The First Touch (12 page)

She smiled faintly and said, “Grayton.”

His posture changed slightly almost a slump of defeat. He said gravely, “He is a good man.”

Her eyes brightened and she replied,
in spite of herself,
“You know him?” Ivan n
odded looking at the ground, while
Autumn
added
thoughtfully, “I have always wanted to meet him.”

Ivan feigned interest and said slightly, “So during your talks, you have discovered that you have a lot in common?” She looked at him confused; he continued looking unaware of her apparent dismay,
“I only ask because of his age.
I guess I always assumed his match would be an older woman, although that could be why he was waiting to turn you.” Autumn’s mouth was
as
wide open as were her eyes.
He added
, “He’s going to be furious with me for discovering you.”
He smiled smugly af
t
erwards
.

“What on earth are you talking about? Talks…? Old…? How old is he? And what do you mean waiting to turn me?”

He looked at her for a long moment and then said, “I think its best if you wait and talk with Grayton.”

She shook her head and replied, “
Wait …No…
Not yet.
” She
plopped down
on
a
bench, in the park
that they were cutting through.

He looked at her with a new look now, one of annoyance. Then he held his hand out and said, “Let’s go.”

She crossed her arms and replied, “No
,
I am not leaving without an explanation.” He looked at her with a fierceness that would have sent a normal person running.

“Let’s go
Autumn
.” She shook her head, and he tried tempting her with,
“
I will take you to Grayton.”

She shook her head, “No
,
answer a few questions first.”

“You needn’t worry he will not be angry with you, mistakes like this happen from time to time.”

She blinked, flabbergasted, “Mistake?”

“Oh, no not you my dear, Gra
yton will explain everything when you meet him.”

“Why don’t you explain it to me?”

“It is not my place,” he replied stubbornly.

She
shook her head,
adding
, “I think if I remembe
red correctly that I am the one who came to your rescue,”
even if you did not need it
, she thought to herself. Adding aloud, “Plus you might still need me…”

He added more to
him
then to her, “Your dreams did lead you to me.”

She reveled at the thought
, “
So… y
ou
do
need me
then
.”
S
he patted the bench next to her
, as the thought sunk in
.
He swallowed and sat down next
to her suddenly very obedient
. He did not look her in the eyes and her primal urge to dominate
him took hold.
She felt the need
to touch him again
, and this time she gave into her desire.
She was going to enjoy her moment of power.
S
he slid her hand up to his cheek
to turn his face to look at hers. Surprisingly,
he closed his eyes,
leaned
into her touch
tenderly
.

The ch
ange in the flow of power was exciting
and
Autumn
smiled,
delighted by her
sudden
new hold over him. Without thinking she leaned over him and pulled his body closer to hers on the bench
, while he suddenly became sheepish
.
It was int
oxicating
, playi
ng into a dominant role which
he at once seemed to understand,
subm
issively allowing her to run her hand over his chest, now that they were close. He did not hide his delight at her touch, obviously enjoying her unexpected aggressive
attention
s
to his body
, as he twisted under her hand
.

She asked then, eyeing his delicious response, forgetting for a moment the reason for sitting with him. S
he slid one leg over his lap pinning him to his seat. Her smile widened as she watched him squirm under her gaze
, though obviousl
y enjoying her bold actions
, as he shifted several times
.

When he finally settled, her brain clicked back on and she remembered the reason for the impromptu stop,
“So let’s talk
.
”

H
is eyes shot up and he answered almost pleading with her
now
, “Grayton will be very....angry
with me
.”

She slid her finger down his jaw bone and he shivered. She smiled wickedly and said sultry
, “
I am pretty sure I could enjoy torturing you for some time Ivan.” His mouth came open as if he was going to protest before he closed it
, thinking better of it
.

He asked
defeat
ed
, “What do you want to know?”

She smiled and returned, “What did you mean talks?”

He looked confused
, “Talks?”

“Yes you said, during your talks, Grayton and I have never spoken, Ivan. I have never spoken to anyone else aside from you about
all of
this.” Ivan looked at her as if the words were not real. Autumn replied more seriously, “I told you I heard voices, not that I could communicate with them. The closest I ever came to communicating was giving Serena a head ache a few times and that may have just been a coincidence.”

He stared at her his expression brightening, “You haven’t spoken to Grayton
?”

She shook her head and replied
, “
But I was serious about wanting to meet him. I have thought about it a lot since he saved me from that roof top, that I need to at least thank him.”

Ivan asked bewildered now, “Saved you from a roof top?”

“Yes. I was sleep walking and ended up on the top of my building. I was about to jump when I heard his voice saying, Wake up. I know that he wasn’t talking to me; as a matter of fact I think it was Serena. He had sounded very...angry that night. He managed to save my life though, and I would like the opportunity to thank him. Now what is all the other non-sense about match and how old is Grayton.”

“He is one of the oldest members of our clan.”

She twisted her head and said, “How old?”

He swallowed and replied, “Five hundred years or so.”
She gasped
, thinking,
five hundred.

“
What did you mean when you said match?”
She asked after the shock wore off.

He took longer to answer
than she wanted and
Autumn
became impatient. S
o she slid her hand up to his cheek again
, hoping to get him to speak up
.
The response was not what
she had expected he seemed almost unable to answer then as if her touch were somehow too much for him. H
e shut his eyes tightly and breathed raggedly for a moment.
When she removed her hand,
there were red lines as if she had been scratchin
g his skin with her nails on his
cheek. “What is wrong with your skin?”

Ivan reached his hand up to his face, “It is nothing.”

She asked now concerned, “Does it hurt when I touch you?”

The intensity in his eyes was sheer desire, and his voice was husky when he spoke, “No it does not hurt.”

Then
Autumn
asked as she continued to touch him, “What does it feel like?” He did not meet her eyes this time, “It feels like I am on fire.”

She yanked her hand away sharply, “W
hat? W
hy?”

Ivan furrowed his brows and replied
hazily avoiding the truth
, “It is normal for us.”

Autumn nodded, “So is that why you wore the gloves?” Ivan nodded frowning and
Autumn
redirected herself frowning as well, “Good fire or bad fire?”

He looked at her with desire in his eyes a
nd let a smile slip
as he replied huskily, “Bad fire.”

She smiled
widely,
and said, “Oh you mean
good
fire.” He nodded and watched as she slid her hand u
p and caressed his cheek again, adding
, “Well then if I were you I would walk around half naked.” Ivan smiled and sat back enjoying the
moment;
as she redirected his attention back to the topic at hand
, frowning as she asked,
“Why
do you
think that I might be Grayton’s match?”

H
e tightened
at the mention of his friend
and she stopped tracing and left her ha
nd resting it on his warm skin.

“I am not certain if you are, though it is still very likely. When you listened to his voice was it clearer than the others?”

She shook her head no and said, “I don’t even see him that way, I just like the way that his voice sounds. It’s calming, fatherly even.” He stared at her and smiled a little looking slightly better.

“Fatherly?” He asked for her to clarify.

She repeated, “Yes fatherly, I listen to him reading at night.”

Ivan cocked his hea
d, “He reads to you at night?”

Sh
e shook her head, “No he reads to himself at night, I just listen.”

Ivan asked cautiously, “What kinds of books does he read?”

She replied flatly, “Classics mostly, though lately he has been reading books in other languages. Right now I think it’s a French novel.”

He smiled, “French.”

“Besides
,”
she added
, “
I dreamt that someone
was supposed to kiss, Sophia
too
,
I think.”

Ivan paused, a look of true bewilderment in his eyes
,
“
What?”

“T
he woman that lives in my building
… But hers
doesn’t happen at the coffee shop
,
hers is at a dinner …I think.
She has kind eyes...” Ivan stared at her disbelievingly and
Autumn
added, “What does three vessels mean?” His jaw dropped open and he sat there speechless, his eyes almost tearful.

“Where did you hear that?” She smiled and said cautiously, “Serena, told Grayton about it. He seemed very upset; he just keeps repeating three vessels. It has gotten me so worried that it has
been affecting my sleep lately, worse than when he reads romance….
”

“No
,
who told you that Sophia was a vessel?”

She said, “A
what?” His look was unsettling; he looked as though he were no longer aware of his surroundings. As if he lost grip with reality. Autumn swallowed hard against the rising emotions in her chest, but to no avail.

She looked at him and placed her hand over her mouth, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I have said too much. I am sorry. I thought you would be happy and I have been carrying all of this in my head for so long. I just couldn’t wait any longer to get it off of my chest. I really had begun to think that I was going crazy!” She said this last line with a bit of hysteria
returning to
her voice, as she slid off his lap.

The sound snapped him back into action. He spoke quickly
gripping her hips firmly as he rose
, “You are not
crazy
Autumn
, I think you are
.... special.” He sounded a little anxious now, as he continued, “I want you to take me to the woman that you thi
nk might be one of the kiss girls
.” He grabbed her arm again and pulled her down the sidewalk to the corner looking around for something. Autumn spoke frantically, “No wait
your
kiss girl; we
need
to go back to the coffee shop.”

He hailed a
passing
taxi
cab and replied
, “She will be there tomorrow.”