Arielle Immortal Journey (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 5) (15 page)

“She’s ready to break the news to Paul.”

An obstructed look settled over Sebastian’s face. “What news?” His lips curved with amusement.

“Oh, you know exactly what news. She’ll divulge her secret.”

“When?” Sebastian shook his head in disbelief.

“Today… right here… in this house.”

He flinched. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m dead serious, do you get a sense of déjà vu?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” he said. “You seem to be doing this a lot lately.”

“Paul will be here around two, and she’ll come over at three.”

“Why separately?”

“So, I can prepare him before she gets here.” Arielle smiled playfully.

“You do know that I’m playing golf with Troy, Nathan, and Ian this morning, right?” he asked. “I’m sure it’ll be quite late before I get home. Will you be all right doing this alone?”

“Absolutely, I’m an authority on this subject now,” she said, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably. “I’ve become the queen of immortality and a professional in shocking the hell out of people.” She was laughing so hard tears rolled down her face. She finally stopped and rolled off of Sebastian. She laid back, stretching in a leisurely manner. He lifted himself up on one elbow and looked
down at her. A beautiful smile lifted the corner of his mouth as he
slid his arm underneath her and pulled her up to meet his thirsty lips in a refreshing kiss.

“I need to get up and get ready. Nathan will be here in about an
hour.” He smiled. All she wanted was to get lost in those magical
emerald eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her.

“You have ample time to get ready, I want–” she started to say but didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. He moved fast, and she cried out in exhilaration as he pulled her underneath him and took her with fervor, eagerness, and passion.

“What do you want?” he whispered, panting hard in her ear.

She could hear amusement in his voice. She gasped. “I, um, I can’t remember anymore.” She pulled him closer, making him groan with excitement.

“You’ll be the death of me,” he said, and she smiled. She loved
that expression, knowing it meant he was utterly satisfied. She
shifted underneath him and his next movement made her cry out in ecstasy.
He rocked her whole existence, filling her with scorching desire.
They
reached the pinnacle of their encounter and their emotions
unraveled; they came apart as rapture enclosed their bodies. They shuddered. She heard again his frustrated groan.

“What is it?” she asked, completely out of breath.

“I’ve no idea what happens to me when we have these encounters,” he gasped. “I want to consume your very existence. I
don’t seem to ever get enough of you, Arielle. It’s the most maddening thing I’ve ever encountered in my long life on this earth.”

“Is it so bad to feel this way?”

“No, it’s not the feeling that bothers me, but the fact that I can’t
explain this type of desire. I’ve lived on this earth for over five
hundred years, and never had to deal with this until I met you.”

“Do you want me to go away?” she asked, a teasing tone in her
voice. He gazed deeply into her eyes and smiled as warmth spread across his faultless face.

“I’d rather die than let you go away. How am I going to breathe if you’re not here?” He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with fresh air.

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot about the breathing part,” she said. She was laughing. She reached up, and pulled him down to her, pressing her lips hard on his, letting him know she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m going to get up now, and you need to let me because I’m very weak when it comes to you,” he said. He squeezed her tightly
and she giggled. He got out of bed, ready to walk in the shower
while she kept talking.

“I sensed an urgency in Loren's voice, and I don’t understand
why she is so worried. She has the power to will anything and
anyone she wants. She can have Paul eating out of the palm of her hand, so why all that anxiety?”

He leaned out the bathroom door and gazed at her with that beautiful smile still spread across his face.

“We can’t let the power we hold supersede our conscience because there will come a time when we’ll regret our actions. When
it comes to true love we never manipulate anyone’s mind. We want to make sure that the person we fall in love with wants to be with us for eternity, knowing exactly who we are with no insecurities or doubts.”

“I know you are right,” she mumbled.

“I just could sense sadness over the phone, and I care about her very much.”

“I care about her a lot, too,” he said. “But Loren has to find her way just as we all did. She is fortunate that she has you to be there
for her,
but she knew what she was getting into from the first moment she made her choice to be with Paul. I must admit that I was delighted that she chose to pursue him. It worried me that he was madly in
love with you when we first met, and I’m a very jealous man.” He chuckled.

“Oh, you are so ridiculous,” she chuckled. “He was always just a friend.” Sebastian got back into the shower. Arielle closed her eyes and let her mind drift back in time a few years. She remembered the first moment she set eyes on Paul during their sophomore year in chemistry. She knew that Paul was in love with her for a long time. It was not until her last birthday party that he finally believed that she had made her choice, and Sebastian was that choice. She kept her eyes closed as she shook her head. She thought of how drastically their lives had changed. In her wildest dreams she couldn’t create a scenario with a more diverse group of characters than the one she was actually living in.

“You look like you are miles away.” His voice startled her. She snapped her eyes open. He was already showered and in the
bedroom getting ready. He moved so fast that her breath held in her throat.
She found him standing right next to the bed reaching down and putting his finger under her chin, tilting her face up until their eyes
met.

“What are you thinking? I don’t like not being able to read your mind,” he said in frustration.

“Oh, I was thinking about my friends, and how drastically our lives have changed since our sophomore year.”

“Is that a bad change or a good change?” His lips pressed onto hers.

“You’re what changed my life, so how can it be bad?” she asked, and heard him moan.

“Thank you, baby, I feel the same way.” He broke the kiss and moved to the other side of the bed to finish dressing.

“Do you have any plans for this morning before Paul and Loren?”

“Yes, I’m going to see my parents around eleven. They want me to have lunch with them, but I’ll make sure to be back before Paul gets here.”

“Give your parents my love. I’d like to have dinner with them one of these evenings.”

“That’s a very funny statement coming from you when I know you dislike human food intensely.”

“Arielle, I’ll do what it takes to keep your life on a normal path with no interference from my needs or wants. Your time with your parents is very important, and I’m here to make sure you don’t miss a moment of it.” He was back standing directly in front of her. He
pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Her heart
thudded against her chest.

A wide smile appeared on Sebastian’s beautiful lips.

“What?” she asked.

He just shook his head, turned, and started to walk away. “What were you going to say?” Sebastian looked back with a half-smile. His voice was velvety smooth.

“I think the best thing for me to do is go and get my golf clubs
ready.
If I stay here a minute longer you’ll be in trouble,” he said with a
boyish grin on his face.

“I still want to know what you were thinking,” she called out.
He stopped at the door and turned around.

“It’s your eyes, Arielle. There is something very unique about your eyes. Every time I pierce through your eyes, I get this peculiar
feeling of a precise moment in my life that I just can’t clearly
identify. It has been driving me crazy.”

“You’ve never told me that before. How long have you had that feeling?”

“From the very first moment I set eyes on you.” She detected puzzlement in his voice.

“Well, I wish I could help you,” she said.

“My intuition tells me that I will figure this out soon, or I’ll just simply go out of my mind,” he said, and shrugging his shoulders, he turned around ready to leave the bedroom.

“I hope I don’t have to marry a crazy man,” she joked.

He spun around once again and gazed deeply into her eyes one more time. Arielle sat up on the bed and was watching him carefully. After his long moment of silence, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. Her smile was warm and enticing.

His lips curved and his eyes roamed over her. “I’m just trying to get used to the feeling that engulfs my whole existence when I gaze
into your sensational blue eyes,” he whispered. He smiled once
again
and walking out of the bedroom he said, “Don’t forget that I love
you.”

“I won’t.” She couldn’t believe that a man like him thought all that about her. Was she missing something?

“Don’t forget about dinner with your parents,” he called out again.

“I won’t.”

Chapter 12

EVA PICKED UP
the phone and selected Gabrielle’s number. Gabby picked up on the first ring.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Gabby.”

“Hi, Eva, what’s up?”

“Can we meet sometime today and talk?”

“Oh, is there something wrong?”

“No, no, Arielle’s birthday is coming up and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.”

“Well, I just got out of bed, and I’m getting ready to take a shower. But I can meet with you this morning sometime.”

“Excellent!”

“Troy is playing golf this morning, so I’m free.”

“Yes, I know, Ian just left the house,” Eva said. “He’s is coming to your house to pick Troy up.”

“Well, he’s ready. He’s been ready since early this morning,” she snorted. “I will never understand the fascination in chasing after a small white ball all over the bloody place, but that’s me, what do I know?”

“I know Ian feels the same way,” Eva said with a chuckle. “I
heard that they are playing a foursome with Sebastian and Nathan, one of Sebastian’s best friends. Have you met him?” Eva asked.

“No, I have not, but Troy knows him. They work together. He
says he is an amazing guy. I’m sure we’ll meet him soon enough,” she said. “What kind of thoughts do you have about Arielle’s b-day?”

“Well, there’s a very special gift I’d like to give her, and I want you to be part of it. Would you like to do that?”

“Oh, yes, you know that I would,” Gabrielle exclaimed.

“Can we meet sometime then and talk about it?”

“You just name the time,” Gabrielle said eagerly.

“How about if I pick you up, and we can go out to lunch.”

“Eva, I know that you aren’t interested in eating human food anymore, so why don’t we just meet at your place?”

“I don’t need to eat, but I like going out with you. I don’t want
my new identity to change a single thing between us. I expect to keep on doing and keep enjoying the same things we did before my transformation. So, how about lunch?” Eva’s voice was a little sad,
but unyielding.

“All right, then I’ll be ready, what about Arielle? Have you talked to her?”

“Yes, I called her before I called you. I wanted to make sure that the coast was clear for us to discuss her birthday. She’s going over to her parents for lunch and later in the afternoon she is meeting with Loren.”

“Huh? I wonder why she’s meeting with Loren. Did she say?”

“No, she didn’t say why. She said she'll talk to us tomorrow. In any case, it worked out great since we need to talk about her birthday.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you soon.” Gabrielle said, and ended the call. She had a strong feeling that Loren wanted to talk to Arielle about
revealing her immortality to Paul. Her curiosity had peaked to its highest point. Arielle was right, the human population was
shrinking,
and the immortals were taking over. She laughed aloud as she picked up her phone again, and pressed the number two on speed
dial.

Arielle picked up on the fourth ring completely out of breath. “Hey, Gabby, what’s up?”

“Did I get you at a bad time?” Gabrielle asked.

“I just got out of the shower, and I was trying to wrap a towel around my hair,” she said laughing. “I almost tripped trying to get to the phone.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to find out if we could get together this afternoon.”