And so it was done, at last. No rushing passion, no wild pounding of her heart. Perhaps that had been a fantasy and this was all there was. Still, Yasmine had wanted to lose her virginity, the sting of David's remark that she was not yet a woman still resonating painfully in her heart a year later. Perhaps now he would consider her a woman! Perhaps now he would desire her.
But she had not seen David Lawrence again. She had not sought him out, her pride forbidding it. At first she had waited for him to appear, eager to prove to him she was now a woman, hoping he would succumb to her charms. Yet, though he must have known where she was, he had never come to see her, to see how she was faring in her new life.
Over the years she did hear of him from time to time from other vampires who had run across him in their travels. She would pretend an indifference that eventually became real. What was he to her but some long-forgotten dream of a foolish girl from long ago.
The plane was emptying and slowly Yasmine stood, her body stiff from the long flight. She walked out of the plane and down the long, narrow hallway to the gate, her heart doing a tiny flip-flop that annoyed her.
Putting on a casual expression, she came out into the gate area, scanning it for the man sent to meet her. She didn't see anyone who fit her memory of David Lawrence, with the sunny blond hair, the intense blue eyes, the broad shoulders and the delicious peek of masculine chest hair curling beneath the white linen shirt.
There were several men standing nearby, all of them turning an approving gaze on the tall, elegant young woman standing before them, dressed in a silk dress that clung alluringly to narrow hips and long, lean thighs, revealing shapely calves and slender feet with perfectly manicured toenails peeking from low-slung golden sandals. Her dark, glossy hair was pulled back in silver barrettes that made her gray eyes look almost silver as well beneath thick black lashes and delicately arched eyebrows.
Yasmine stood uncertainly for a moment, hefting her carryon bag over her shoulder. She didn't feel the presence of another vampire, she didn't catch a scent of one of her own kind. Had she gotten the message wrong from Adrienne? Didn't she say he would be at the gate?
Well! She had said she didn't need anyone to pick her up, and she didn't! She'd just head over to baggage claim and collect her suitcase. The disappointment she felt was quashed by annoyance. Yasmine hated people who didn't do what they said they would. Why volunteer to meet someone and then not be there?
Taking a deep breath as she rode down the elevator toward baggage claim, Yasmine laughed a little at herself. As if it mattered! David Lawrence, her first crush, nothing more. Perhaps he had been there and hadn't recognized her, nor she him. After all, it had been one hundred and eighty-four years since they'd laid eyes on one another. Even vampires can change in that time! What did she care anyway if he was there or not. She'd meet Adrienne as planned later at the hotel. She had much bigger things to consider than if someone had been at the gate to meet her.
Yasmine stood at the revolving carousel, scanning the passing bags for her own red leather suitcase with the discreet YH tooled into the leather. She was just reaching for it when a large, masculine hand reached out and grabbed it for her.
"Let me get that for you, Yasmine."
The world stopped for a moment as his delicious, erotic scent assailed her full force. Even after all this time, she knew at once it was he. She stayed turned away from him a moment, willing the world to begin again so she could catch her breath.
There he was, David Lawrence, as handsome as he ever was, if not more so. He appeared to be a man of perhaps thirty, the fine smile lines around his eyes and mouth adding a maturity to his features. His nose seemed a bit crooked now, though instead of detracting from his looks, it lent him a certain rugged appeal.
It's you. Dah-veed. This thought in Arabic escaped her before she recovered herself and she said aloud in low, well-modulated English, "How nice to see you again, David. After all these years. I had thought you were to meet me at the gate, but I see I was mistaken."
A smile ghosted through his eyes as he answered smoothly, "My apologies. My taxi got caught in traffic and I thought I'd better come straight here since your plane had already landed."
That voice!
It was the voice in her dreams, her most erotic dreams, laden with sensuality and desire. That seductive voice whispering her name until she awoke with fingers already seeking her hot center to ease the longing. Until that moment Yasmine hadn't consciously realized it was the voice of David Lawrence, a man she'd thought of as just an old memory, nothing more.
David was watching her, tilting his head just as he had so long ago when he was eavesdropping in her mind. Yasmine flushed and turned away. While she did not have the skill of Adrienne and Daniel to completely cloak one's vampire essence from prying vampires, she could "layer" her thoughts as all mature vampires learned to do out of necessity.
Because vampires shared the ability to telepathically enter the minds of mortal and vampire alike, they developed an ability to sort their thoughts, presenting the most innocuous ones for public consumption while keeping their heartfelt feelings hidden below-hence the term layering. It was a conscious exercise, and a discerning vampire could penetrate the layers if one relaxed one's vigilance.
Smoothing her thoughts into a serene blanket that hid her strong reaction to his voice, Yasmine turned back toward David, her expression calm. "Well, no matter. I can certainly find my way around the airport. It was kind of you to meet me, but certainly unnecessary."
"It was my pleasure. I confess I was curious to see how the Arabian slave girl had turned out."
Not curious enough to find me before now. Furious with herself, Yasmine again clamped down on her thoughts and said aloud, "So, what have you been doing the last couple hundred years?" |
