Arielle Immortal Passion (15 page)

Eva and Ian were still very quiet, but they were beginning to seem less anxious.

“So, Troy, I guess what you told us about your family was not true,” Eva said. “What’s the truth? And how did you end up at our school?”

“I saw Gabrielle in San Marco two years in a row while she was on holiday with her parents,” Troy said. “She was horseback riding with her friends, near our estate, and I never had the chance to talk to her alone. I watched her every day and I fell completely in love with her. I had to follow my heart and try to make her love me back. I thought attending your school would be an easy way to get close to her.”

“Your mystery rider!” Eva blurted, eyes widened, staring at Gabrielle in amazement.

“Yes, isn’t that incredible?” Gabrielle smiled as her eyes turned to Troy. Her smile sent Troy to another level of delight.

“How old are you? And how did you become immortal?” Eva asked.

“I lost my entire family, and most of my close friends and neighbors, to the plague in the sixteenth century, when I was seven years old. I was one of the lucky few that made it through alive. I was given the gift of immortality at the age of twenty-nine, following an accident. I’ve tried to make friends since that day but have ended up burying everyone I loved. For that reason, I promised that I would never allow myself to feel the same emotional pain again. The last time I felt even a flicker of distress was back in the seventeenth century. From then on my life became routine. This is the first time in my very long life that I have felt true love, and it happens to be with Gabrielle. And you have become my true friends.” There was a sincere sadness in his voice as he spoke. Arielle saw a warm understanding beginning to show in Ian’s eyes, and a soft smile on Eva’s face.

“What about you, Sebastian?” Ian asked, this time looking directly at him.

“I think Arielle has done some very detailed research about my family,” Sebastian replied. “But basically, we are from here, in the South of France. The girls know the details about us meeting on the beach and my weakness in not being able to stay away from Arielle. I did try, knowing the difficulties we would face due to our differences, but I lost that personal war,” he said, smiling. “I lost my family pretty much the same way Troy did, and I was given the gift of immortality at the age of twenty-seven.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you haven’t aged at all since the day you became immortals?” Eva said.

“That’s correct.”

“Well, that’s just bloody amazing!”

“So, Ian, are we good?” Sebastian asked. “Can we now talk freely without worrying about you guys freaking out on us?”

“Yes, of course,” Ian said. “Nothing has changed between us. And your secret is safe with us.”

Eva looked like she was miles away. Arielle got up and went to sit next to her and Gabrielle joined the two of them. They put their arms around each other and held Eva without saying a word. Eva smiled softly, but soon her smile faltered, and she began to cry softly.

“What’s going on in there?” Arielle said, pointing to Eva’s head. Eva looked at her friends and they could feel her body shiver.

“What’s bothering you?” Arielle insisted.

“I’m sorry, but it’s hard for me to believe what I have heard. They seem so normal,” she said.

“But they
are
normal, Eva,” Arielle said, and pressed her arm reassuringly.

“But you have to admit that this is huge,” Eva murmured, her eyes now dry.

“Well, she’s having about the same reaction we had,” Arielle said to Gabrielle, and they both laughed out loud, making Eva laugh with them.

“Boy, I don’t think there is a group of friends more screwed up than we are,” Eva snorted, and they all burst out laughing.

“You’ve got that right,” Arielle said, hugging her friend again.

“Sebastian, what about the woman who is after Arielle?” Ian asked. “The one who tried to kill Eva and Arielle in the basement? She said she wasn’t going to let Arielle have you. Who is she?”

“I think this is a perfect time to talk about that,” Sebastian said. He told them who Annabel was, and that he had been married to her for two years, centuries ago. “She is an immortal, and most likely she is the person you saw up on the hill while we were horseback riding. She is evil, and I believe that she’s the one who gave me immortality in order to torture me for as long as she could. She has zeroed in on Arielle’s human qualities—her warmth, her love of life, her independence, and her ability to grow and be happy. And she is attempting to kill these various characteristics, hoping that by doing so she will kill her, body and soul.”

He paused for a short moment. “I’m sure that she has manipulated others to help her succeed in her terrible quest. Eva and Arielle found evidence that someone is actually occupying a room in the abandoned wing of our house. Troy and I are having some of our friends fly in here tomorrow to try to confront whoever is living here without my approval.”

“Wow,” Ian murmured. He looked shocked all over again.

“Ian, are we still good? Or is there going to be an issue between us?” Troy asked. “This is the best time to make sure we clear the air about any questions you may have about Sebastian and myself.”

“As I said before, nothing has changed for me,” Ian said. “We’re still friends and will remain friends. And I’ll keep your secret for as long as I live.” He chuckled, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Don’t be sad that you are a human. I would give everything I have to be human and grow old with Gabrielle. And I know Sebastian feels the same way. Most immortals do.”

They were now standing up, shaking the sand off of their clothes.

“Eternity is not what you think it is,” Sebastian interjected. “We exist outside time frames. Eternity is not affected by time or its absence. It’s more like feeling the unimportance of time. We live without ever changing our existence, while everything around us changes.”

Arielle could hear a clear sadness in his voice and instantly moved to put her arms around him, looking at him with eyes full of love and passion.

Sebastian looked down into her eyes, and bending down pressed a sweet kiss on her luscious lips. “I love you too, baby,” he whispered.

Gabrielle moved closer to Troy and wrapped her arms around his neck. She tipped her head up and pulled his face down to hers. Troy gathered her in his arms and gently he pulled her into his chest. They gazed into each other’s eyes and he took her mouth eagerly, appreciatively. He inched away from the kiss and she smiled wide. The look in her eyes vibrated through his bones, and he dove back into the kiss as if they were the only two people left on that beach.

Eva coughed. “Get a room,” she called out jokingly. Gabrielle dropped her arms and backed away from Troy chuckling. Eva finished brushing the sand away from her legs and walked over toward Troy and Sebastian. Then, she gave each of them a hug and a kiss. “I love the two of you for who you are. You’ll be my friends for as long as I live,” she said. They both hugged her back with deep appreciation. Ian had followed Eva, and he shook hands with Troy and Sebastian. “What can I do to help?”

“Don’t worry, Ian, you’ll be included in the plan when our friends arrive,” Sebastian said. “I guess we won’t be leaving tomorrow after all.” He laughed.

Everyone laughed and nodded.

“Do you want to go now or watch the sunset?” Gabrielle asked. They all agreed that staying would be the perfect end to a wonderful day. They all sat back down. The beach was empty by then and a beautiful silence surrounded them. They sat close to each other, smelling the scent of the ocean. The sun was a hot, sparkling yellow color as it dipped towards the water, turning the sky to a fiery orange with a deep blood-red shade. It was a magnificent view that suggested true heaven. They could hear the waves brush the edge of the shore and the breeze blew across their faces, giving them goose bumps. It was especially beautiful watching the sun set as the moon rose. What a magnificent miracle! They were in awe of the sight. Arielle could see a soft smile on everyone’s face. She reached again for Sebastian’s lips and he kissed her softly as she closed her eyes, feeling content.

“Now that we are telling all our secrets I need to share another one about me,” Arielle said. “And Eva has one to share too. Then there will be no secrets left between the six of us.”

“What is your secret?” Ian asked Eva, looking at her with concern. She looked straight back at him, and said calmly, “I have visions of the future. And a few other powers that make me a little more special than the average human.” She looked out toward the ocean and chuckled.

“Wow,” Ian said. He held her at arm’s length and stared at her in amazement.

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“She has prevented some bad things from happening to us,” Arielle said.

“Amazing!” he said again, putting his arms around Eva and pulling her close. “Eva, how come you never told me any of this?”

“Well, it never came up,” she said. She started to laugh and they all joined in.

“So, what is your secret?” Ian asked, turning to Arielle.

“I can read many peoples minds,” she said, and watched his jaw drop as everyone else smiled.

“Can you read my mind?”

“No, unfortunately you, Sebastian, and Troy do not belong to that special group of people whose minds I can read. However, Gabrielle and Eva do.” Arielle stopped talking. She felt suddenly so happy, knowing that there were no more secrets hidden away from her closest friends.

“Astonishing!” Ian said, as they all stood up, shook the sand off their clothes once again, and started to walk towards the car.

“We are a regular group of freaks, aren’t we?” Arielle giggled, and they all laughed out loud with her.

Chapter 12

T
he ride home was a happy one. There were no more secrets, no more speculations, just complete trust among them. They were relaxed and happy. Gabrielle was up to her old tricks, stimulating everyone with challenging questions about horses, everyone except Arielle and Eva; they were hardly capable of answering the perplexing questions about riding. The guys, however, were ready and willing to raise the bar and shake things up. Arielle and Eva sat back and enjoyed the cheerful emotions that were bursting forth in the happy atmosphere. Arielle and Eva broke up laughing when they heard Gabrielle exclaim, “For the love of God. That is the daftest question I have ever heard!” The guys burst into hearty laughter as well.

Arielle and Eva turned their attention to their iPods. They plugged their earplugs in, turned up the music, and got lost in their own little worlds.

It was late in the evening when they got home. Dinner was waiting for them. The mortals were famished. Sebastian and Troy didn’t care about the food, but they sat with the rest and enjoyed the meal with them. When everyone was done eating, they sat around the table telling stories and laughing, just enjoying being together until it was time to retire.

Arielle was getting ready to get up from the table when she heard Ian ask a question that made her freeze to her seat.

“Arielle, whatever happened with Matt, and that court case?” An awkward silence fell in the room. Everyone turned and stared at Arielle with concern. Ian hadn’t been at the apartment at the time the announcement was made about Matt’s death, and the subject had never come up again. Arielle paled when she saw Sebastian’s puzzled look. She was at a loss for words. She thought she had asked all of her friends to not bring up Matt in front of Sebastian. But now she remembered that Ian wasn’t there when she had made that request. In confusion, she looked down at her lap, ignoring Ian’s question.

“Who is Matt? And what court case?” Sebastian asked, quietly but firmly.

“Matt was murdered by someone following the rape of another girl in Brighton,” Gabrielle said, replying to Ian’s question.

“I didn’t hear that. Was it in the news?” Ian asked.

“Yes, it was. Last month.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Ian said. “He was a pig.”

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Sebastian’s question, except Sebastian. “Who is Matt?” Sebastian asked again, this time with his voice a little more insistent.

“I would rather not talk about this right now if you don’t mind,” Arielle said.

Sebastian looked taken back by her response, but he didn’t move. He just kept staring at her, waiting for her to say something. She looked at Ian, who seemed upset, sensing that he had created a problem for Arielle.

“I’m sorry, Arielle. I thought you had told Sebastian,” he said, obviously distraught.

“It’s okay, Ian. It’s not your fault, it’s mine.” She smiled at him and got up from the table, ready to walk away. That is when she heard Sebastian’s voice, not so soft now, but hard and firm.

“I think we all need to sit down until I know who the hell Matt is,” he said. “And what was that about a court date? I thought we had all cleared the air today and made a point of no secrets between us. I seem to be the one left out of this secret. I need
someone
to start talking.” His voice was hard, insistent, with a hint of agitation.

Troy’s was the next voice Arielle heard as she kept looking between the two of them with bewilderment on her face. Sebastian was now standing next to her, holding onto the back of her chair, waiting. She sat back down as Troy spoke.

“This whole thing took place when you were in New Zealand, Sebastian. We had a new German student at school and he became infatuated with Arielle. He pursued her for a few weeks even though she told him about you and said she was not available. He tried to approach her many times alone but thank God, Paul was always around and nothing ever happened. We thought that he had finally gotten the message and was going to leave her alone, but what he really had done was to follow her without her knowing about it. One night, he showed up at the flat when we all went to the cinema and she had stayed home waiting for your call. He tried to rape her.”

“Rape her!” Sebastian exclaimed. His eyes were fierce and his face was full of rage. He began pinching the tip of his nose and pacing back and forth.

“Yes, he tried, but Eva had a vision, and she made us all go back to the flat. We got there just in time. I pulled him off of her and beat him to the ground, the cops came and arrested him and took him away.”

“So, she was not touched?”

“Not quite.”

“What do you mean, not quite? Was she touched, or wasn’t she?”

“She fought him hard, and I’m sure that made him more angry because he hit her several times on the face and bruised her badly. He threw her on the floor, trying to pin her down and her body was also bruised and banged up. She was taken to the hospital and he was taken to jail. Her face was swollen and bruised for almost three weeks, and so was her body. She was praying that you wouldn’t come home and see her like that. She seemed to be more worried about you finding out than about what had happened to her. She is an amazing girl.”

“And now he is dead?” Sebastian asked, clenching his jaw.

“Yes, we were watching the news one night and heard a story about how he had been murdered trying to rape another girl. Ian wasn’t with us the night we heard the news, I guess that’s why he asked about it.”

Sebastian was silent for a long time. “Well,” he said finally, “Thank you for all you did, Troy. And now I think I have to say good night.” He took Arielle’s hand and softly pulled her with him. Arielle looked at her friends with a sad smile, and walked out of the room. Her lips were trembling and her eyes were full of tears, remembering the horrible moments she had spent fighting Matt.

She now knew that her father had been right. She should have told Sebastian the truth. The door closed behind them and he turned to face her. He did not look angry anymore, but his face was sad.

“So, why did you keep this from me?” he asked, torment in his voice. She hesitated and, meeting his gaze calmly, she replied, “It was over with and I thought it didn’t matter.”

“It damn well does matter to me!” he cried. The words were surging through his lips, draped in heavy emotion. He ran his fingers through his hair and turning around, started to pace back and forth. He suddenly stopped and faced her, his eyes filled with passion. “Arielle, do you even understand how much I love you? I have every right to know what happens in your life.”

Looking into his eyes, Arielle could see his torment. “I was afraid that you would hurt him and it would create problems between you and the authorities,” she explained. “I wanted to keep you out of it. I was also afraid that you might think that I could have prevented it somehow, but I couldn’t. I did everything I could to discourage him, but he didn’t listen. And now he is dead, so I thought the subject was closed.”

“You were worried about me? I just do not understand you at all. You were beat up and almost raped, and you were worried about me? Why would you ever think that I would blame you for what happened? Don’t you know me at all? Arielle, sometimes you drive me right out of my mind.” He shook his head as Arielle looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t care about me,” she said. “All I cared about was you and your reaction.”

“Arielle, what am I going to do with you? Don’t you understand that everything about you is my concern? Everything that has to do with you affects me directly, don’t you understand that?” he said, jaw tensing.

Arielle nodded, looking at her feet. Searching for words to explain, she said,

“I’m so sorry, Sebastian. I can’t change what I did, but I can promise that there will never be any more secrets between us for as long as I live. I don’t want you to be mad at me anymore.” Tears were running down her face.

He pulled her closer, and lifting his hands he framed her face. With his thumbs he softly wiped her tears away. His gaze lowered to her lips and, bending down, he took her mouth into a scorching kiss. He moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms encircled her, pulling her tightly against him. “I should be mad at you, but I’m not,” he breathed into the kiss. “I love you too much to stay mad at you. Please promise me that you will never keep secrets from me. Please, Arielle,” he pleaded, without leaving the kiss.

“I promise, darling.” She ran her fingers through his hair, holding him to that kiss. The kiss deepened and she could feel excitement coursing through her body. Sebastian let his hands travel over her luscious curves, and he knew that his need for her was undeniable.

“I would have killed him,” he muttered, in a very low voice, still kissing her.

“That’s exactly the reason I didn’t say anything to you,” Arielle said, pulling away from him. “Do you hear yourself?”

“I can’t excuse what he did. You know that kind of person never stops. He tried again and if he had gotten away with that, he would have moved on to the next girl. You were very lucky,” he said, arms by his side, gaze locked on her.

“I know that. But he did pay, the worst way possible,” she said.

Sebastian moved slowly away and stood in the middle of the room. Facing her he looked troubled, his eyes puzzled. Arielle watched him closely. He seemed to be pondering a thought, looking for the right way to ask his next question.

“What is it?” she asked, anxiously.

“Did this incident have anything to do with your decision to give up abstinence when I came back?” His eyes pierced through her soul as he waited for her answer.

“It had a lot to do with it. I had wanted to save myself for our wedding night, but then I almost lost my virginity to an animal. And I was not going to allow that. You are the man I was saving myself for, so I broke my promise to myself a little early. I hope you don’t mind,” she said with half a smile.

He crossed the small distance between them in a fast stride. His strong arms tightened around her and his mouth landed on hers with hunger and passion.

“You really will be the death of me,” he moaned, trying to keep his lips straight.

Arielle pulled away and got ready for bed. He cradled her in his arms and she felt a rush of love for the man that she was going to share her life with.

“I love you,” she whispered, kissing the hollow below his throat and breathing in his stimulating scent. He moaned, and that was the last thing she heard as she fell asleep, utterly exhausted.

But Sebastian didn’t sleep. He stayed awake, watching her. As he thought about the attempted rape, rage coursed through his body again.
I would have taken care of him when I got back if someone else hadn’t done the job,
he thought. He got even angrier as he thought about the fear and the pain Arielle had endured at the hands of that animal. He kissed her hair softly and breathed in the wonderful fragrance of her shampoo. It smelled like freesia and he absolutely loved it. He held her tight, feeling the warmth of her beautiful body and the softness of her skin.
My God,
he thought,
I love her so much it actually hurts.
He felt drunk with contentment, with the thought of someone like her loving him. She had become the essence of his life, and her love brought together everything that represented beauty in his eyes.
How funny,
he thought.
Eternity does not seem so empty anymore
. His life was rich, full, worth living. She was the most precious jewel in his life. She was his first and only love, pure and complete.
I’ll never be able to have enough of her. I want to give her the world, make her happy, make her want no other man but me.
Finally, he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

The heavy bedroom curtains were not completely shut, making it possible for a slight gleam of sunlight to slip through and caress Sebastian’s face. He opened his eyes and looked at Arielle, still lying in his arms fast asleep. He smiled and kissed her face gently, not wanting to wake her up.

He felt anxious again, thinking of the evil that consumed Annabel and the fury she held against Arielle, the fury that made her so dangerous. His thoughts whirled wildly in his mind.

How could he fight Annabel’s wickedness? How could he fight something without substance, something so dark? The evil seemed so deeply rooted in Annabel. How long had she been waiting to terrorize Arielle, possibly to kill her? Sebastian felt restless. He wished that all of his worries could just go away, but he knew that was not going to happen. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he needed to get this matter resolved. The life he and Arielle were planning together depended upon his taking action.