“Now? What for?”
“To work on the surprise.”
“I don’t want a surprise.”
“But I want to give it,” he said with more force.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Maybe a week.”
I leaned back into the steering wheel and pouted. “A week? No good. I’ll go crazy.”
“You’ll survive. I promise it will be worth it.” He moved to lift me off his lap, but I clung to him.
“Not yet,” I said and slipped my hand under his shirt.
He raised an eyebrow, a smile threatening to break. “By all means, love. I am yours to command.”
***
Boaz left as promised. It was strange to have him gone. It was the first time we’d been separated in months. The first day, I was bored out of my mind, TV unable to keep my attention. And I didn’t even bother trying to read. The most entertainment I found was using my magic to play tricks on the servants, but even that dulled with no one around to laugh with me.
I needed to go somewhere. Do something. The power within me was swelling and needed to be released. A solution came when the phone rang at two in the morning. It was Liane inviting me on a spur of the moment trip to New York City.
“William will meet us there, and we’ll cause all sorts of trouble for New Yorkers. It will be great. We’ll be just like our great grandmothers.”
I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.
The next day at noon, Liane picked me up. I enjoyed her company almost as much as Boaz’s. She was spontaneous and fun and wasn’t afraid of anything. Her lack of fear had gotten us into trouble more times than I could count, but the adventure was always worth it.
“Don’t you think it’s time you cut your hair?” Liane asked, eyeing me sideways as she maneuvered her car onto the road.
I flipped down the passenger vanity mirror. I had curled my long hair into big waves. It looked okay. “Is it really that bad?”
“It’s just so goodie-goodie. You need a punk style or something that makes a statement. Something that says ‘watch out, here I come!’” Liane snapped her head to the driver’s side window. “Did you see that?”
I glanced around. “What?”