Although he was a frightening sight, she couldn’t deny that his voice was as pleasing to her as a lover’s caress. She couldn’t find her voice to answer his question, didn’t think she could have answered it anyway. He went down on his haunches in front of her, his eyes roaming over her body and making her feel as if she was laid out bare for him. He was so close to her that she could see now that the green of his irises had little flecks of blue in them. His hand reached up and she stiffened instinctively. She felt the soft caress of his fingers along her cheek, heard a gasp and realized it had come from her.
“Who are you?” he asked her again, his fingers travelling down her cheek and outlining her lips as he continued to stare at her mouth.
She licked her suddenly dry lips, shocked by the deep groan he uttered. The situation was surreal, her reaction to him, his reaction to her. Helina didn’t know what was actually happening between them and as much as she hated to admit it, she felt a strong pull toward him that went beyond all reason and doubt.
“Please, tell me what you are called.” His voice was soft, yet deep. Strong, yet gentle. He brought his eyes to hers, urging, compelling her with his stare to answer.
Before she could answer him, he turned his head and stared over his shoulder across the stream. She followed his gaze but said nothing, heard nothing but her beating heart and the wilderness around them. In the next second he had her in his arms and back into the woods before she could even inhale. Realizing what was happening, Helina opened her mouth to scream, only to have his large palm cover it as he looked down at her and shook his head. He stared down at her intently, paying no attention to where he was going. She found herself falling into the teal abyss that made up his gaze. As he held her, she knew fear should be forefront in her mind, but as his strong arms pressed her tighter against his chest, any thoughts of that particular emotion seemed to vanish.
Everything around her was no more than a blur as he raced away, leaving whatever threat lay behind him. Before she knew it, he was sliding her down his muscled body and pushing her so that she was forced to drop to her knees. Helina realized that she was at the entrance to her cave. He gently urged her until she started to crawl through the small opening. She didn’t dwell on the uneasiness that he knew where she had been staying. Once she was inside she turned and looked back at him. He was once again on his haunches, staring at her with an expression that resembled fear.
“Please, hurry inside. I will come back very soon.”
They looked at each other for a suspended moment before he vanished before her eyes—moving so fast it was like vapor leaving the extinguished flames of a fire. Helina went to the farthest part of her cave, where the shadows encased the corners and no light penetrated. She didn’t know what compelled her to listen the vampire, the enemy, but she knew that if he was dangerous to her, he would have, could have killed her before she even knew it.
Gaijryc left the cave entrance and made his way back to the stream quickly. He was by the water in no more than a few seconds and just in time to see Aires walking casually through the parting trees.
“Ah, there you are.”
Gaijryc smiled at his younger brother and walked through the water. Normally he would have just jumped across, but the fact that he was about to be near Aires and that his brother would no doubt be able to smell the human, Gaijryc needed to get the female’s scent off of him. He felt the water splash off his boots and land on his arms and shirt. Gaijryc kept his smile as he watched Aires stop by the edge of the water and knit his brows in confusion. Gaijryc knew his brother was wondering about the strange behavior.; no DarkShine would purposely walk through water when they could just as easily jump across it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of silver. In the next second he scooped up the trout and held it tightly in his hand. He walked up to Aires and showed him the fish as he slapped him on the back in greeting.
“Aires, what brings you out here?”
“I thought I would get some fresh air. The mansion was getting stuffy and I was sick of seeing and smelling Adais fuck those females. I see you are out fishing, huh?”
“Yes, a gift for Mother. You know how she loves the taste. I am going to have the cooks prepare it for her tonight.”
Gaijryc started to walk back to the mansion. He needed to lead his brother away from the human female so that there was no risk of Aires sensing her. He was lucky the fish had swum across when it did. The smell of it helped cover her scent. He didn’t ask Aires to come with him, just hoped his brother would follow. Thankfully he could hear his brother’s footsteps behind him.